One of the five Brazilian players who played at the first Six Invitational back in 2017, Leonardo “Astro” Luis lit up the arena from the first moment, his Twitch plays making him iconic and earning him a spot in every Siege esports fan’s memory as an outstanding individual player. Come this weekend, Astro will be once again battling alongside his teammates of FaZe Clan.

Dating all the way back to Season 6, this team’s core made their second appearance at a seasonal LAN Finals in front of their home crowd in São Paulo, Brazil. Struggling to go past ENCE in the semifinals, the eventual champions, was the team's first major disappointment. In front of their people and with all of the crowds support, Team Fontt, as they were know back then, fell in a decisive 2-0 against the Finnish squad and a lit up Kantoraketii.

Atlantic City came and FaZe Clan’s first encounter against the core of the now LeStream Esport team occurred. In a close game, the French squad of Millenium took down the Brazilians and with it their hopes for international success.

Astro at the Atlantic City LAN Finals. (Source: ESL)

With the Cristo de Corcovado looking over them, FaZe arrived at Rio de Janeiro looking to redeem their failure the previous year at São Paulo. With an outstanding run, taking down the likes of Mock-it Esports and NORA-Rengo, the Brazilians were standing in front of the world’s best, G2 Esports who were also on a road of redemption for their previous result in Brazilian territory.

The European line-up would leave no room for mistakes and, in classic G2 fashion, would demolish not only FaZe Clan’s hopes and dreams of international stardom, but of a whole country who stood behind their countrymen. The Brazilians were once again left with a sour memory and a European squad once again dominated in South American lands.

Astro and FaZe Clan after their loss to Team Reciprocity at the Six Invitational 2019. (Source: Bruno Alvares)

One year after the Atlantic City fall, the venue now being Milan, Faze Clan is looking for revenge against the European line-up of LeStream. Astro will need to step up and shed light on the path of victory for their teammates more so than what the team needed six months ago at Rio de Janeiro.

For FaZe Clan, they ought to consider themselves lucky to have the talents of Astro on their side. He is both a fragging machine and an experienced leader that can prove to be invaluable in high-intensity situations, which are common at a LAN.

With only a few days left before the event, the time has come for Astro to prove if he can truly be the key to ending this team’s championship drought and repeat what Team Liquid achieved at Atlantic City in Rainbow Six Esports. Will he be crowned the Season 9 champion, solidifying his name as one of the best in Pro League, or will LeStream take him down once again?

Astro celebrating at the Six Invitational 2019. (Source: Bruno Alvares)

Before FaZe Clan makes their trip across the pond, SiegeGG was granted the opportunity to speak with Astro about his journey to Milan:

It’s never easy to bounce back from unfair situations like the internet issues you faced earlier in the season, but here you are on your way to Milan. What has been the key to this resilience?

We are always very focused, with the input of Ion the team improved 200%, that helped a lot.

This is somewhat of a rematch from the Season 5 and 7 Pro League Finals, but Millenium’s roster is essentially unrecognizable now. What kind of a clash of play styles can we expect?

We will play very aggressively. Our team wants a great world title and we will abuse our aggression to look for it.

A potential game against Immortals awaits. Would you say you look forward to it more than other games?

We can play against them yes, and this is good because we know their style of play. All the games of these Pro League Finals will be very close.

Astro and FaZe Clan celebrating their victory vs NiP at the Six Invitational 2019. (Source: Bruno Alvares)

How much of a boon has the addition of Twister been? How much weight is off the players’ shoulders now?

It helps us a lot in the matter of analysis and tactics, it makes our work much easier.

Your performance this season was stunning, as many expect from you now. How do you keep going at such a high level?

I always train a lot. I like watching the players that have the same function (role) as I do, and I think that helps me a lot.

Astro at the 2019 Six Invitational. (Source: Bruno Alvares)

What is your opinion on ESL abolishing the rule that two teams from the same region cannot face each other in the quarter-finals?

I think this is not very good because we are going to play an international championship and we want to play against different teams.

What is the one team you think is worth watching out for this event?

Team Empire, for sure.

Who do you think is going to be winning the other three quarter-final games (and the upper half semi-final)?

All the teams are strong, (it) is very difficult to choose a favorite team.

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The Milan finals are taking place on the 18th and 19th of May, and FaZe Clan is itching to show that they have what it takes to be the pride of LATAM. To keep up to date on Milan coverage before, during and after the event, be sure to check back here at SiegeGG.