TACO speaks out about MIBR, leaving Team Liquid, and more

Brazilian CSGO player Epitácio “TACO” de Melo opened up about his experiences over the last two years of Competitive CSGO on Brazilian YouTube show and podcast Cortes do Flow earlier this week. While the show covered all of TACO’s CSGO career, the interview’s most interesting points came after TACO was asked about his stint with North American organization Team Liquid and his subsequent release and transfer to MIBR.

The talk initially focused on his adjustment to communicating in English during his time with Team Liquid, something that TACO stated was difficult due to CSGO’s fast-paced encounters. TACO, who speaks near-perfect English, told interviewers that it wasn’t the translation that he needed to fix in order to communicate effectively, but how he quickly realized he would have to learn how to think in English as well.

Taco says that returning to MIBR was a mistake

As for his return to MIBR, TACO made it clear that his eventual benching from the team alongside MIBR’s Fernando “fer” Alvarenga and head coach Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia, one of 37 coaches implicated in CSGO’s historic cheating bans, left a sour taste in his mouth. While answering questions about why he and Liquid head coach Wilton “zews” Prado had decided to reunite with MIBR and its leader, Gabriel “FalleN” Toldeo, TACO didn’t mince words with his answer.

“Do you regret leaving Team Liquid for MIBR?” asked the show’s host.

“I didn’t regret it at the time. I was convinced that [that] I was going to be back and [MIBR was] going to be the best team in the world again. I trusted those guys [on MIBR] 100%. While I don’t regret coming back [to play for MIBR], but looking back over my long career it was a bad decision,” Taco replied.

After TACO’s return, MIBR imploded. That sudden drop in performance wasn’t TACO’s fault, but instead an utter collapse of a unit that had been at the top of CSGO just a few short years earlier. TACO also dished on Luminosity Gaming in the interview, claiming that the MIBR core had left Luminosity in favor of SK Gaming due to the organization not paying the team a salary. 

Players can catch the full interview surrounding TACO’s long and impressive CSGO career here or on Cortes do Flow’s official YouTube channel.