Aurora's international roster has yet to fully find its form: they showed inconsistent results in the open qualifiers, followed by a Round of 16 exit at the Esports World Cup. Now, the team suffered a 0-2 defeat to G2 in their opening match at BLAST Copenhagen, collapsing after losing 9 consecutive rounds in the latter stages of Anubis.
kyxsan stated that G2's variations in the early rounds caught Aurora off guard, and the team conceded too many first kills, almost every round forcing them to fight in a 4v5 disadvantage; a situation that typically does not occur in practice matches.
Q：Anubis was a very tough match for you, especially in the final stretch where you lost several rounds consecutively. What exactly went wrong on that map?
kyxsan: I think their playstyle was somewhat different from usual. They caught us off guard in the early rounds that we lost, and after that, it was hard for us to adapt.
I feel like we gave away too many first kills, making almost every round feel like we were playing 4v5, so it was hard to execute. This kind of situation usually doesn't happen in scrims, so it's a new problem for us. I think this is the main reason.
Q：Overall, how would you evaluate this series? Did you anticipate that facing G2 would be a tough matchup?
kyxsan：Of course, G2 is a strong team, and we are a new team, so we can't expect to easily defeat G2, nor can we take it for granted that we will win. I won't say we are the favorites in this match.
I think we played very poorly, completely different from our performance in practice matches. So I'm a bit annoyed, because in practice, I saw a different team, different players, different strategies, and different people.
Our performance differs between practice matches, and that's the most frustrating part right now. So the next goal is to replicate everything from practice matches into official games as much as possible.
Q: Do you know why it's so difficult to translate training performance into actual competition?
kyxsan: I'm not sure yet because this is only our second offline event, and I haven't spent much time with everyone on the team.
One possible reason is that our playstyle differs somewhat from the past Aurora. We are trying new ways to approach matches and also have different pre-match preparation methods. So this might be a change for all the players on the team, and they need some time to adapt.
Q: I was just about to ask about this. As the commander of this new Aurora, how was the process of adapting to and developing this new strategy?
kyxsan：Overall, it's going well. I feel like the training sessions have progressed smoothly, and I've been able to implement what I wanted to bring to this team. The players and coaches have trusted me from day one, which is very important to me.
As I said, the recent matches haven't had the best results, but the games have indeed been quite difficult for us, because we can't bring everything we do in training to actual matches.
But overall, I'm very satisfied with our progress. I feel like we've come a long way since the first week when we first started playing together.
Q: How much of this strategy came from your ideas? How much from ahhhh? And how much did the original team members contribute? What kind of combination do you all have?
kyxsan：I would say, it's mainly handled by me and ashhh. Of course, XANTARES also provided a lot of help on the CT side.
I want every player on the team to have the freedom to do so, and they do. If someone wants to create new content or bring in new tactical ideas and concepts, everyone can do it. What I want to do is combine all of these elements and then, based on what I see on the server and the information my teammates give me, make calls during rounds.
So I would say, everyone has the freedom to do things, but in the end, it's me and ashhh who call the shots.
Q: How much longer do you think the team needs to reach the level you want?
kyxsan: We didn't set a specific timeline for ourselves, but I think it's reasonable to have some expectations for the team after a few months.
It's still hard to say right now, because as I mentioned, this is only our second offline event. We formed the team just a month ago, so many things aren't fully ready yet—the playbook is still incomplete, and we don't have much experience playing together.
I think it will take at least a few more months, but it also depends on the players. Some adapt faster, others take a bit longer. Hopefully, in a few months, we'll be much stronger than we are now.
Q: With such a dense schedule, does it make things easier or harder for you? Clearly, you're gaining a lot of competitive match experience, but perhaps there isn’t much time to train and perfect your tactical plans.
kyxsan：I think there are both advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, formal matches allow you to learn more than training matches. In training matches, some teams have different playstyles, and sometimes you can't judge your true skill level based solely on those.
Formal competitions can help you gain more experience and know more clearly what you did right and what you did wrong.
But the downside is, sometimes events come one after another. Having the occasional break, or more time to conduct theoretical research and refine your playbook, is actually very important. So as I said, this thing has its good and bad sides.
Q: Last question. Compared to the Falcons you previously played for, how challenging is it for you to lead this new Aurora team?
kyxsan: I would say it might have been a little less challenging because the external expectations for Falcons were somewhat higher.
But here, we also face significant pressure to perform because I still believe this is an excellent team. Aurora has long been ranked among the world's top five or ten, a consistently strong first-tier team, so we too must deliver results.
It's not easy, but I'm used to it because I feel like things were worse when I was with the Falcons. I felt like the entire community then didn't want us to win; here, maybe some people do want us to win (laughs), so in a way, it's a bit easier.