Aurora's first match at the Esports World Cup (EWC) did not go as planned, as they lost their opening BO1 to an in-form BIG, who had just come through the Last Chance Qualifier into the main event.
This is the LAN debut for this brand-new international lineup, who have had mixed results online so far — exiting early to FOKUS in the BLAST Bounty, but battling through the StarSeries closed qualifier to secure a spot at the Barcelona event.
After the match, HLTV interviewed ash about the new lineup, the selection process for the Turkish core and new additions, and the early stages of the project.
The coach spoke candidly about some of the issues the team faced in their first month together: the Turkish core needed to adapt to a new language, a new system led by ash and kyxsan, and the arrival of fellow newcomer Jimpphat.
"It's a challenge," he said, "it's three to four cultures coming together at the same time. So for me, sometimes looking at certain situations, I kind of bite my tongue, thinking: 'Okay, this is how we play.'"
He added that in the LAN debut against BIG, once the pressure hit, things became especially tricky.
"I can't believe how many rounds we threw away and how many free kills we missed. It shows how bad we can be at times, and there were so many rounds where we walked out of spawn with no idea what we were doing, something I've never seen in practice.
"This match was painful to watch, but I think that is to be expected in the first game."
However, ash is hopeful about the future—as long as the brand-new Aurora can overcome early tensions and find common ground across all different cultures.
"I still think everything looks very promising in terms of what we've shown in training, how we felt in the matches, how everyone fits together, the overall chemistry, and so on," the coach said.
"We just need to win the first match, I think from then on we have the potential to cause a lot of upsets right now, and in the future build something more stable that can maintain greater consistency at the top level."
Q: Okay, ash, today I'd like to start with your new team. From what I understand, quite a long time passed from the initial contact with Aurora to the final official announcement. Can you tell me how the whole process unfolded, and what ultimately convinced you to say yes?
ash: They approached me a long time ago, saying that basically Fabre wanted to step down, he felt a bit exhausted and wanted to take care of some personal matters. So they were looking for a new coach.
There aren't many coaches who speak Turkish right now, they just wanted to find someone they considered experienced to help take the team to the next level, while also pursuing internationalization. For them, having a coach who doesn't speak Turkish on one side and five Turkish-speaking players on the other really doesn't make much sense. In that case, it would be very difficult for the coach to provide any valuable input. So that's roughly how it all started.
Moreover, within this club, everyone has actually known about this for a long time. I don't think there was any malice or anything like that involved. I think they might have continued working with Fabre, and I think everyone respects him a great deal. But at this point in time, this is the best choice for them.
Q: Can you tell me how the process of selecting new players started? There were a lot of rumors about which three players from the original Aurora core would stay. Can you talk about that first, and what made you ultimately choose to keep this group of Turkish players as the core?
ash: I think it would be a bit silly to give me complete control over all the changes right from the start, because they know these players far better than I do. We had a lot of discussions about who would be the best fit and which players we could sign. The conclusion we reached was that these three were the ones we should keep the most, while we could also find some good options for the new positions.
So I think this was a combined process, they were constantly evaluating what would be best for the future. Then MAJ3R also came over and said: 'Listen, I've been in this business for a long time. Maybe now is also a good time for me to step down.' So it kind of fell into place naturally, and then I said: 'Hey, I think this person could be good, that person could be good too,' and in the end we reached a compromise.
Q: So when replacing these two players, how many candidate options were there at the time?
ash: Fortunately, we signed the two people we really wanted. So in that sense, the outcome is good. However, for certain positions we may have considered other options at the time, but later we felt this person was the most suitable. I think everyone on the team now has a lot of room to grow and great potential. We are very satisfied with the players we signed, and I think in a way we were quite lucky, because the players we were able to sign just happened to be available.
Q: Can you tell me how kyxsan fits into this? He was eventually benched by Falcons, and there's an outside perception that he wasn't the right in-game leader for that roster. How does he fit the style you want to play?
ash: It's actually a great fit. I like the way he does things. I think he explains things very clearly. He has a really good sense of what's happening all over the map. He also has a very good memory. So having someone who is highly motivated and hardworking is always a plus, and I feel like we're aligned on a lot of things. We discuss various issues and evaluate what works and what doesn't based on his feedback.
So for me, so far, he looks like an excellent caller. I feel the way he does things is also very different from MAJ3R, so this is a bit of a change — now the players need to specifically remember what they need to do, we work hard in practice to polish around what we already have, and only make some minor adjustments in official matches. I think there still needs to be some improvement and adaptation in this regard, because I'm not sure if that's how they did things in the past. But so far, he has left a very deep impression on me.
Q: How is the process of bringing all of this together going? When building a new international roster with a new coach and a new in-game leader, people always talk about the different schools of CS, and it feels like this is probably the biggest change possible while keeping the core intact. How has it been dealing with all the difficulties that come with that?
ash: I have to say, this is a challenge. It's three to four different cultures coming together at the same time. So for me, sometimes looking at certain situations, I kind of bite my tongue, thinking: 'Okay, this is how we play.' Sometimes the approach can be a bit casual, but for me, I'm trying to make it less casual, ensuring that whatever we do, there's some kind of philosophy behind it that ties everything together.
And I think, rather than putting the burden of understanding these things on the players, it's better to try to create something a bit simpler for them, because they are also switching to a new language for the first time. It's really not easy for them right now, so having these little rules — in official match moments like today, when the pressure hits, it feels like the whole thing is a bit more likely to break down. We forget these small details. I think that's to be expected, but for now, in training, things look much better. It just needs more time for everything to start running smoothly and for everyone to fully understand each other.
Q: I think one of the main criticisms from the outside about the previous lineup and MAJ3R's way of leading the team was that they relied too much on set plays and too much on grouped-up pushes, with four players flooding the same bombsite at once. Was it difficult to teach them a different style of CS that is perhaps more measured in its pacing?
ash: I wouldn't say it's difficult. I think they've been very receptive, very open to everything we've been doing, and very welcoming of these ideas, and I think so far they really approve of the way kyxsan has been calling on the T side. I also think they like how we play on the CT side.
This is a good thing for me, because when I joined I thought these players had big reputations and, seen from the outside, might be difficult to get along with. But when you get to know them as people, you find it's nothing like that at all. They really want to try what we're doing and give it a fair chance, and I haven't had any real problems with anything so far. So it's been a pleasant start. Now we just need to take what we've been doing in training into official matches.
Q: I also wanted to ask about Jimpphat. Obviously, in the latter part of his MOUZ career, his stats declined quite a bit, and it was clear that after Spinx joined the team, he seemed uncomfortable with some of the positions he was put in and some of the roles he was assigned. What did you see in him that could perhaps be better utilized that made you consider him your top pick?
ash: First, on the CT side, he's someone you can fully trust. He's shown a wealth of experience in that regard, and even when MOUZ were struggling more in the later stages, he still felt pretty good, pretty solid. But when I watched his games, this was no longer the Jimpphat I remembered from when he first broke through at MOUZ. So I was thinking: 'How can I bring more of that out of him again?'
So we've been working hard on this, but I feel that at times he still plays a bit too much of a supporting role, playing it too safe, but getting him to step slightly out of his comfort zone again, that's the way he wants to play. And so far in practice he has been excellent. In official matches, as he readjusts from a supporting role to a star role, it may take a little longer. But he naturally has this ability, and so far in practice he has been absolutely outstanding. The question is just whether he can now translate that into official matches? I have no doubt about that, but I think it may take some time for him to show his best form.
Q: I sense a vague recurring theme, that practice is going well, but official matches haven't gone as smoothly. Obviously, you have now dropped into the elimination zone at the EWC. Similarly, you were knocked out in the first round of the BLAST Bounty, but at least the StarLadder qualifier went well. Can you talk to me about the initial results this roster has achieved so far since its formation?
ash: Yes. The first match we played extremely nervously, I think, this was us back on a LAN stage once again, very nervous. Basically still those same old problems. I think what I can take away from this (against BIG) match is, I just can't believe how many rounds we threw away, and how many free kills we missed. That kind of exposes how bad we can be at times, and there were so many rounds where we came out of spawn with absolutely no idea what we were doing, something I've never seen at all in practice. Practice has always been really good. So to some extent this shows, you know, now the pressure is on, and we need to adapt to it.
But that is precisely the biggest concern — when you face a team in a BO1 that is just as hot. They've played a lot of officials and are fully used to the whole stage environment and everything. Our first match was always going to be a bit scary, and unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. At one point we lost a 1v2 they had no business winning, they were basically just saving. We got plenty of kills in a lot of key rounds, but we just never got our CT-side economy going. So it was definitely hard to watch, but I think that's to be expected in the opening match. We were maybe hoping to sneak through, and then build from there. So now we'll have to do it from the lower bracket, but I don't see any reason why we can't.
Q: Considering this lineup has come with so many changes, expectations had to be kept low at the beginning. But I want to ask, for these five players, for this team, for the rest of this season and next season, what are your expectations — in terms of what we can expect from Aurora, how high have you set your ambitions?
ash: Very high. This team was built to win trophies in the future. Right now it just needs a little time. That's what we've been saying all along. The start will be tough — changing language, changing culture, changing coach and IGL. Everything is very tricky at the moment. Learning everything takes an extra second, and in top-level CS, you don't have that extra second. So I'd say this is a phase in the season that will probably be a bit up and down, and after that we'll aim for a bit more stability.
It's hard to say for now, but I still feel that everything looks very promising in terms of what we've shown in training, how we feel in matches, how we all fit together, the overall chemistry, and so on. We just need to win the first match, and I think from then on, we have the potential to pull off a lot of upsets right now, and in the future build something more stable that can maintain greater consistency at the top level. So yes, like I said, this first stage is the toughest for us, but we kind of hope for more of a honeymoon effect to kick in, so that we can somewhat cover for each other's weaknesses in that sense.