ash on joining Aurora Gaming: “Their ambitions align with mine—to win trophies.”

There’s a real problem in professional Counter-Strike. The schedule is relentless, the travel never stops, and there’s constant pressure from the nonstop cycle of competitions, where players’ breaks are regularly cut short in an attempt to gain an edge in preparation. Imagine the pressure zonic was under to finally win that elusive Tier 1 trophy with Team Falcons, and then his first comments—about the difficulty of the schedule and just how exhausted he was. This is a moment to celebrate, but he’s already thinking about it because it might become the new normal. ...> I’ve noticed that players and coaches have been having a lot of health issues lately, and just by going to the HLTV search bar and typing in “burnout,” I found plenty of stories about such cases. This is becoming common: organizations are putting pressure on players, forcing them to cut back on their scheduled breaks to gain an edge over their competitors.

The Major ended just a few weeks ago, and already several teams that competed there have headed to the XSE Pro League 2026 in China instead of taking a break. I fully understand why organizations feel the need to do this in an extremely tough business environment, but we need to find a balance. In the absence of a real players’ union, I hope this doesn’t become a trend; otherwise, we’ll see far more players and coaches leaving, and the level of Counter-Strike will drop significantly.

I’ve been seeing a therapist regularly all this time, and it’s helped a lot. I constantly use techniques to manage stress and understand my emotions in moments when, in the past, I would have just carried on with my day as if everything were normal. I practice these techniques daily so they become part of my life, and so that when work resumes, I can better cope with stress and pressure. I’ve realized that we all have core beliefs, and changing and accepting them is a key part of understanding ourselves. I strongly encourage people to seek help if they don’t feel right every day—just as I didn’t.

They reached out to me after Fabre told them about his burnout, as well as other personal circumstances that led them to need a new head coach, and the project itself is incredibly interesting to me. Their ambitions align with mine—to win trophies—and I can’t wait to return to a team environment to try to build something special. For those who don’t know: Aurora Gaming is an all-Turkish roster that has featured legendary players such as XANTARES and woxic since mid-2025, and they recently finished in the top 4 at a Major just a few weeks ago, as well as winning PGL Bucharest 2025 last year. What they’ve done for the Turkish CS community is nothing short of magical, and our work will begin shortly after the players have had a good rest.

Working as an analyst at the Major was the next step for me—to see if I could be part of this environment again. It was a step outside my comfort zone at the biggest tournament of the year, and I really enjoyed it. But in the future, I need to better balance my life, or else this will happen again. The responsibility lies with me. I have the knowledge and tools to improve.