kyxsan on Aurora Gaming’s advancement to the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 grand final: “This is a huge step forward for us.”
Aurora Gaming captain Damian “kyxsan” Stoilkovski spoke in an interview at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 about the victory over Team Vitality, assessed his team’s progress, and reflected on changes within the squad.
On the victory over Team Vitality
It was a tense match. It’s always tough to play against Vitality—they’re obviously the best team in CS history. I think our mental toughness saved us in this match. No one got discouraged after losing on Inferno—we knew we had to win. Our team simply kept our cool and won the decisive map, Nuke.
On Aurora Gaming’s progress
Before this tournament, I said that our main goals were to beat a few Tier 1 teams and gain confidence. After defeating NAVI in our first match, we realized we could perform at the highest level, and then we beat Vitality. Reaching the grand final is a huge step forward for us. I think we’re moving in the right direction now.
On changes in the team’s atmosphere
Between tournaments, our team worked hard on the mental aspect of our game. Now we’re better at letting go of past setbacks and moving forward with more confidence. I think our communication has changed just as much. We’re trying to communicate more calmly and cut out the noise in stressful situations. These changes are really helping us.
Yesterday, Aurora Gaming defeated Team Vitality in a StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 upper bracket match with a 2–1 map score (13–7 on Anubis, 11–13 on Inferno, and 13–8 on Nuke) and secured a spot in the tournament’s grand final.
Photo by Sophie Barrowclough, BLAST.
