Aurora Gaming

Last updated

Aurora Gaming
Aurora Gaming logo.svg
Short nameAurora
Divisions
Founded2022
Location Serbia
ColorsCyan, black [1]   
Main sponsor 1xBet
Website auroragg.com

Aurora Gaming, or simply Aurora (stylized in all caps), [2] is a Serbian esports organization. Founded in 2022, the org fields professional rosters in Apex Legends , Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), and Dota 2 competitions.

Contents

Founding and sponsor

Aurora Gaming was founded in 2022 in Serbia. [2] Their main sponsor/partner is 1xBet. [3] In November 2023, their CS2 roster appeared in an ad camapign with Russian adult film actress Eva Elfie; the ad received criticism, with some fans calling it "misogynistic". [4] 1xBet is one of both Aurora's and Elfie's main sponsors. [4]

History in Apex Legends

A Serbian org, Aurora competes in the EMEA region for the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) competition. [5]

ALGS Year 3

Aurora played with an all-Russian squad to being the 2022–23 (ALGS Year 3) season, with the players previously completing on Team Empire roster, [6] from which they were dropped when Team Empire left competitive Apex in August 2022. [7] On 4 November, Aurora signed the roster consisting of "RANCHES", "cleaveee", and "Maliwan". [8]

In EMEA play, Aurora was dominant during Split 1, winning the region. [9] [10] This qualified them for the Split 1 playoffs, but they encountered visa issues which marred Aurora all season. [5] [6] [9] These visa issues rendered them unable to play in the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs, held in London. [10]

During the ALGS Split 2 Pro League, Aurora had a middling performance and Alexey "Mailwan" Rusinov stepped down from the active roster, with Danila "Sunset" Soloviov filling the vacant roster spot. [9] Their performance improved and they were able to qualify for the Split 2 Playoffs as the EMEA region's ninth seed. [9] However, visa issues further complicated Aurora's competitive efforts, as Sunset was forced to miss the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. [9] Maliwan returned and filled-in for Sunset during the competition. [11] In the 2023 ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, they selected drop spots alongside other teams on both the Storm Point and World's Edge maps. [12] [13] After a 31st-place finish in the Split 2 Playoffs, Aurora disbanded the roster in August. [5] [14]

Later in the month, Aurora would re-enter Apex competition, signing the then free agent Fire Beavers roster. [5] [15] This team consisted of Kiryl "9impulse" Kostsiu, Lev "taskmast33r" Grigoriev, and Syvatoslav "ojrein" Korochinsky, with the former playing as the team's captain. [16] They qualified for the 2023 ALGS Championship, held in Birmingham. [10] However, visa issues once again came into play, with Jose "Uxako" Llosa and Keenan "Tax" Mackey, serving as substitutes for Aurora. [16] Ultimately, 9impulse received his visa, though taskmast33r was denied entry to the U.K. [17] [18] They instead began the tournament with "Uxako" playing the third spot on their roster. [10] Internal team disagreements with Uxako occurred and after the group stage, Aurora attempted to make a swap to Tax. [18] However, ALGS officials denied Aurora's roster swap. [17] As Uxako was registered as a starting player for Aurora in the tournament, a swap to a sub was only allowed in a case such as illness. [17] 9impulse and ojrein would finish the tournament playing as a duo, and Aurora finished the Championship in a disappointing 36th-place. [18]

ALGS Year 4

In December, Aurora benched taskmast33r. [10] Konstantin "Hardecki" Kozlov would complete the Aurora roster as their third player. [19] [20] During EMEA regional play in the Split 1 Pro League, the team performed well, securing a spot in the Split 1 Playoffs. [21] In March 2024, 9impulse requested Apex Legends publisher Electronic Arts (EA) to send out official invites to the 2024 ALGS Split 1 Playoffs LAN location, in order for players to be proactive in applying for travel visas. [22] Other pro players spoke up in solidarity of 9impulse. [22]

Heading into the 2024 ALGS Split 1 Playoffs, Hadley Vincent of Dot Esports wrote that "Aurora is known by most as a wildcard team", and cited professional player "Zer0" of DarkZero concurring with that assessment. [19] They are also known as an aggressive team, with their play notably unorthodox in relation to the game's meta. [19] [20]

In Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2

Aurora Gaming also fields rosters in Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) and Dota 2 . [23] Aurora's CS2 roster won the Skyesports Masters 2024 tournament, defeating OG by a score of 3–1. [24] [25] The win clinched a berth in the Skyesports Championship 2024 tournament. [24]

On 13 November 2023, Aurora signed the former Talon Esports roster, the strongest in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region, after Talon and the roster mutually agreed to part ways. [26] [27] The roster consisted of Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon, [lower-alpha 1] Armel "Armel" Tabios, Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong, Worawit "Q" Mekchai, and Chan "Oli" Chon Kien. [26] In March 2024, Armel was benched. [29] Aurora shortly thereafter announced Artem "Lorenof" Melnik as their new mid laner. [30]

Rosters

Apex Legends
Aurora Gaming Apex Legends roster
PlayersCoaches
HandleNameNationality
9impulseKostsiu, KirylBelarus
ojreinPerry, RhysRussia
HardeckiKozlov, KonstantinRussia
Head coach

Anatoly "Wrugb" Belousov


Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Source: [31]

Counter-Strike 2
Aurora Gaming Counter-Strike 2 roster
PlayersCoaches
HandleNameNationality
dekoZhukov, DenisRussia
KENSIGurkin, AleksandrRussia
Lack1Boldyrev, ViktorKazakhstan
NorwiErmolin, EvgenyRussia
r3saltFrolov, EvgenyRussia
Head coach

Stepan "brain" Sivoronov


Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: 5 April 2024 [lower-alpha 2] .

Source: [34]

Dota 2
Aurora Gaming Dota 2 roster
PlayersCoaches
HandleNameNationality
23Teeramahanon, NuengnaraThailand
JabzJirawong, AnuchaThailand
QMekchai, WorawitThailand
OliChon Kien, ChanMalaysia
LorenofMelnik, ArtemUkraine
Head coach

Lee "Sunbhie" Jeong-jae


Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: 16 March 2024 [30] .

Source: [28]

Notes

  1. Teermahanon's handle is now listed as "23" on Aurora's website. [28]
  2. Esports organization 1win announced their new roster, including the signing of lattyk, on 5 April 2024. [32] lattyk had previously been on the bench for Aurora. [33]

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References

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