Aurora remove soulfly, MAJ3R and Fabre; sign Jimpphat and ash, with kyxsan rumored

If you were online recently, you've probably noticed the rumors about Aurora.

As long as three months ago, SPUNJ was already talking about murmurings that Fabre was out for ash, MAJ3R would be replaced with Aleksi, and that molodoy would join. Now, that’s not exactly how it played out, but it’s not crazily far off.

MAJ3R did really step down, and instead of woxic, soulfly got benched.

I'd also say that why they ended up picking Jimpphat is relatively straightforward. The Finn is arguably a top-3 player in that role set, and he will take over soulfly’s duties perfectly. It was also a great market opportunity, as Jim had already been benched by MOUZ for a while. There is no way Aurora had to shell out big if MOUZ can’t pretend he’s crucial to their future.

What’s less clear is why they decided to replace soulfly at all.

As the stats spell out, he’s good in his roles. None of Aurora’s recent issues can be pegged on him. He’s even improved quite a bit over the last few events, in what looks like a sustainable way.

He can’t possibly be on a large wage, and he seems to be a pretty composed dude.

Hell, he might be one of Aurora’s better English speakers. XANTARES has previously struggled with it on BIG, even if that was nearly a decade ago. All the while, woxic is the clear weakness. Which is probably why molodoy was linked in the original rumor.

As good as Jimpphat is, the jump from soulfly to him won’t be anywhere near as big as the jump from woxic to a real quality AWPer.

We can’t rule out that Aurora knows a deal will be available at a later date; maybe molodoy leaves FURIA once FalleN retires.

For now, that’s all conjecture. The only thing we know for sure, and what seems to be the real highlight for Aurora here, is the change in leadership. Which is a move I am much, much more positive about.

Let me preface that this hasn't been confirmed, but the most recent rumors haven't been wrong yet, so I will assume it's correct. Keeping that in mind, replacing MAJ3R with kyxsan makes perfect sense.

The pros are clear: He is a more consistent fragger, he'll sacrifice as an entry potentially filling the T-side gap left by soulfly, and he has less of a "set" vision of the game than MAJ3R. That last part is especially important because of the coach they signed, the real steal of it all: ash.

Maybe this is overhyping, but ash has proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the scene.

He was the driving force behind the rise of GamerLegion and their inevitable Major final run. You’ll struggle to find anyone with a bad word to say about his coaching. He does everything you need a modern coach to do, and more.

It seems pretty clear that ash will be the leading voice of this Aurora roster now, with kyxsan serving as the proxy on the server to execute.

If Aurora are really serious about becoming a contender, this is a great base to start off on. Wicadia can be a star, Jim will be a great anchor, and ash and kyxsan will be a good leadership duo. Assuming woxic will be replaced soon, that just leaves XANTARES; the clock is ticking now.

This is your contender; don’t waste it.