Aurora’s Rising Expectations Fuel Frustration in Beijing

Aurora avoided early elimination from IEM Beijing by beating G2 in a close series. The result followed a one-sided loss in Aurora’s opening match and gave G2 its second straight last-place finish at a tournament.

The team’s recent results have raised internal expectations faster than its preparation could support, coach Ashley “ash” Battye explained after the match. Aurora is still developing its fundamentals while moving from one event to the next without enough time to practice or review its games.

“There was frustration,” Battye said of the team’s start in Beijing. “We need to stay a little bit more grounded, and just know that right now we aren’t in peak shape.”

Aurora has been traveling between tournaments without returning home. Battye described the schedule as a challenge for a young team that is still learning its systems. The lack of practice has also made it harder to correct repeated mistakes and keep its map pool ready for official matches.

Aurora had not played Nuke in an official match since its previous appearance on the map. Battye said the lack of preparation had made the team easier to target during map vetoes, while maps such as Inferno remained affected by repeated errors.

The team has had little time to review those mistakes together before its next series. Battye explained that reviews were often limited to about 30 minutes and focused on recalling key moments rather than studying full voice communications.

The G2 series included a lost two-versus-five round, while Wicadia helped Aurora recover with a four-kill Scout round. Battye described the team’s results in close rounds as dependent on momentum.

“Right now we’re winning some of these close rounds, so we win all of them, and then we’re losing some of the close rounds, we lose all of them,” he said.

Travel has added to the workload. Aurora has crossed seven time zones and moved from one tournament to another without returning home. Battye cited fatigue and jet lag but expressed pride in the team’s results, with Aurora ranked among the top four in the VRS at the time of the interview.

Aurora will have time to practice before the Major. Battye identified that period as an opportunity to work on the team’s communication, preparation and map pool.

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