XANTARES Returns to Aurora’s Main Roster

XANTARES Returns to Aurora’s Main Roster

Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş is back in Aurora Gaming’s active roster, official confirmation came via the organisation’s X (formerly Twitter) account on August 5, 2025. He missed IEM Cologne 2025 due to family reasons, where young stand-in Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç filled in for him and helped the team score a 9th–12th finish after an opening win against Ninjas in Pyjamas.

It was Aurora’s second failure to reach playoffs in 2025—a disappointing follow‑up to their 1‑3 group-stage exit at the BLAST.tv Austin Major earlier this year.

How Aurora Got Here: Background & Roster Timeline

On April 5, 2025, Aurora made a major shift: they disbanded their previous Russian-speaking CS2 roster and signed the entire Eternal Fire lineup, including XANTARES, woxic, MAJ3R, Wicadia, jottAAA, and coach Fabre.

Under their old banner, the Eternal Fire roster had achieved top finishes: quarterfinals at the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024, runner-up at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade S2, and ESL Pro League Season 20. Their transfer positioned Aurora as a rising Turkish-powered force in global CS2.

As of now, Aurora is currently ranked #9 in the world rostered by HLTV’s team rankings.

 Looking Ahead: Impact & Upcoming Events

With XANTARES back, Aurora approaches BLAST Bounty Season 2 at full strength, starting their campaign on August 8, 2025, in an online opening match against FlyQuest.

XANTARES brings strong individual metrics—his HLTV rating has hovered around 1.16, KPR ~0.80, DPR ~0.67 over the last three months.

In contrast, stand-in xfl0ud, though showing promise, has slightly lower kill/game stats and is still seen as a support-level fill‑in player rather than a long‑term replacement.

 Final Thoughts

Aurora’s decision to reintegrate XANTARES comes at a crucial juncture—after lackluster performances in two recent Tier‑1 tournaments. His return restores the core Turkish superteam that showed elite results earlier this year. Now, with Bounty Season 2 kicking off, all eyes will be on whether he and his teammates can regain their momentum and deliver stronger results on the international stage.