Xantares: A beacon of hope for BIG Gaming's CSGO Roster

BIG Gaming is one of the eight teams with the 'Legend Status' at the upcoming CS: GO Major. They will not have the same team as during the previous major having brought on Xantares to their team. The 23-year-old has been one of the most skilled players in the Turkish scene for a long time. He has put together some amazing individual plays during his time on Space Soldiers.

However, the young player was on Space soldiers for a very long time. During his time on Space Soldiers, the team was a very inconsistent one. However, Xantares maintained his positioning and performance throughout the years despite the lack of consistency for Space Soldiers. For Space Soldiers, they knew how to play around Xantares and use his high skill level to their advantage.

BIG Gaming and Xantares

It was not a big surprise to see Xantares move out of the Turkish Space Soldiers roster onto BIG Gaming. BIG has fielded a German lineup under the leadership of Gob B. However, they have added Xantares to their team as he was the most talented individual not to be on a top team in Europe.

So how does Xantares fit into BIG Gaming? After all, BIG is an International team with communications in English. As we heard from Smooya yesterday in an HLTV interview, İsmailcan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş is not fluid in English.

Just because it's XANTARES! Dude, XANTARES is the best player... literally in the entire world... I swear it! He and tabseN will be top 25 players this year. I think we're going to win will many events and do well at both Majors this year, but XANTARES alone, if he improves his English, he'll at minimum be a top 5 player in the world. His skill is just so undeniable. In practice so far, he puts up a minimum of 35 kills in every game. That sort of stuff you can't teach, you know? So, hopefully, gob b brings him into the system and shows him some things. I am really excited.

There is none who can deny the skill level of the Turkish player. He has a very hyper-aggressive playstyle. His first aim accuracy is one of the best in the world. With his insane skill level, he is not afraid to take aim-duels and win these individual match-ups.

Gob B needs to utilise the raw talent on Xantares

Gob B and Xantares need to work together developing their playstyle and call-outs.

Gob B understands the limits of his players as well as their peaks. In the previous lineup, Gob B was always trying to figure out new ways of allowing Smooya space and confidence he requires to perform well. While many of these problems still exist, they have increased firepower on their roster.

Xantares Performance Graph: Maintaining consistency above 1.20. Source: HLTV.org

Xantares' time on Space Soldiers saw the Turkish team constantly allow him the space to work his aggressive playstyle. The Space Soldiers players knew that Xantares is the recipe for their success. Their strategy and tactics revolved around this star player. And on BIG Gaming, we also see a similar performance from the rest of the team.

Of course, Xantares outperforms most of the players on a consistent basis on BIG Gaming. In yesterday;'s match against Cloud9, we saw the German players hand over the only AK 47 to Xantares.

BIG Gaming Family

With BIG Gaming, they will want to integrate Xantares into advantageous positions. The BIG gaming team is known for its grenade usage all over the map. The damage inflicted on the opposition with the grenades softens up their opponents before the start of the actual clash. With Xantares, this can reach even greater lengths of efficiency and better results.

However, they need more time together in order for the players to fully understand Gob B's vision. With Xantares, BIG Gaming has a wonderful opportunity to improve results and become a strong contender in the International scene. They are currently playing at the Eleague CS: GO Invitational and will continue their CS: GO Journey at Katowice in February.