ash: "A team doesn't really work if you just throw in star players"

Few Counter-Strike coaches in the world have the actual keys to the project like GamerLegion's skipper Ashley "ash" Battye. It's been nearly five years since he joined the German organization and helped them go from a small tier-two team to Major grand finalists and a solid top 10 team in the world, thanks to his good eye for spotting up-and-coming players.

ash and GamerLegion made yet another good run in 2025 as they punched a playoff ticket at IEM Dallas despite having Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand standing in for Henrich "sl3nd" Hevesi. Dust2.us' Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore talked to ash after their defeat to Falcons in the quarterfinals, and discussed their performance at the tournament, how they keep putting up good results despite roster changes, and what the plans are for the future as the team didn't qualify for the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with key snippets underneath. All questions and answers below have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

You performed well despite having a stand-in and came really far, but ultimately fell to one of the most star-studded teams in the game. How are you feeling at your finish at this event?

I'm pretty proud about it, to be honest. It was a chance for us to potentially have two poor events in a row, and with something we really want to prove ourselves on. So, be able to make playoffs again, another top eight, I think it's our fourth one this year now, it's really impressive.

And, also getting on stage and playing a better game because last time we were disappointed that we kind of fell apart. So, it's just much better.

You've been consistently making playoffs and playing well against the top teams in the world [...] What goes into that to sort of get the most out of your players, despite not having a m0NESY-like superstar?

I think we're pretty well set up. I think everyone's doing their job really well, and everyone understands what they need to do in their roles as well. So, a team doesn't really work if you just throw in star players and they just want to do their own things. I think everyone here kind of knows exactly what's expected from them, and they're doing a really good job.

Obviously, there's a lot of improvement still to make, but if you all pull together in the same direction and you're working hard, I think there's always a chance you can eventually build something special as long as you have a rough idea of what you're doing. We're working hard, and the guys really want to succeed, and they're willing to do anything for the team.

We saw acoR this weekend as a stand-in, a reunion for you and him after he played on the previous iteration of GamerLegion. Based on what you saw from him, do you think this is going to be a good event for him to try to find his way back onto a team?

It depends on how teams look at it, to be honest. If a team just look at the stats, which is kind of a poor way to do it, then I think you see it doesn't look the best for him. [Editor's note: acoR averaged a 0.88 rating in 14 maps played at IEM Dallas]

I probably haven't seen the most from him at this event individually, but what he's added to the team has been massive, and we've been lacking a lot in extra voice and someone who really understands quickly what to do. And, for him to come in and step into a team with two, three days of practice, in which we played five or six games, it was always going to be super hard for him.

He did an amazing job, and everyone really enjoyed playing with him as well. If people look at the experience he brings, the skill level he clearly has, and you give him more time, then yeah, he absolutely deserves to be on a much better team. Hopefully, teams will realize this as well.

I'm sure GamerLegion has a lot to be proud of as an organization for what you've been able to accomplish as the head of their CS program, and you sort of repaid that trust by staying with them. Now that we're heading into the second half of 2025, do you think your trust was well-placed, and the same with GamerLegion?

Yeah, I think so. It's kind of something we've been building up for a long time. GamerLegion obviously paid that respect back to me, and they've put a lot of faith into me, so it feels like it goes both ways, right?

We built this thing together, and I feel like this is something that isn't finished yet, and we can go a lot further. I just want to be here and try to make that happen.

With the team unfortunately not heading to the Major, this is the end of your season until we come back from the player break. Are you going to furlough the guys early? Are they going to go on vacation now, or what's the next month look like until the formal break?

Yeah, we'll go on break earlier, and we're playing the FISSURE LAN in Serbia after the break starts. So, we'll come back earlier as well. Obviously, it's not ideal for us as most teams will probably still be on their break because they finish later from the Major.

So, practice won't be the best, but we're going to do what we can. We'll have a bootcamp before as well, and we're just going to prepare for the next months. We'll still approach it the same way as any other time, we'll just come back in a little bit earlier.

Stay tuned to Dust2.us as we have more interviews from IEM Dallas and ESL Impact League S7 finals coming out, and of course, there will be plenty of content during the BLAST.tv Austin Major too.