Tauson on ash: "I hope he has a fast recovery and we see him back soon"

This weekend GamerLegion attended FRAG Miami 2, securing a third-place finish over M80. The result secured the team a spot at the upcoming IEM Kraków 2026 LAN, which is a significant result amidst a tumultuous time for GL, with the team fielding a stand-in in Miami and an interim coach at the moment.

Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke to Sebastian "Tauson" Tauson about these challenges, Ashley "ash" Battye's decision to step down from the team, and Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski's addition to the lineup, among other topics.

Find the video interview below, with a full transcription underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

How is the team feeling coming out of that day three win over M80?

I'm super happy because we are playing under weird circumstances with a stand-in. We're basically playing with two IGLs so it's a bit of a weird mix but we practiced a bit before with ztr and I'm very happy we managed to secure a spot in Kraków.

What is the setup with ztr and Snax sharing space in the server? Is Snax fully in charge or is ztr still giving input and calling some of his strats?

We are playing all of Snax's stuff, but on Train ztr is calling. On all of the other maps it's Snax calling. We're playing his play style and ztr has been playing PR's roles. I think he's been doing an amazing job and prop to him.

At the end of the series we saw an extensive tech pause take place. Did they affect GamerLegion in any way and do you think it played a role in those final rounds due to the momentum being broken for M80?

I think M80 lost some momentum. They won a few rounds in a row that got their momentum back. We had a very good T-side and then M80 won a lot of rounds on their T-side. After those tech pauses it ruined their momentum so I'm kind of happy it happened.

Were you surprised when ash stepped down last month?

Yeah I was pretty surprised when ash stepped down, it was pretty unexpected. I just hope he has a fast recovery and we see him back soon because he's an insane coach and I hope he will be back soon.

How has your interim coach, imd, stepped up in the plate in ash's absence?

He's been a coach many times before, and since 2016, so he has a lot of experience and it's very natural for him. He's been our assistant coach for a year and I love working with him. He's a very smart guy and I love to work with him.

What are your expectations for the team in 2026 after your strong start here?

We want to come back into the invite scheme again, the Top 16 or Top 20, so we can get invites again. That's the goal right now.

Next up for the team is BLAST Bounty Winter 2026's online stage. How are you feeling about that event coming up?

It's going to be fun to play some tier-one teams again, and I'm looking forward to it.

What have early days been like working with Snax?

You can already from day one feel the experience on this guy and he's a very fun guy. He's looking at me right now so I cannot say anything bad about him. He's a great guy.

Are GamerLegion thinking of coming out here again later in the year for the VRS points?

Definitely if we need the VRS points we'll be back here.