The first CS2 Major is all said and done, and it was won by NAVI, a team coached by one of the most legendary figures in Ukrainian Counter-Strike history, B1ad3.
The previous Major, the BLAST.tv Paris Major, was won by Vitality, coached by a legendary figure from the annals of Danish Counter-Strike history, zonic.
Although they haven't yet won Majors as coaches, which could be down to their (mostly) limited time as coaches, three members of the Polish Golden Five all find themselves at the helm of FaZe, ENCE, and G2.
This isn't a coincidence.
In fact, when you look at most teams in the top 20, although some may have played at lower levels, almost every coach has some experience playing Counter-Strike as a professional.
But why is that?
Of course, becoming a coach involves a tactical element.
You will be expected to help prepare your team for their opponents, devise strategies and tactics, and help IGLs mould a style - but that isn't the only criterion.
When it comes to coaching, experience is key. The experience that is gained from playing the game at the highest level and the understanding of the pressure that comes with that can't be undervalued.
All this brings us to one of the newest Counter-Strike coaches, Xyp9x.
The Dane has recently joined MOUZ as an assistant coach, his first new move since joining Astralis in 2016.
It's a move that came out of nowhere and was a bit of a shock, considering many would have said he could still do a job for tier-two teams, and the four-time Major winner has already set a high bar for himself by saying that he aims to become "the best coach in the world".
But what are Xyp9x's hopes of achieving that goal?
We spoke to Bubzkji to find get his views on his former teammate's new journey.
"It's a long-term goal, for sure," Bubzkji told BLAST.tv, "but he’s still young when you consider he’s getting into the coaching space."
This is an inarguable fact, at just 28 years of age, he's only one year older than Aleksib, who just won the PGL Major Copenhagen, and one year younger than rain, the experienced FaZe rifler Aleksib defeated to win said Major. The gap extends even further when you consider that karrigan is still going strong at 33.
But what about other coaches?
sycrone, the man Xyp9x will be supporting at MOUZ, is also just 28. NEO, TaZ, and kuben, the aforementioned trio from the Golden Five, are 36, 37, and 35, respectively.
Bubzkji furthers this point by saying, "The best ones [zonic and B1ad3] are both currently 37 years old" - this gives Xyp9x a full nine years to catch up to their greatness, but just like they did, he has a head start from "already understanding a lot of the tactical aspects of tier one Counter-Strike."
"Assistant coach for me is the perfect move for him, he can observe and learn without having to deal with all the social aspects yet," Bubzkji told BLAST.tv.
He also has an exceptional head coach to learn from at MOUZ. In the last few years, sycrone has not only been integral to the development of siuhy, torzsi, xertioN, and Jimpphat, but he has also successfully brought them into the main MOUZ team and helped become a top-five team in the world.
That's an impressive resume, considering he only began coaching in 2021.
sycrone isn't the only elite coach Xyp9x has spent time with during his career. It's impossible to forget zonic's roars from behind Astralis as they swept the CS world in 2018 and 2019, and the influence of zonic on Xyp9x is something that Bubzkji says will "definitely help."
However, Bubzkji quickly says that "CS moves so fast nowadays, he’ll eventually have to learn everything by himself."
But who better to do that than a four-time Major winner?
Very few can boast about the success Xyp9x has had in Counter-Strike, and watching just one clutch compilation will tell you enough about his exceptional brain for the game. Now, he has to allow himself the time to grow once again.
"Xyp9x will likely evolve into a main coach in the next one or two years," says Bubzkji. While that will feel like a long time, allow us to remind you that the BLAST.tv Paris Major was somehow already a year ago.
As Bubzkji said, Xyp9x's goal of becoming the best coach in the world is a long-term one. Still, his playing career and the time it took for Astralis to become so great will have already prepared him for the necessity of patience when overcoming adversities.
We're happy to watch another legend stay close to the game.
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