«I don't know how to put my emotions into words right now», — Team Falcons coach has retired

Team Falcons coach Kurtis Aui_2000 Ling has decided to retire. He cited burnout from his professional career as one of the reasons:

This lifestyle and the constant travelling have become too much for me. Right now, I want to explore other aspects of life. To be honest, I probably would have retired last year if we hadn’t won. I think I’ve been coming to this decision for quite some time now.

Aui_2000 thanked the fans and noted that he would share his thoughts in more detail later:

I never could have imagined living this life. I don't know how to put my emotions into words right now. Thank you to all of you for making it possible to go on this journey. I'll write a blog at some point when I've processed more. Love you all.

Playing career

Aui_2000 achieved his greatest successes as a player whilst playing for Evil Geniuses, with whom he won The International 2015 and the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2015. He also achieved top placings at major tournaments playing for Cloud9 and Team NP.

Aui_2000 is the only player of Canadian origin to have won The International. He also holds the record for the most professional matches played on Visage (128 matches and 82 wins).

Coaching career

As a coach, Kurtis helped Tundra Esports win The International 2022 and secure top placings at a number of Tier 1 tournaments.

His coaching career with Team Falcons was even more successful: the team became champions of The International 2025 (where Aui_2000 became the first three-time TI champion) and won nine major tournaments, whilst also finishing in the top three in a further ten.

 Kurtis named the triumph at TI5 as the most emotional moment of his career:

I think it’s hard for me to pick just one. When you’re a player yourself, there are so many emotions. I particularly remember my first The International with Evil Geniuses (TI5) — that’s definitely when I felt the most emotions. The final against Tundra (TI11), to be honest, turned out to be too one-sided. But the other final (as coach of Team Falcons at TI14) was also very interesting.

At The International 2026, Team Falcons failed to defend their championship title. The team finished the tournament in 7th–8th place, losing to Team Liquid. According to Aui_2000, he doesn’t know what will happen to the Falcons roster in the new season — he hasn’t been interested in it, as he doesn’t plan to continue his professional career.

It is worth noting that Team Falcons support player Andreas Cr1t- Nielsen has also announced his plans to retire. You can find out about the transfers that took place following The International 2026, as well as rumours of possible roster reshuffles, in our article.

As CyberScore previously reported, Team Falcons mid-laner Stanislav Malr1ne Potorak spoke about how his life had changed following their victory at The International 2025 and commented on the dynamics within the team.