German organization BIG have officially released Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dortkardes from his contract. The player has been released prematurely to be allowed to pursue his wishes to be part of a fully Turkish lineup in Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
Daniel Finkler, CEO and Co-founder of BIG, highlighted the player’s intention to compete in a Turkish CS:GO lineup as the reason behind the termination of the 26-year-old’s contract:
“Today we are saying thank you and goodbye to XANTARES. We made the decision to fulfil XANTARES’ wish and to prematurely dissolve his still-active player contract. Thereby, we would like to contribute to helping XANTARES continue his playing career with a Turkish team. From the bottom of our hearts, we wish him all the best and much success with his new team and would like to thank him on behalf of everyone for his achievements and successes with BIG. The same goes for our outstanding Turkish community. Thank you for your fantastic support throughout the years.”
Daniel Finkler on Xantares’ release
XANTARES did take time to adjust to the surroundings at BIG, especially in terms of the in-game communication and synergy, in general. However, the 26-year-old boasted an HLTV rating of 1.13 during his time at BIG, winning four trophies including the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 – Europe under the organization.
This latest development adds further legitimacy to rumors floating in the csgo scene about the formation of a Turkish superteam featuring XANTARES alongside compatriot Ozgur “woxic” Eker. The former mousesports star recently announced his return from a brief hiatus along with confirmation that he had already managed to find or build a five-man stack, with the players searching for an organization to compete under.
The stack is also likely to include Bugra ‘Calyx’ Arkin, who was last seen playing for GORILLAZ, a stack that features former fnatic member Robin ‘flusha’ Ronnquist. There are reports that Omer ‘imoRR’ Karatas is also part of the Turkish superteam XANTARES is leaving BIG for.
Update: The rumored Turkish super team has been signed by Eternal Fire.
