Rising esports organization Aurora Gaming was founded just two years ago with the support of title sponsor 1xBet. Today, the team competes in several esports disciplines, including Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, Mobile Legends and Warcraft. However, Asian esports fans are most excited about Aurora Gaming’s line-ups in Mobile Legends and Dota 2. Both teams compete in the Asian region, with the Dota 2 squad led by one of the world’s most accomplished coaches, Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae!
Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, Warcraft, Mobile Legends and Dota 2
Aurora Gaming was founded on 1 March 2022, with the support of international betting company 1xBet, which remains the organization’s title sponsor to this day.
The first line-up of Aurora Gaming was a CS:GO team formed in the summer of 2022. The coach was Serhij “starix” Ishchuk, who previously worked with well-known organizations like NaVi and Team Spirit. By fall 2022, Aurora Gaming added an Apex Legends team, bringing in players from MajorPushers, with Alexander “Wh1te” Sokolov as the coach. He was soon promoted to become the general manager of the entire organization.
The first Dota 2 line-up was formed in November 2023, and by January 2024, the team successfully qualified for the major tournament DreamLeague Season 22, securing 1st place in the Southeast Asia Closed Qualifier. Notably, alongside Intel and the U.S. Air Force, one of the tournament’s sponsors was international betting company 1xBet, whose platform draws over 3 million users monthly. Besides sports betting and gambling games, 1xBet offers an opportunity for anyone to start earning online through its 1xAffiliates program, which connects over 100,000 partners worldwide.
Key benefits of 1xAffiliates include high conversion rates (up to 65% of signed-up players make their first deposit), lifetime commissions of up to 50% for each referred player, automated daily commission payouts, real-time stats, a dedicated support manager and more.
The latest acquisitions of Aurora Gaming in 2024 include the popular Warcraft 3 player Dmitry “Happy” Kostin and a Mobile Legends team based in the Philippines. These decisions show that, together with its title sponsor 1xBet, the organization is placing special focus on the Asian region, where Dota 2 and Mobile Legends are among the most popular games.
Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae: 3 major wins and 7 consecutive appearances at The Internationals
In early February 2024, Aurora Gaming’s Dota 2 fans were in for a real surprise: legendary Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae was appointed as the head coach! Like many other coaches, Lee began his esports career as a player. He even qualified and competed at The International 2015 with MVP HOT6ix. However, he truly reached the peak of his career as a coach for several teams.
From 2017 to 2019, he won three majors with Team Secret. Then he moved to Fnatic, where he qualified for nearly all the majors and two consecutive The Internationals. In 2022, the Korean coach joined Talon Esports and again showcased his top-level skills, securing 3rd place at Lima Major 2023 and Riyadh Masters 2023, as well as qualifying for The International 2023. Thus, in addition to his three major wins, Lee achieved seven consecutive appearances at The International from 2016 to 2023 with four different teams!
In November 2023, all players of Talon Esports decided to leave the organization. Aurora Gaming took advantage of this, offering them contracts and forming a new Dota 2 roster with the 1xBet logo on the shirts. “SunBhie”, who had worked with the team throughout the previous season, also remained in his position.
In 2024, the team competed in nearly all major Dota 2 tournaments, including BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, DreamLeague Season 22, Elite League Season 1, PGL Wallachia Season 1, Riyadh Masters 2024, and The International 2024. The team is still working on finding its rhythm, so it didn’t win any of these tournaments. However, their high-level performances has earned them over US$300,000 in prize money this year alone.
Big wins are surely ahead for Aurora Gaming in 2025, as its coach has repeatedly proven not only his deep understanding of all aspects of the game but also his ability to create a team atmosphere that fosters great victories. We wish Aurora Gaming and their Korean coach “SunBhie” the best of luck in the 2025 season, especially at The International 2025, which is rumored to be held in China.
