kakafu relieved of coaching duties at BIG

Former ALTERNATE aTTaX coach xenn is stepping in on an interim basis.

Alexander "⁠kakafu⁠" Szymanczyk's time as BIG's coach has come to an end, the German organization have announced.

Sebastian "⁠xenn⁠" Hoch, formerly of ALTERNATE aTTaX, will take over on an "interim basis" after joining as an assistant coach in January.

"I was sad that I didn't get more time with the new roster," kakafu said to HLTV in a comment. "BIG will always be a part of me and I wish everybody the best moving forward."

The Austrian took over from Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik in May 2024, a promotion from his previous role as assistant, and helped stabilize the team during a difficult first season back as a German-speaking team.

But BIG have never broken the top 10 or made playoffs at a Big Event; a plateau that has cost kakafu his job.

xenn led ATTAX to IEM Cologne 2024's play-in

It was kakafu's second stint as BIG coach after a year in the role from 2017-2018, where the team made the playoffs of the PGL Krakow Major with the aid of a controversial jump bug.

New coach xenn arrives with invites to IEM Melbourne and PGL Astana accepted, and with BIG all but secured in the Major Regional Qualifiers thanks to their placing of 20th on the Valve Global Standings.

BIG are now:

Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz
Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa
Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro
Can "⁠kyuubii⁠" Ali
Marcel "⁠hyped⁠" Köhn

Sebastian "⁠xenn⁠" Hoch (interim coach)

BIG #20 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzJon 'JDC' de CastroKarim 'Krimbo' MoussaCan 'kyuubii' AliMarcel 'hyped' Köhn Alexander 'kakafu' Szymanczyk Jon 'JDC' de Castro Age: 24 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 936 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Sebastian 'xenn' Hoch Age: 29 Team: BIGC Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz Age: 29 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 2517 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.70 Fatih 'gob b' Dayik Age: 37 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.85 Maps played: 980 KPR: 0.56 DPR: 0.67 Can 'kyuubii' Ali Age: 20 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 580 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa Age: 22 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 946 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.61 Marcel 'hyped' Köhn Age: 23 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 779 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.63 ALTERNATE aTTaX Marc 'Askan' DeterdingMarcel 'Cl34v3rs' KlosLeon 'OneLion' DeuchertFlorian 'FoG' GloddekQuang-Anh 'hayanh' Nguyen Alexander 'kakafu' Szymanczyk Age: 35 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.89 Maps played: 20 KPR: 0.59 DPR: 0.69