Meet swerzieN, Türkiye's next rising star taking OCE CS by storm

We’re a little over two months into the arrival of Türkiye’s latest prospect Buğra “swerzieN” Budak in Australia, and already the 19-year-old has been thrust into the deep end at the region’s first VRS-level LAN.

But while his squad Vantage exited the DFRAG Invitational earlier than they’d like, swerzieN has already left quite the impression. Against Mindfreak in the group stage eliminator, the Turkish rifler delighted, recording a 1.10 HLTV rating and over 50 kills in the narrow 2-1 loss.

“Actually the studio is really good, really comfortable. I enjoyed playing here and meeting some great people,” swerzieN said to DFRAG. He lamented that the squad couldn’t convert strong starts on their maps into more—especially after Vantage upset Mindfreak in the opener on Dust 2.

“We started two maps 5-0 but we still don't know what's happened after, we got cursed I think, we f****d up!” he laughed, at least still in good spirits.

It’s the good spirits and vibes that swerzieN is enjoying Down Under. Even the method in which he reached out to teams here was more casual than one would think, hitting up Vantage CEO Hoackz via his Twitch stream one evening. If anything, that speaks to his commitment and eagerness to rip in.

“Compared to at home, I think here the idea of friendship is really strong,” he said. “If you’re friends with the team you all improve. Everything is a little different on LAN compared to online or staying at the house here, it’s a total different feeling.”

The move here isn’t without its differences compared to home, particularly when it comes to competitive CS. Europe spans millions of players with easy access to practice against the world’s best. In Australia, with a playing population a fraction of that in the Old Continent, swerzieN expected it to be a little quieter.

That said, he’s enjoying the less intense atmosphere of OCE CS. “I think the level here is lower of course, it’s smaller but it’s less intense than Europe,” swerzieN said. “It’s not too bad, really. I’m just getting comfortable here and settling in.”

He may be 9,000 miles from home but Türkiye and its influences on him remain. Many of the country’s fans and players treat the likes of Eternal Fire (and their recent resurgence) as their idols. SwerzieN is no exception, saying he wishes to follow in their footsteps.

“Yeah of course, I look up to them all. They're like our heroes in Türkiye, all the fan’s heroes. When I was a child, when I was growing up I was watching MAJ3R, XANTARES, Space Soldiers.”

“Every Turkish fan thinks they’re impressive, they were the first to do it, and we’re all wanting to follow them as our heroes.”

SwerzieN might be a while away from that level, but if he keeps his form up here in Australia, there’s no reason to believe he’ll get there one day.

Stay in touch with swerzieN via X/Twitter.