Having crashed out at the hands of GamerLegion in BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1, Aurora have taken their revenge in style by clean sweeping the European side to secure their first win in Stage 1 of IEM Krakow 2026.
VETO
- GamerLegion removed Anubis
- Aurora removed Ancient
- GamerLegion picked Nuke
- Aurora picked Dust2
- GamerLegion removed Overpass
- Aurora removed Mirage
- Inferno was left over
Map 1: Nuke; Pick: GamerLegion; Winner: Aurora
Having lost the pistol round, Aurora managed to get on the board by winning the force-buy in the following round. Levelling the scoreline gave the Turkish side the much-needed confidence that they were looking for, leading to a very proactive approach to their Nuke defence as GamerLegion found themselves getting outmanoeuvred time and time again. The poor start to the map ensured Aurora surmounted a massive lead while GamerLegion scraped in a few rounds by the end of the half to switch sides with a respectable scoreline of 8-4. The story of the first half reflected in the second as GamerLegion once again failed to win against the Aurora force, having secured the pistol. With the first round on the board, Woxic and Co. remained flawless for the remainder of the map, leading to an effortless closure of Nuke with a statement 13-5 scoreline. Dominant across both halves, with rifles as well as a sniper, Woxic was a force to be reckoned with, securing 20 kills and 1.69 IR to give his side the much-needed early lead.
Map 2: Dust2; Pick: Aurora; Winner: Aurora
A clean 4-0 start to the game for Aurora put them in winning ways with the start of the second map before GamerLegion hit the board. Closing their first round with a successful retake, GL managed to rack up 5 rounds in a row to put Aurora behind before Wicadia came in with a 4K on a half-buy put his side back on the board. A close contest first half concluded with Aurora taking the lead by a narrow margin before switching sides. Winning the pistol round in the second half, Aurora’s lead extended to 10-5 as GL started pulling in a few rounds of their own, but not a single consecutive one. Aurora found their momentum once again with Soulfly at the B, finding a 4K with a Five-Seven as GL pushed through the smoke to give a definite round away to a force buy, and winning the following round secured their first win of the event. Having gone into Woxic’s shadow, star rifler XANTARES came in with a strong performance, boasting 20 kills and 1.62 IR to seal the deal for this side.
Aurora’s poor performance against GamerLegion attracted tons of criticism for the side, and judging by their performance today, a lot of work was put in by the side. While opening day performances are not the best thing to judge a side by, their next match in Krakow will be against BLAST Bounty winners PARIVISION, and it goes without saying that they will be tested to their limits.