Aurora smash Astralis to lock in ESL Pro League Season 23 Grand Final berth

Astralis were left helpless against an inevitable Aurora, as the Turkish squad locked in their first Grand Final appearance of 2026 at ESL Pro League Season 23. Despite the Danish organization picking up the first map in a close affair, Aurora swiftly bounced back to dominate proceedings on the next two maps.

Astralis demolished despite initial map win vs. Aurora

It wasn’t a good day at the office for Astralis, who were vying to make their first Grand Final appearance since PGL Astana 2025. Their series got off to a great start, a back-and-forth Nuke eventually going their way in a tense 13:11. It was all decided by one eco round win at 11:11, a round that Astralis had no business winning. Aurora, having lost the first map in such close fashion, could not afford to let things get out of hand on map two.

Rather than running out of Steam, Aurora instead started to run away with things on Dust2. A 10:2 half arguably flattered Astralis – it was never that close. Aurora, desperate for the decider, wasted no time in getting Astralis out of there, finishing it off 13:2. XANTARES topped the scoreboard with 17 kills, but Astralis rarely made him work for anything on this map. A truly dismal showing for the Danes.

Given Astralis’ superior Inferno win rate to Aurora over the last three months, the deciding series should have favored them. But they were completely unable to put the last map aside, and Aurora raced to a 7:5 first half. A respectable haul from Astralis, but they never once felt in control, never able to gather the momentum required to really put a string of rounds together. Heading into the second half of the decider, Astralis finally won their first pistol round of the series. 1/6, but the only one that mattered in the moment. It could have been the runway needed to get the win, eventually reaching 10 rounds. It was all they could find, falling apart with the finish line in sight, Wicadia finding sheer CT impact round after round. 13:10 the scoreline, and Aurora had reached the Final of ESL Pro League Season 23.

Despite the loss, it’s impossible for Astralis to see this as anything but a positive step in the right direction. Should they have done better here? Sure. But baby steps – they need to learn to walk before they can run.