Aurora narrowly avoid reverse sweep vs Legacy to win PGL Masters Bucharest 2025

Aurora have defeated Legacy 3:2 in the Grand Final of PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 to secure a first Tier 1 LAN victory for many of Turkish Counter-Strike’s most prominent names, including MAJ3R, XANTARES, Wicadia, and jottAAA. While it looked like we were in for a reverse-sweep, the kind that could kill a team with the fragilities of Aurora right now, the Turkish lineup were able to stop the rot and get this win over the line.

Aurora make tough work of Legacy after runaway start

Coming into the Final of PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, few were under any illusion about who the favorites were here. Legacy, despite winning the CS Asia Championships 2025 just a couple of weeks ago, were on paper the weaker team in this matchup. The two teams actually faced off in PGL Bucharest 2025 back in April, with Aurora running out 2:0 winners, but that was before Legacy’s recent meteoric rise.

But despite Legacy’s uptick in form, it wasn’t enough to take down an ever-so-slightly superior Aurora on the day. The first map was a close contest, with Aurora just edging it out 13:11. A 13:8 follow-up on Mirage put Aurora 2:0 up in the series, and it was always going to require a miracle if Legacy were to come back into this one.

The Fake Comeback

To Legacy’s credit, they didn’t lie down and die on map three. They fought through double OT to take a map win on Train, which left Aurora feeling just a little nervous. More needed, sure, but a sign of life from the Brazilians. The momentum continued right into map four on Inferno, with Legacy storming to a 9:3 T-side start. That was more than enough to see out a 13:8 win, tying up the series after a rough start. Sweaty palms all around for Aurora.

Coming to the Nuke decider, Aurora found themselves in a nightmare scenario. Legacy have been Nuke specialists of late, and had a 3:1 record at the map at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025. But in the end, those statistics didn’t matter. Despite Legacy going 11:8 up, the Turkish players were able to fully battle back and secure a 13:11 win. The biggest sigh of relief.

Aurora can finally call themselves LAN trophy winners, just as this lineup really started to look like it had run out of steam once and for all. XANTARES and MAJ3R get that elusive LAN win after all these years of trying. Sure, you could argue that Aurora were always the favorites to win PGL Masters Bucharest 2025. But there have been other tournaments where they were seen as similar top dogs, in which they haven’t been able to get over the line. Now, it’s all about keeping the momentum for Aurora heading into the Major, and forgetting that they really could have lost this one.

Legacy’s stock keeps rising with every event

So it’s heartbreak on the day for Legacy. But even while losing, their stock as a team has risen considerably once more. It’s now two consecutive Grand Finals for Legacy, albeit at events missing the real best CS2 teams in the world. Still, for a roster that has floundered in the realm of irrelevance for so long, you have to give props to lux and his team for putting themselves in contention like this.

Resilience. Check. Firepower. Check. A strong identity in how they play Counter-Strike. Check. They’re almost the complete package, and you have to admire what they’re doing right now. Remember, many of the top teams go through these “breaking through” periods where they slowly show themselves as being capable of beating the best. That’s where Legacy sit at the moment.

Are Legacy going to challenge for the Major? No, probably not. They’re still a long way from competing with the very best, but we now get to see just how high their ceiling really is, and that’s an exciting prospect. Keep your eyes on Legacy for the rest of the year and into the early days of 2026.