NAVI take down Aurora to win ESL Pro League Season 23

NAVI have secured their first Tier 1 trophy win since IEM Rio 2024 by defeating Aurora 3:1 to win ESL Pro League Season 23. The victory marks the first trophy since adding makazze, a positive sign of things to come after claiming the throne from previous back-to-back EPL winners (and non-attenders this time around), Vitality.

NAVI stumble on Anubis but come through 3:1 winners

The ESL Pro League Season 23 Grand Final kicked off on Dust2, where Aurora looked a far cry from the team that smashed Astralis 13:2 on the map just yesterday. Instead, they were utterly farmed by a dominant w0nderful, which would become a recurring theme in this series. The young AWPer looked full of confidence, including some important clutches that helped NAVI keep a stranglehold over Aurora. His 1.95-rated performance was key to a Mirage that ended 13:7.

A @w0nderfulof CLUTCH TO CLOSE THE HALF 🤩#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/EcIGx8uUEH

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 15, 2026

Up next was Anubis. Aurora on Anubis always feels like a foregone conclusion, and spoiler alert: they won. It was far from comfortable, though, another w0nderful 25-kill masterclass taking this one the full distance at 13:11. Losing Anubis would have put a complete stop to Aurora’s hopes in this series, but thanks to a chart-topping performance from IGL MAJ3R, they were alive.

Nuke was up next, and Aurora managed to find some early momentum to put together a 7:5 half. The only problem: that’s seven CT rounds. On Nuke. When the sides flipped, Aurora’s T sides ran into a NAVI brick wall time and time again, mustering only one single T round as NAVI romped to a 13:8 win. Who was the difference-maker? w0nderful, of course, with a ridiculous +10.61% round swing ensuring all of his kills had some kind of impact on the game. It was a map to forget on the other side of the server for XANTARES, Aurora’s prize jewel putting up a 4:14 scoreline. His reputation in Playoffs has suffered over the last year plus, and this is another dismal showing to add to the pile.

After three maps, Aurora looked devoid of energy coming into Dust2. NAVI raced to a strong early lead, and it wasn’t until the second half that Aurora finally discovered some momentum. NAVI reached map point, but struggled to get the series over the line. When things were finally starting to get out of hand, step up w0nderful with a 1v2 clutch to finish it off. It could only ever have been him.

After so long, NAVI are champions once more. Will this be a one-off or something true to build from over the next few months? It will surely be one of Counter-Strike’s most interesting stories to watch.