After lifting the trophy at ESL Pro League Season 23, NAVI have guaranteed a top four finish at BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 after a 2-0 win over Aurora in the group stage. The international roster will now head straight to the semifinals, while the Turkish side starts their playoffs run in the quarters.
Team Rosters – NAVI vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam
| NAVI | Auroa |
|---|---|
| Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi | İsmailсan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş |
| Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen | Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli |
| Mihai “iM” Ivan | Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın |
| Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov | Özgür “woxic” Eker |
| Drin “makazze” Shaqiri | Caner “soulfly” Kesici |
| Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (C) | Sezgin “Fabre” Kalaycı |
Match Recap – NAVI vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam
- Aurora removed Ancient
- Natus Vincere removed Overpass
- Aurora picked Anubis
- Natus Vincere picked Nuke
- Aurora removed Mirage
- Natus Vincere removed Inferno
- Dust2 was left over
Anubis – NAVI break Aurora’s stronghold again – 13-8
The match started with a clean B split from NAVI’s T side, taking a near-flawless round. That was converted into a two round advantage as Aurora saved their pennies for a full buy. Even with guns though, NAVI were ready for every move from Maj3r and co. continuing their roll.
Aurora finally managed to take one round on their CT side in round six thanks to a soulfly multikill. Five in a row went the Turkish side’s way, with the stars of Aurora all finding key moments. With the scoreline tied 5-5, woxic stepped up to the plate with his AWP battering NAVI out of A to ensure a 7-5 lead at halftime.
On the CT side, NAVI once again picked up the opening pistol, but this time Aurora forced into the following round with two AKs around Mac10s. NAVI, however, held on tying up the score early in the second half. With iM on fire, and his teammates playing their roles well, rounds quickly slipped away from Aurora’s control as NAVI rushed towards the finish line.
A single round went the T-side’s way, while NAVI cruised to a 13-8 half. iM closed the map out with 23 kills on the board, while Makazze joined him towards the top with 18.
Nuke – NAVI pull the map back – 13-10
A rare outside pistol wrap started Nuke off well for NAVI. Aurora’s pistols made round two quite deadly for NAVI, but a missed flash from Wicadia from heaven ultimately spelt another lost round. It took a heroic lobby play from woxic, and a perfect flank from XANTARES to get Aurora their first on Nuke, but NAVI were quick to answer back to keep their lead.
With the AWP in woxic’s hands, Aurora finally found their rhythm on the CT side, the sniper finding multikills round after round to bring his team back into the map. Just like Anubis, after an early NAVI lead, the half closed with a 7-5 lead for Aurora.
Moving over to the attack, Aurora secured their first pistol round of the series thanks to a well-executed B-take. That propelled them to a comfortable lead, with double digits secured, as NAVI finally brought guns out in round 16. Those guns flipped the script, as NAVI’s defence suddenly looked unbreakable. Aurora tried a number of different plays, but none found the success needed as w0nderful cleaned up with his AWP. Not a single gun round went Aurora’s way, and NAVI closed the map out 13-10.
Series Statistics – NAVI vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026
| Player | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAVI makazze | 37 | 13 | 26 | 92.3 |
| NAVI iM | 34 | 9 | 25 | 93.6 |
| AUR soulfly | 31 | 8 | 29 | 67.2 |
| NAVI w0nderful | 28 | 6 | 26 | 58.1 |
| AUR woxic | 28 | 7 | 26 | 73.0 |
| AUR Wicadia | 27 | 5 | 32 | 67.8 |
| NAVI b1t | 26 | 2 | 26 | 53.3 |
| NAVI Aleksib | 22 | 15 | 27 | 59.7 |
| AUR XANTARES | 22 | 5 | 33 | 58.8 |
| AUR MAJ3R | 22 | 10 | 28 | 57.9 |
Editor’s Note: After being written out of trophy contention earlier in the year, NAVI have returned to the top following the exact timeline B1ad3 outlined. Somehow, the Ukrainian mastermind remains the exception that proves the rule. While every other team peaks within three months of being put together, NAVI can somehow peak at the right time to become a force to contend with at the major.
They still need to be tested against the best in the world, particularly Vitality, but as it stand they might be the only team who can give the Dan “apEX” Madesclaire-led behemoth a run for their money in Cologne.
