Vitality have returned to the Grand Finals once more, this time taking down Aurora in the semi finals of the BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026. The world’s best made quick work of Aurora, taking them down in two quick maps as İsmailсan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş went missing in a pressure series once more.
Team Rosters – Vitality vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam
| Vitality | Aurora |
|---|---|
| Dan “apEX” Madesclaire | İsmailсan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş |
| Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut | Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli |
| Shahar “flameZ” Shushan | Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın |
| William “mezii” Merriman | Özgür “woxic” Eker |
| Robin “ropz” Kool | Caner “soulfly” Kesici |
| Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (C) | Sezgin “Fabre” Kalaycı (C) |
Match Recap – Vitality vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam semifinals
- Aurora removed Overpass
- Vitality removed Anubis
- Aurora picked Inferno
- Vitality picked Nuke
- Aurora removed Dust2
- Vitality removed Ancient
- Mirage was left over
Inferno – flameZ drops 21 to seal the win – 13-5
The most dominant Vitality wins often come from the barrel of flameZ’s weapons. And the rifler was on-fire from the very start of Inferno, opening the pistol round with two kills. That gave Vitality the financial runway to take a strong 5-0 lead. Aurora brought coach Fabre onto the mic ahead of their second gun round, and the tactics clearly worked, getting Aurora a bombplant on B. The round, though, nearly slipped from their grasp, until MAJ3R stepped up with a brilliant triple to lock-in that first round win.
While the highlight moment did get the crowd hyped up, Aurora themselves still looked cold in the server. One more round was all they mustered in the half, as Vitality led 10-2 at halftime. Any chance of an Aurora comeback would have to start with a pistol round. But the entry-duo of apEX and flameZ absolutely tore through the A-site enroute to another round win.
Often the hero for the Turkish side, w0xic was monumental in round 14, using his MP9 to devastating effect, bringing Aurora back into play. But the absence of XANTARES was too hard to overcome, and Vitality closed the map out 13-5.
Nuke – ZywOo roars alive late to shut down Aurora – 13-5
Vitality looked ready to wrap the series up in two as flameZ sprinted into hell to sabotage the A defence in the pistol round. From there it was a repeat of Map 1, with Vitality putting together five dominant rounds in a row. The Aurora captain was the difference maker early on Inferno, and he once again stepped up on Nuke, first dropping two Ts on A for his team’s first round win, then following it up with a beautiful 1v2 clutch on B.
That broke Vitality’s economy, and should have given Aurora an easy third round, but flameZ apparently did not receive the memo. The youngster showed his impeccable aim, finding three with the Tec-9, before winning the 1v1 against soulfly with time on his side. The half closed with Vitality leading 9-3 once more.
Changing the script for just a second, Aurora managed to answer Vitality’s pistol win with a force-buy. But the unkillable ZywOo turned the tides again, finding three massive kills to stem the bleeding quickly. With every ounce of energy depleted, and the world’s best player turning up the heat, Aurora quickly crumbled, with just five rounds to their name.
Series Statistics – Vitality vs. Aurora – BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026
| Players | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIT flameZ | 37 | 9 | 22 | 100.5 |
| VIT ropz | 32 | 5 | 20 | 86.0 |
| AUR Wicadia | 30 | 6 | 32 | 83.3 |
| VIT ZywOo | 28 | 12 | 18 | 78.0 |
| VIT mezii | 26 | 16 | 20 | 78.2 |
| VIT apEX | 22 | 15 | 20 | 76.3 |
| AUR MAJ3R | 21 | 12 | 28 | 86.7 |
| AUR soulfly | 16 | 3 | 27 | 52.4 |
| AUR woxic | 16 | 5 | 28 | 50.8 |
| AUR XANTARES | 14 | 5 | 30 | 49.8 |
Editor’s Note: After tying prime Astralis’ record of most top fours in big events Vitality are continuing their march through Rotterdam, annihilating Aurora enroute to another grand finals appearance. Despite having their first dominant period in 2025, the 2026 Vitality looks even more unbeatable. Every single star player is hitting their peak at the moment, with ZywOo seemingly playing with a point to prove this season.
All dominance must eventually come to an end, but at the moment it seems unimaginable how any team could topple Vitality. Especially when nearly every squad already made their roster moves last year, and seem unwilling or unable to make changes once more. For now, fans can simply watch history unfold.
