Aurora claw back to eliminate HEROIC in tense IEM Dallas showdown

Aurora are through to the IEM Dallas 2025 quarter-finals after surviving a brutal series against HEROIC. The Turkish squad dropped the opening map 3-13 on Train but flipped the switch on Dust2 and Mirage, winning both maps to complete the comeback 2-1. The loss sends HEROIC home, while Aurora live to fight another day.

Things started off disastrously for Aurora. HEROIC ran riot on Train behind a monstrous 4k round from tN1R and a flawless CT half. The Belarusian rifler was lights out all series long, finishing with a 98.1 ADR and a 1.38 rating—but his impact wasn’t enough. Aurora bounced back hard on Dust2, with XANTARES and jottAAA leading the way to a clean 13-8 win. jottAAA even pulled off a slick 1v3 clutch in Round 3 that set the tone.

On Mirage, it was neck and neck at halftime (6-6), but Aurora took control late. jottAAA struck again with consistent impact, and XANTARES sealed rounds with clinical spraydowns. HEROIC kept it close, but lacked firepower outside of tN1R. Despite a promising Train, their coordination fell apart under pressure, and Aurora punished every opening.

Team

K-D

+/-

ADR

KAST

Rating

XANTARES

Aurora

48-43

+5

91.1

72.9%

1.23

jottAAA

Aurora

51-40

+11

85.2

74.6%

1.22

Wicadia

Aurora

45-44

+1

80.2

72.9%

1.11

woxic

Aurora

34-41

-7

69.6

67.8%

0.87

MAJ3R

Aurora

30-43

-13

52.8

69.5%

0.76

tN1R

HEROIC

57-39

+18

98.1

71.2%

1.38

xfl0ud

HEROIC

44-45

-1

83.6

74.6%

1.12

SunPayus

HEROIC

36-40

-4

67.4

76.3%

1.02

LNZ

HEROIC

37-42

-5

69.2

74.6%

0.99

yxngstxr

HEROIC

36-42

-6

67.9

66.1%

0.93

Aurora may have stumbled out of the gate, but once they hit their stride, they looked like a top-five team for a reason. With XANTARES firing and jottAAA stepping up as the match MVP, they're shaping up to be a dark horse in the playoffs. As for HEROIC, this one stings—they had a chance to close it out early, and now they're out of the tournament.