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We continue to keep an eye on the action at PGL Astana 2025. The tournament with a prize pool of $1,250,000 has a group stage.
NaVi and Aurora are fighting for a place in the play-offs. Both teams are in the basket 2-1 and from the main stage of PGL Astana 2025 they are separated by one series.
Let's try to understand who of the pair NaVi - Aurora will be stronger and will qualify for the play-offs, and who will have to play in the last chance grid.
Let's go.
NaVi's form
We open the NaVi vs Aurora match with an analysis of NaVi's form. In this match the "born to win" play the first number one with odds to win around 1.7.
NaVi took BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A without any problems and qualified for the Major in Paris. Before the only Major of the season, Natus Vincere took the top 4 at the IEM Masters Rio 2023.
The Paris tournament turned out to be a failure for NaVi. Top-11 is hardly a decent result for a team of Natus Vincere's status.
- NaVi roster: w0nderful, b1t, Aleksib, jL, iM.
Before the Long Conner IEM Cologne NaVi made a global Reshuffle, translating the roster into English. In addition to electroNic, Perfecto and npl who left, jL with Apeks, iM with GamerLegion and Aleksib, who previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas, joined the team.
With the new lineup, NaVi made their debut at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. "Born to Win" managed to earn a place in the autumn finals by finishing in the top 4-6.
At IEM Cologne 2023 Natus Vincere played two matches. First, they lost to MOUZ with a score of 0-2, and then defeated OG in Bo3. At the end of the top championship NaVi reached the top 8, which can be called a good result for the then renewed roster.
Then there were a number of appearances at major events with very good results. NaVi entered the top 8 at Gamers8 and took the top 2 at ESL Pro Legue Season 18.
The key tournament of the season for "yellow-black" can be called IEM Sydney 2023. There NaVi for the first time in a long time played without their main headliner S1mple, whose place was temporarily taken by coach B1ad3. Andrew tried, but NaVi could not jump above the top-12.
After S1mple left the active roster, NaVi started the game with w0nderful. He made his debut for the Yellow-Blacks at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. Natus Vincere played him very well, reaching the top 4. In the match for the Grand Final Ledgeili future champions of the tournament and the best team in the world Vitality.
The year 2024 started with high notes - they became the best at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier A. However, further on, the performance slipped a bit and NaVi took the top-12 at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, as well as the top-2 at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024.
Esports World Cup 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a solid 2-0 win over FURIA. Entering the play-offs, "born to win" fell to FaZe Clan in the first round. NaVi were again stronger than FaZe, but this time they won with the score 2-0. Then there was a rather difficult match against MOUZ, where NaVi lost on the first map with the score 1-13, but then they got together and made it to the grand final. In the final match they played against G2 Esports, where they won 2-1, thus winning their second prestigious tournament of the year.
At the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a confident victory over BIG. But against Liquid "born to win" did not fare well, losing in a dramatic situation without defuse kits on the 3rd map. In the re-match with BIG they were stronger again, confidently shutting down the German club with a score of 2-0. However, they failed to move further into the top 6 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At the ESL Pro League Season 20 NAVI became the winners of Group A, passing Lynn Vision, NiP and Eternal Fire without any problems. NaVi started the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs with a victory over their principal rival - Team Spirit - and a confident 2-0 win. Next, they defeated G2 Esports (2-1) and defeated Eternal Fire in the EPL S20 final with a score of 3-2.
At IEM Rio 2024 NaVi qualified from Group A in second place, Ledgeiv Furia. In the play-offs, they beat Vp (2-0) and Heroic (2-1) in turn. And in the grand finals NaVi defeated MOUZ (3-1), thus becoming the champion of a major tournament for the 4th time in a season.
However, NaVi did not manage to be the best everywhere and everywhere. For example, at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where "Born to Win" failed to qualify for the play-offs.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, NaVi won two matches, beating Fnatic and Sinners, but then lost to MOUZ in the match to qualify for the Major. However, they managed to reach the Elimination Stage at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 at the second attempt, beating sAw 2-0.
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Elimination Stage Natus Vincere Long They started with a victory over Liquid, and then lost to MIBR and Spirit. They knocked GamerLegion out of the tournament, but fell short against Heroic, leaving the World Championship one step away from the play-offs.
BLAST Bounty Season 1 Long They started off with a win over Imperial Female and then defeated Astralis. In play-offs they played against paiN and it was a very difficult match for the Ukrainian team, but still they won. And then - Spirit, losing 1-2 and TOP-4 in the end.
NaVi got to IEM Katowice 2025 by direct invitation, they started the group stage with a confident victory over FURIA with the score 2-0. Then a key 2-1 win over Spirit and an easy win against MongolZ in the match for seeding in the play-offs. However, after getting straight into the second round of play-offs, NaVi failed to cope with their eternal rival Spirit and ended up in the top 4.
At ESL Pro League Season 21 NaVi Long Sogpeg started with an unexpected defeat by sAw, but then, albeit with difficulty, managed to take the series against TYLOO and paiN. In the play-offs match they beat G2, and they beat them 2-0. But at the actual Long Segment play-offs - a 0-2 loss to MongolZ and a final top-8 finish.
At BLAST Lisbon 2025 NaVi Long Sogpeg started with a match against FURIA. They won with the score 2-0. Then won a crucial match against MongolZ (2-1). In the match for seeding in play-offs Ledge and Eternal Fire. The play-offs did not last long: "Born to Win" lost in the first round against Team Spirit, taking the top 6.
They started IEM Melbourne 2025 with a tough win over MIBR (2-1). In the match to qualify for the play-offs on the top grid Ledge and Falcons with a 1-2 score. Finding themselves in the last chance net, they outplayed FlyQuest in a very tough match. In the match for the play-offs they lost to Liquid, thus taking the top 8 at IEM Melbourne 2025.
At PGL Astana 2025 NaVi Long Competitors started with a confident victory over M80, after which they beat BIG. However, they failed to beat MongolZ in a 2-0 match, leading them to a 2-1 basket.
NaVi Mappool
NaVi's best map in 3 months is Inferno. The team played there 5 times with a winrate of 60 per cent.
On Mirage and Anubis NaVi has 50% wins. On Ancient and Nuke the team played 4 matches each, on the others - 2.
Vertigo are not playing.
Aurora uniforms
We continue our review of Aurora vs NaVi with an analysis of Aurora's form. In this match they are playing as the number two with odds to win at around 2.34.
Eternal Fire started actively making their way to the title tournaments since the 2023 season. Then the team won ESL Pro League Season 17: European Conference, thus securing a place in EPL S17. The Main Event ended miserably - only top 20 and not out of the group.
Participated in BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B. There they took TOP-14, which was not enough to reach the only Major of the season.
In the middle of the year, Eternal Fire showed their best form. The Turks finished in the top 4 twice, but did so at TIR-B tournaments. They broke into the top four at CCT North Europe Series #7 and Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1.
- Eternal Fire roster: XANTARES, jottAAA, MAJ3R, Wicadia, woxic.
Before the ESL Pro League Season 8 Long Round, MAJ3R's team played on CCT Central Europe and Pinnacle Cup V. Both championships ended for them on top 8.
Eternal Fire played their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18 against Cloud9. They played as the number two and got a natural result: 0-2, but with 11 and 12 rounds respectively.
In the first match of the lower grid Eternal Fire played against 9INE. The Turks were clearly on form, as they managed to run over a pretty tough competitor without much difficulty. The match ended with a score of 2-0 in favour of Eternal Fire. As a result, the ESL Pro League Season 18 run ended very well: the team barely qualified for the play-offs of the tournament, where they managed to win two series. EF left Astralis and BIG behind, but Ledge and Natus Vincere.
EF later made the Top 16 at Roobet Cup 2023, where they finished Top 16 and Top 2 at PARI, Please. In 2024, Eternal Fire attended PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier B, where they finished in the Top 2, advancing to European RMR A.
IEM Katowice 2024 started with the Play-In stage. By the way, they passed it very easily: 13-1 against BB Team and 2-0 against Rebels Gaming allowed them to get into the group stage. In the first match of the group stage they also easily defeated Falcons (13-9; 13-6), and then showed a very cheerful CS in the match against the top-2 team of the world FaZe Clan, but Ledge were defeated on three maps (1-2). At the end of IEM Katowice 2024 Eternal Fire took the top 12, and then started to play at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A.
At the qualifying tournament, the Turks finished in the top 8, which gave them the opportunity to qualify for PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024, which is true in the first stage.
At PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Eternal Fire are feeling very good so far. The Turks have 2 wins and 1 loss: they beat Mongolz and Pain, but lost to Heroic 0-2 in the match for the next stage. However, they succeeded in their next attempt: they defeated GL with a score of 2-1.
Eternal Fire debuted in the legends stage with a surprise win against Vitality. However, in the second round they lost to MOUZ, which brought them to 1-1 score. And then there was a real sensation: 13-1 against FaZe Clan and 2-1 score for the Turks.
Eternal Fire got into the play-offs of the tournament after the victory over Vp. The match ended with the score 2-1. However, they failed to move beyond the first round, as NaVi were stronger than the Turks and closed the series with a score of 2-0.
They also attended ESL Pro League Season 19, where they failed, and quite seriously. The Turkish team took TOP-21-28. Then diametrically opposite situation at CCT Season 1: Global Finals and then - not leaving the group at YaLLa Compas 2024.
Eternal Fire got to IEM Cologne 2024 thanks to the ESL world ranking, but there they took the top 20, without having time to show anything. Then there were equally failed tournaments like IEM Rio 2024, with TOP-12 and failure at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B with TOP-14.
The 2025 Long Season was followed by qualifiers at BLAST Bounty Season 1. There EF beat ENCE and Falcons. At the final stage of BLAST Bounty Season 1 Eternal Fire beat Vitality. They went on to defeat G2 Esports and advance to the grand finals, but lost to Spirit 1-3.
Eternal Fire played at IEM Katowice 2025. The Turkish club managed to get to the play-offs stage, but failed to defeat MongolZ in the first round.
They also played at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, where they finished in the top 8, which is not a good result, but not a nightmare either.
Eternal Fire started ESL Pro League Season 21 with an appearance in the first round of the group stage: there the Turkish club played 3-1. Once in the "real" group stage Eternal Fire beat MIBR, but lost to 3DMax and Liquid. In the match for life they defeated paiN. They managed to get through to the play-offs after beating Falcons in the basket 2-2. In the play-offs Long Sogpeggo was up against Spirit, where they lost 1-2.
BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 Eternal Fire Long Sogpeg with a clean win over Liquid. Later, they beat G2 in a very tense game, although with a score of 2-0. In the next game Eternal Fire defeated NaVi to advance directly to the semi-finals of BLAST Open Lisbon 2025. However, they failed to move on, as MOUZ got in the way and knocked EF out at the Top 4 stage.
At PGL Bucharest 2025 Eternal Fire became Aurora. They managed to reach the play-offs, but there Aurora lost to CoL in the first match, thus finishing PGL Bucharest 2025 on the TOP-8.
At PGL Bucharest 2025 Aurora Long Co-op started with a loss to BIG, but then beat HOTU and NiP.
Aurora Mapple
The best map is Nuke. There are 4 matches and 4 wins.
Anubis (7 matches, 85% wins), Mirage (4 matches, 75% wins) are doing very well. Vertigo - 71% wins in 7 matches, Inferno and Overpass - 3 wins in 5 matches.
History of head-to-head meetings between Aurora and BIG
NaVi and Aurora have not yet played each other in official matches after the rebranding of the latter.
Predicted result of BIG - Aurora at PGL Astana 2025
In this match I am expecting a beautiful Counter-Strike 2. After 3 rounds of PGL Astana 2025 both teams showed about equal level of play and it's not something outstanding. I am waiting for a full-fledged Bo3, but a NaVi victory.
Bottom line: NaVi victory.
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FORZE Reload
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BIG AcademyWatch match
