Aurora routs NAVI 13-8, 13-7 in StarSeries Fall opener

Aurora opened their StarSeries Fall campaign on Sept. 18, 2026, with a 13-8 win on Nuke followed by a 13-7 victory on Mirage over Natus Vincere. The result places Natus Vincere 15th on the live VRS, the lowest position the organisation has held since the ranking system began. NAVI now move to the lower bracket and face an elimination match next against MOUZ.

On Nuke, Natus Vincere built an early 4-0 lead after multi-kills from Drin “makazze” Shaqiri on A. Aurora answered with a five-round streak to turn momentum. Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy picked up a secondary AWP late in the half, but Aurora limited NAVI to a single second-half round and closed the map 13-8. Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo created pressure from lurk positions that repeatedly disrupted NAVI’s setups.

Aurora continued on Mirage, taking a 9-1 lead through coordinated team play and mid-round pressure. A successful pistol round and subsequent force-buy helped the team reach match point, and Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski finished the series with a 1v3 Tec-9 clutch on Mirage to seal the 13-7 win.

Individual match figures highlight the differences in impact. Jimpphat finished the series with 38 kills and a 1.44 rating. Kyxsan contributed 32 kills and the decisive final-round clutch on Mirage. For NAVI, makazze produced strong early multi-kills on Nuke but was unable to sustain momentum across both maps. Mihai “iM” Ivani and b1t provided occasional resistance, with b1t’s secondary AWP keeping NAVI in contention at points on Nuke.

Natus Vincere have recorded three wins since returning from the mid-season break, against 3DMAX, The MongolZ and paiN. VRS analyst Finn “Mischief” Farrer reported that NAVI’s chances of qualifying for the Singapore Major have been negatively affected by the loss. The team’s next match against MOUZ in the lower bracket is an elimination fixture and follows immediately in the tournament schedule.

Aurora’s result marks their largest scalp to date at the event and gives them a win in the opening round of StarSeries Fall. NAVI’s placement on the live VRS and upcoming lower-bracket match set a clear timeline for their next competitive step.

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