Aurora entered the tournament with a fully Turkish roster, ready to bring pride to their country during Stage 3 of the IEM Cologne 2026 Major. Monte came into the series riding a single match win streak, although their solid 63 percent win rate over the previous three months favored them on paper.
However, meeting almost no resistance from their opponents, Aurora took the series home with a decisive 2:0 victory across Nuke and Anubis.
Ali “Wicadia” Yalçın and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş delivered amazing performances for Aurora, capitalizing on every opportunity to firmly secure their advantage.
Monte entered this matchup as the undeniable underdog, and the swift defeat made it abundantly clear that they still have a long way to go in their overall development.
Nuke – Aurora climbs the Monte on Map 1
Two promising opening rounds and a great initial display from Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş made Aurora slightly too confident, as they quickly ran into a brick wall in round three.
Despite this brief stumble, the first half ended with a comfortable 8:4 advantage for the Turkish squad.
Both XANTARES and MAJ3R were instrumental in building this lead thanks to their stellar performances on the server.
On the opposing side, a strong individual showing from Oscar “AZUWU” Bell during the first half was simply not enough to help Monte gain the upper hand before the break.
Ali “Wicadia” Yalçın and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş carried Aurora to their first map victory against Monte in absolute style.
Despite impressive individual performances from Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov and Arnaud “afro” Drapier, who secured 19 and 17 kills respectively, Monte simply could not stop the Turkish squad from reaching the finish line.
Aurora closed out Nuke with a decisive 13:10 scoreline to take the series lead.
Anubis – A masterclass from Aurora
Aurora enjoyed a dominant start on Anubis, securing five consecutive rounds to build an early 5:0 lead. However, Monte showed incredible resilience, completely erasing the deficit to push the halftime score to a deadlocked 6:6.
Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli and Özgür “woxic” Eker carried the load for Aurora, posting 11 kills each by the break.
On the other side of the server, Arnaud “afro” Drapier, Oscar “AZUWU” Bell, and Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov were the primary forces keeping Monte firmly in the game.
Total destruction awaited Monte in the second half, as Aurora dropped only a single round to close out the match.
Özgür “woxic” Eker shone the brightest for the Turkish squad, putting 17 crucial kills on the board.
afro and Azuwu did their absolute best to keep Monte afloat, but their efforts ultimately proved to be to no avail.
Aurora confidently took the victory on Anubis with a dominant 13:7 scoreline, officially securing the overall series win.
