Esports World Cup 2025XANTARES powers Aurora to EWC final over Falcons
Aurora are headed to their first grand final since signing with the organization in April.
Aurora are headed to the grand finals of the Esports World Cup 2025, taking down crowd favorites Falcons in a straightforward 2-0 affair.
Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli's men have struggled to find deep runs since taking up the Aurora banner, claiming a third-place finish at PGL Astana but finding little else to celebrate towards the end of the first half of the year. With this win, the Turkish side has secured their first grand-final outing since January, when the team finished runner-up at the BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals.
Aurora will be squaring off against a familiar opponent in the form of The MongolZ in the grand final. The two sides have tussled in four quarter-finals throughout 2025, and each struggled to find deep runs towards the beginning of the year.
Aurora will be looking to catch up to the progress of their rivals, who have now secured a Major grand final outing and back-to-back wins over the titans of Vitality.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| Esports World Cup 2025 | ||
| 24/08/2025 |
12:35
|
Match |
Falcons, conversely, will be taking on Vitality in the Saudi Arabian event's third-place decider, facing off for the first time since the former side added Maxim "kyousuke" Lukin to their ranks.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| Esports World Cup 2025 | ||
| 24/08/2025 |
09:00
|
Match |
The second semi-final of the day kicked off on Aurora's pick of Inferno, where the Turks immediately asserted themselves on the offense. Although Falcons frequently found themselves in man-advantage situations, the international side was unable to reckon with the in-form duo of Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş and Özgür "woxic" Eker, who propelled Aurora to a 9-3 T-side.
Aurora complemented their stellar half with a CT pistol-round victory, immediately putting them on map point. Falcons mustered three rounds of their own as a retort, but this did little to halt Aurora from securing a 13-6 win shortly thereafter.
Aurora managed another hot start on Falcons' pick of Train off the back of a 1v4 clutch from Samet "jottAAA" Köklü, but Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski's troops managed to stem the bleeding, turning a 1-5 start into a 5-7 half heading into the CT-side.
Falcons sauntered into the lead with a pistol round win to kick off their defense, but an impressive 1v3 from MAJ3R and economic woes prevented them from holding onto it for long. With Falcons left with poor buys in the final rounds of the half, Aurora managed to get over the line with a 13-11 win to send their opponents packing.
 Aurora |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 - 24 | +4.73% | 92.1 | 69.8% | 1.54 | |
| 33 - 30 | +2.10% | 79.5 | 79.1% | 1.24 | |
| 27 - 25 | +2.13% | 60.0 | 76.7% | 1.12 | |
| 26 - 27 | +1.61% | 72.8 | 65.1% | 1.06 | |
| 24 - 31 | -1.04% | 69.7 | 69.8% | 0.90 |
 Falcons |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 - 33 | -0.39% | 81.2 | 76.7% | 1.11 | |
| 29 - 25 | +1.13% | 67.0 | 74.4% | 1.03 | |
| 31 - 33 | -4.22% | 81.6 | 72.1% | 0.88 | |
| 23 - 30 | -2.13% | 63.7 | 69.8% | 0.85 | |
| 24 - 30 | -3.91% | 53.2 | 67.4% | 0.81 |
More highlights from Aurora vs. Falcons:
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan
William 'mezii' Merriman
| 
| 
| 
FreePolleChai|Carti
kaat1L
| 
musiquevol1
I_Make_Wrong_Decisions
| 
thereisnobodyhere
THE_ONETAP
Gale18
| 
| 
sziasztok
| 
| 
Arielelelelele
| 
LatvianLoser
| 
shizliNe
garukno
WarpZ
zephyrus1809
Aleksib_MasterMind
LinInABin
SteveAU
runawayMedusa
Romanosky
gillith
| 
kapzw
plugo7
Sergiul
TheSmartestOne
deeslo
| 
Navi_ivaN
pp1p
| 
| 
svempa
ilikemens
SV_TheUnknown
| 
wicadiahayrani
| 
| 
| 
iloviz
Skye620
SilverQuick
NiKozerain_BGods
| 
| 
her-1g
