Aurora have finished third at ESL Pro League Season 24. On October 11, 2026, they beat Spirit 2-0 in the third place decider. Spirit, who entered the match as the top-ranked team in VRS, had to settle for fourth.
This result matters because it shifted the rankings at the very top of the scene. Aurora climbed one place in VRS, while Spirit dropped two. In addition, both teams went home with a share of a sizable prize pool, so the match carried real weight even without a trophy on the line.
Aurora Win Both Maps in Mirage and Anubis
The map veto began with Spirit removing Inferno. Aurora then removed Ancient, and Spirit picked Mirage. Next, Aurora picked Anubis. After that, Spirit removed Cache and Aurora removed Dust2. Nuke was left as the decider map. As a result, it was never needed.
On Mirage, Spirit’s own pick, Aurora won 13-9. Aurora took the first half 7-5, and they won the second half 6-4. Spirit therefore could not turn their map choice into an advantage, and Aurora took a 1-0 lead.
Anubis was Aurora’s pick, and they made full use of it. They won 13-6, with the halves ending 9-3 and 4-3 in their favor. In this way, Aurora closed out the series 2-0 and secured third place.
Wicadia Is the Top Performer With a 1.53 Rating
Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın was the best player of the match. He finished with a 41-25 kill-death record, a +3.08% swing and 98.6 ADR. In addition, his KAST was 82.9%, and his Rating 3.0 was 1.53.
Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo was also strong for Aurora. He posted a 30-23 record and a 1.40 rating. Meanwhile, Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş went 33-28 with a 1.21 rating, and Özgür “woxic” Eker finished at 27-23 with a 1.07 rating. Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski ended at 24-27 with a 0.99 rating.
For Spirit, Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov was the best player. He had a 30-27 record and a 1.15 rating. Danil “donk” Kryshkovets followed with a 28-31 record and a 1.01 rating. However, the rest of the lineup struggled. Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich finished with a 0.95 rating. Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia had 0.77, and Boris “magixx” Vorobiev had 0.76.
.@wicadiacs starts the third place decider with an ACE 💪
#ESLProLeague https://t.co/6xA6wHOrrk
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 11, 2026
VRS Changes: Aurora Move Up, Spirit Drop Two Places
The match also changed the VRS standings for both teams. Aurora started the day with 1796 points in sixth place. They earned +45 points for the win, so they now have 1841 points. As a result, Aurora moved up one place and are now fifth.
Spirit started with 1970 points in first place. They lost 21 points for the defeat, which leaves them with 1949 points. Therefore, Spirit fell two places and are now third.
Prize Money and What the Result Means
Aurora earned $30,000 for third place, plus a $90,000 club share. Spirit received $20,000 for fourth place, plus a $65,000 club share. Finally, the result gave Aurora a boost in the rankings and a strong finish to the event. Spirit, on the other hand, lose the top spot in VRS after a clean 2-0 defeat.
For Aurora, the win over the number one team shows they can beat the best opponents in a best-of-three series. Wicadia’s 1.53 rating was the main reason for that. For Spirit, however, only sh1ro and donk finished with a rating of 1.00 or higher. The team will now look to bounce back and win back the lost VRS points in the next events.
