ESL Pro League Season 24 will continue the opening round of Group Play with a match between Aurora and 9z. The teams will play a Bo3 with an initial 0:0 record: the winner will move to the 1:0 group, while the losing team will drop to 0:1. Aurora are ninth in the world ranking, while 9z are in 17th position, so the teams approach the match relatively close in ranking, although recent results and the head-to-head meeting give more arguments to the Turkish roster.
ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 24 — FORMAT SPECIFICS
ESL Pro League Season 24 takes place in Katowice with 16 teams participating. The group stage is organized according to the Swiss system, and all its matches are played in Bo3. Aurora and 9z start the tournament in the 0:0 group, so a victory will allow a team to move to 1:0 and get closer to the positive side of the Swiss bracket, while a loss will send the team to 0:1.
The total prize pool of the tournament is $1 million: $300,000 is allocated as the player share, and another $700,000 as the club share. For both teams, the opening series is important in terms of their further route: Aurora will try to confirm their status as a top-10 team, while 9z will get a chance to immediately earn a win against an opponent with a higher position in the world ranking.
HEAD-TO-HEAD — AURORA WON THE LAST SERIES
The presented statistics include one recent head-to-head series between the teams — at IEM Cologne Major 2026. Back then, Aurora won both maps: Dust2 ended 13:5, and Nuke — 13:1. Thus, the current map score in the presented head-to-head is 2:0 in favor of Aurora.
Nuke was especially telling, where 9z managed to take only one round. At the same time, one series does not provide a large historical sample, and the current map pool statistics show that 9z have competitive numbers on several maps. Therefore, the key factor of the new Bo3 will be how successfully the South American roster rebuilds its veto after the previous loss.
CURRENT FORM
- Aurora — instability against top opponents
Aurora approach the match after a mixed stretch. The team lost to Vitality 1:3, but before that defeated them 2:1, and also beat NRG 2:0 and Natus Vincere 2:0. Among the recent results, there is also a 1:2 loss to G2, so stability against strong opposition is still lacking, although Aurora regularly remain competitive in such series.
According to the presented statistics, Jimpphat has the best rating in the roster — 1.15 over the last three months. He averages 0.71 kills per round, has 75.4% KAST, and a +1.11% round swing. Together with woxic, XANTARES, Wicadia, and kyxsan, he forms a roster with enough individual potential to control the series.
- 9z — a difficult stretch before ESL Pro League
9z’s recent results look much less stable. The team lost to G2 1:2, MIBR 0:2, Vitality 0:2, and MOUZ 0:2. The only victory among the five presented recent matches was the series against 5star — 2:0. At the same time, most of the losses came against teams from the upper part of the international scene.
Among the presented players, HUASOPEEK stands out with a 1.14 rating. He has 0.70 kills per round, 73.2% KAST, a 1.17 multi-kill rating, +0.95% round swing, and 77.4 ADR. Together with dgt, max, meyern, and luchov, he remains one of the key sources of firepower for 9z.
MAP POOL & VETO
Statistics over the last 3 months (Aurora | 9z):
- Cache: 50% | 67%
- Dust2: 50% | 57%
- Mirage: 60% | 60%
- Inferno: 57% | 33%
- Nuke: 100% | 50%
- Ancient: — | 33%
- Anubis: 62% | —
Expected veto:
- Aurora can logically remove Ancient. The Turkish roster practically did not use this map in the presented period, while 9z played it three times. This would allow Aurora to avoid unnecessary risk and leave maps in the pool where their statistics are much more convincing.
- 9z have serious reasons to remove Nuke. Aurora won all six presented matches on this map, and the previous head-to-head meeting between the teams on Nuke ended in a crushing 13:1 victory for Aurora. Leaving the opponent their statistically strongest map in a Bo3 would be very risky.
Likely maps:
- Inferno looks like an attractive pick for Aurora. The team has a 57% win rate across seven matches, while 9z have only 33% across six. Anubis would also be a strong direction with 62% across eight maps, but 9z do not have a sufficient presented sample on this map.
- 9z may answer with Cache, where they have a 67% win rate across three matches against Aurora’s 50% across six. Mirage looks like a potential decider: both teams have exactly 60% wins, although Aurora played ten maps compared to 9z’s five. Dust2 also remains a possible option, but it was on this map that Aurora already defeated the opponent 13:5.
KEY DUELS
- Jimpphat vs HUASOPEEK — a clash between the two best players by presented rating. Jimpphat has a slight advantage, 1.15 against 1.14, while HUASOPEEK is ahead of him in ADR and multi-kill rating.
- XANTARES vs dgt — a rifle duel between two experienced players capable of changing the course of key rounds on their own and creating space for their teams.
- woxic vs luchov — a matchup that may determine control of opening duels and long distances, especially on Dust2, Mirage, or Inferno.
PREDICTION
9z have statistical arguments on Cache, a slight advantage on Dust2, and the same 60% as Aurora on Mirage. If the South American roster removes Nuke and manages to get a comfortable pick, the Bo3 structure allows them to create a much more competitive series than in the previous head-to-head meeting.
However, Aurora have better current form, are ninth in the world ranking, and have already defeated this roster 2:0. An additional advantage is their strong numbers on Nuke, Anubis, and Inferno, while 9z have lost four of the five presented recent series. The combination of current form, head-to-head, and map pool depth makes Aurora the favorite of the opening Bo3.
Projected result: Aurora 2–1 9z
