The newly formed international Aurora squad, spearheaded by Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski, has made an impressive debut by winning the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 EU Qualifier. Their victory grants them entry to the prestigious $500,000 European competition. Throughout the qualifier, Aurora successfully eliminated several tier-two European teams, while magic, a fresh Russian lineup, knocked out NIP in the opposite bracket, preventing the storied organization from reaching the LAN event.
Aurora's qualifier journey began with some turbulence, requiring full three-map series to overcome both K27 and Nemesis. Nuke proved crucial for Aurora in both matchups. After advancing from Group A, Aurora faced Echo, a Danish team formerly known as Tricked, in their playoff opener. This became Aurora's most commanding performance of the qualifier, with İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş leading the way in a swift 2-0 sweep.
The final qualifying match pitted Aurora against Russian squad HOTU. Aurora drew first blood with a tight 13-11 victory on Cache, but HOTU struck back by claiming Aurora's own map selection, Anubis, 13-9. The decider came down to Mirage, where XANTARES and Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalçın proved instrumental. The duo combined for 40 eliminations as Aurora sealed another narrow 13-9 triumph.
The StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 lineup now features Vitality, NAVI, FURIA, MOUZ, Aurora, and magic, with North American and South American qualifiers still to come. The North American Qualifier kicks off on July 28th, featuring prominent teams including NRG, Voca, and Marsborne.
