Aurora claws back on Mirage to avoid elimination at BLAST Open Porto 2026

Aurora Gaming’s BLAST Open Porto campaign looked like it was heading for the exit door after a lopsided 0-2 loss to G2 Esports on August 26. Then the squad did what any team with its back against the wall does: it won the map that mattered most, taking Mirage to stay alive in the lower bracket of the $1.1 million tournament.

How Aurora ended up in the lower bracket

The opening match against G2 was not pretty. Aurora fell 5-13 on Inferno, a scoreline that suggests the team was barely competitive on one of CS2’s most storied maps. Anubis was closer at 12-16, but “closer” and “winning” are very different things.

G2, ranked #9 globally heading into the event, flipped the script on a head-to-head rivalry that had tilted Aurora’s way earlier in 2026. Aurora had beaten G2 twice before this tournament.

The loss dropped Aurora, ranked around #11 in the world, straight into the lower bracket.

What’s at stake in Porto

The BLAST Open Porto 2026 features 16 teams competing across a group stage currently running in Copenhagen through August 31. The playoffs move to Porto, Portugal, from September 4-6, where the surviving teams will fight over a first-place prize of $150,000.

For Aurora’s roster of woxic, XANTARES, Wicadia, Jimpphat, and kyxsan, the tournament represents a chance to validate a year that has included strong performances at both the IEM Cologne Major and the 2026 Esports World Cup.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.