FURIA win 10 in a row to stun Aurora - EWC 2026 Playoffs Day One recap

FURIA were on the brink of exit in the round of 16 in a bracket many were suggesting was an easy ride for them to the final - but pulled it back with a lockdown CT side on Mirage.

Aurora found themselves 9-3 up on the decider, but failed to convert any T side rounds and collapsed under the weight of a carpet of noise from the FURIA fans. Regardless of the context, it's poor optics to switch out your IGL and fail to make a single T side round in a big game.

It was a sniping masterclass from molodoy that would have made FalleN oh so proud, as the little Kazakh AWPer swanned around the map executing Aurora players as though it were a prefire map. If there was pressure on his shoulders, you couldn't tell; he was playing with the freedom and confidence of a caffeine-addled teenager with no school in the morning.

He was equally - well, not quite equally, but similarly - important on Ancient, as he and KSCERATO dovetailed to shut down Aurora, and contributed to a nine round T side this time around. This was another comeback, from 4-8 down, thanks to a stunning start to this series from Wicadia, who quickly burnt out.

This was three close maps, but that Aurora failed so spectacularly on the third ruins what would have been an excellent first real scalp for this team, and instead has us worried for them.

KSCERATO was characteristically reliable throughout the series, but it was molodoy who pushed FURIA over the edge in the big moment.

The oft-maligned huNter- was the talisman as G2 outclassed Astralis on back-to-back maps to complete the reverse sweep.

Many have been critical of huNter- as the IGL in this team, but he led by example with two excellent maps to sink Astralis after their win on Ancient to start the series.

r1nkle joined his IGL at the top of the scoreboard on Dust 2, as G2 scythed through Astralis' paper defence thanks to huNter-, then locked them out because of r1nkle. He didn't even need the AWP; he shut down three from short with the M4 down the stretch to put G2 in the driving seat.

Inferno was a similar story, with huNter- helping G2 earn a T side lead, with NertZ this time being the one to lay down the law with multikills on the CT side. Astralis, for all their polish and smart play, just don't have the firepower to deal with a team like G2.

FUT dropped map one but held strong to avoid a slip-up against a tricky magic side.

This was a very enjoyable series, but for those of us with high expectations of FUT, a tad worrying at how strenuous they made this look. xfl0ud has landed well generally, but he was lacklustre and it required a star performance from dziugsss to drag FUT out of a little bit of a sticky situation and set things right.

Quite how dem0n ended on the losing team on Ancient is beyond us; he put in a ridiculous showing but was let down by his teammates, dropping 28 in a 9-13 loss.

We've all been there buddy.

MOUZ pushed past GamerLegion in a similarly lethargic showing from a top team, with MOUZ winning two 24-rounders and losing one 41-rounder. This game took an age, and we're not sure we're happy to have watched it. The time dragged.

MOUZ have xelex to thank for a massive performance in the deciding map, ending with over a kill per round in a mandatory map for them, and while that is what he was brought in to do, it's a little concerning to rely so heavily on the new kid to beat a plucky-but-not-outstanding GamerLegion team.

We're not concerned just yet, but we're tentative.