Aurora Complete Stunning 2–10 Comeback to Eliminate Astralis
Aurora secured their place in the PGL Cluj‑Napoca playoffs after delivering one of the most dramatic comebacks of the entire event. Aurora were able to crush the hearts of Astralis by overturning a 2–10 deficit on Dust2 to sweep 2–0. For the Danish-International mix CS2 lineup, it was another painful chapter in a growing nightmare of falling just short of the arena stage — first at IEM Kraków, and now again in Cluj-Napoca.
CS2 Stats of Aurora-Astralis at PGL Cluj-Napoca February 18th
Overpass — Aurora Strike First (13–7)
The series opened on Astralis’ home map, but it was Aurora who dictated the pace from the get go. Woxic dismantled Astralis’ early-round setups, repeatedly catching them in A Bathrooms and ending the half with a monstrous 1.98 rating. Astralis never found their footing, and Aurora closed out Overpass 13–7, putting immediate pressure on the Danes heading into Dust2.
Dust2 — From 2–10 to Victory: A Comeback for the Ages (13–11 Aurora)
Astralis responded with a blistering CT side on Dust2, powered by Staehr’s 20‑frag half, racing to a 10–2 lead. At that point, both teams were already mentally preparing for an Inferno decider.
But Aurora had other plans.
Woxic’s AWP became a wall, shutting down Astralis’ mid‑round transitions, while soulfly delivered crucial B‑site holds. XANTARES added a highlight 4k, and suddenly the momentum shifted entirely. Aurora won 11 of the final 12 rounds, completing a comeback that got the Turkish boys to Arena.
After the match, soulfly revealed the emotional spark behind the turnaround: “On CT side, I want to point my finger to woxic. I was kind of down, I had no fights on T side, but [he said], ‘if someone is going to do this comeback, it’s us." And the Turkish boys delivered
It was a fitting tribute to woxic, who had already crushed Astralis’ game plan on Overpass and finished the series as the standout performer.
With another arena appearance secured, soulfly reflected on his growth since their previous playoff run: “I know what mistakes I made in the last tournament's Arena stage… this time I am more experienced and can do a little bit better.”
Astralis Collapse Again — HooXi Calls for Higher Standards
For Astralis, the loss was another bitter disappointment. Their inability to close out big leads — especially on home maps — continues to haunt them as HooXi said: “Tough day at the office. We wanted to take another step at this event and had the chances to do it. It’s tough.”
He didn’t shy away from the team’s internal struggles either: “We have to continue working on not losing to ourselves. We need to keep ourselves to a higher standard. There was a lot of frustration we could not reset from.”
After the match especially phzy looked heart broken, just looking at his keyboard for a minute straight after the grueling loss. With back‑to‑back failures to reach the playoffs, Astralis leave Cluj with more questions than answers. But for CS2Bet.io the outcome of the match was victorious once again.
Prediction accuracy: ✔ Aurora ML — fully correct at 1.58 CS2 odds.