BIG beat Aurora as EWC BO1s gets underway

blameF’s squad carried their strong form from the qualifier into a convincing win on Cache.

BIG are one game away from EWC playoffs after beating Aurora in their opening best-of-one.

The German-majority squad was the standout team of the last chance qualifier, with Gleb “⁠gr1ks⁠” Gazin on a 1.58 rating and the team dropping just one map.

And Aurora could not handle their pace and teamplay on Cache in another setback for the new international roster. They won both pistols, but in the gun rounds BIG were dominant; 13-9 flattered Aurora, in truth.

It was a tough game for Jimi “⁠Jimpphat⁠” Salo (-7.80% Swing), and this 2v1 against Josef “⁠faveN⁠” Baumann was a damning round to lose at a time when Aurora could have got back into the game.

Two-man plays with Ismailcan “⁠XANTARES⁠” Dörtkardeş and Ali “⁠Wicadia⁠” Haydar Yalçın were tried, but were shut down as BIG’s tactical play outsmarted an Aurora side still getting to grips as an Anglophone team.

Aurora will face the loser of M80-G2 for elimination, with BIG facing the winner for a shot at the round of 16.

Esports World Cup 2026Best of 1

BIG

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12th August 2026

Aurora

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Cache

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BIG	K – D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating3.0
Jon ‘JDC’ de CastroJDC	20 – 14	+0.76%	100.0	77.3%	1.37
Josef ‘faveN’ BaumannfaveN	14 – 14	+8.05%	71.6	77.3%	1.36
Benjamin ‘blameF’ BremerblameF	15 – 14	+2.23%	75.3	77.3%	1.10
Gleb ‘gr1ks’ Gazingr1ks	14 – 14	-0.61%	61.2	63.6%	0.89
Johannes ‘tabseN’ WodarztabseN	11 – 16	-1.33%	55.7	68.2%	0.85

Aurora	K – D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating3.0
Ali ‘Wicadia’ Haydar YalçınWicadia	19 – 14	+4.02%	80.8	59.1%	1.34
Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ DörtkardeşXANTARES	18 – 16	-0.23%	102.1	86.4%	1.27
Özgür ‘woxic’ Ekerwoxic	14 – 18	-1.96%	73.5	59.1%	0.84
Jimi ‘Jimpphat’ SaloJimpphat	13 – 13	-7.80%	60.0	77.3%	0.78
Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovskikyxsan	8 – 13	-3.15%	39.1	68.2%	0.70

Elsewhere, Luminosity were swept aside by GamerLegion 13-3 as the team continue to struggle without old in-game leader Jack “⁠Gizmy⁠” von Spreckelsen.

Esports World Cup 2026Best of 1

Luminosity

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12th August 2026

GamerLegion

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Nuke

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Luminosity	K – D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating3.0
Lucas ‘lux’ Meneghinilux	12 – 14	-3.01%	88.6	56.2%	1.21
Aurélien ‘afro’ Drapierafro	11 – 13	-1.68%	57.2	62.5%	1.11
Aurimas ‘Bymas’ PipirasBymas	8 – 15	-5.86%	79.7	81.2%	0.92
Oscar ‘AZUWU’ BellAZUWU	7 – 15	-2.32%	45.5	75.0%	0.73
Aleks ‘Rainwaker’ PetrovRainwaker	2 – 13	-7.07%	18.4	43.8%	0.36

GamerLegion	K – D	Swing	ADR	KAST	Rating3.0
Timur ‘FL4MUS’ MarevFL4MUS	17 – 9	+7.72%	113.7	100.0%	1.85
Fredrik ‘REZ’ SternerREZ	19 – 6	+6.71%	111.4	87.5%	1.77
Milan ‘hypex’ Polowiechypex	11 – 4	+5.67%	66.4	87.5%	1.33
Janusz ‘Snax’ PogorzelskiSnax	11 – 11	-0.19%	78.3	75.0%	1.09
Sebastian ‘Tauson’ Tauson LindelofTauson	12 – 10	+0.03%	70.4	68.8%	0.99