Loading…
GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Same sh-t, different org
Yes, yes, we know they joined Aurora a while ago, but the pun was just too good to not use it.
MOUZ are also in a top four again, which we think should surprise absolutely no one, but we’re sure it will surprise most of you.
It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for soulfly as he has settled into Aurora. He got his first taste of playing Nuke, winning matches both online and in a LAN group stage, and as of last night he has completed the true Aurora experience with another achievement.
Completely screwing up a stage match.
Despite having a big part to play in the team’s group stage wins against Falcons and MOUZ, the Turkish side’s new signing dropped a bit of a stinker in front of the Kraków crowd, ending the game’s two maps on six and seven frags each.
If a picture of magixx just appeared in your head, let us know which colour crayons taste the best.
Really, nobody was particularly on for Aurora last night. And if you thought good calling could make up for bad fragging, you must be forgetting what the IGL matchup was in this series.
Aurora actually brought the first map, Dust2, quite close to a 5-7 half from the CT-side, but if you needed any indication of who is the brighter tactical mind between MAJ3R and FalleN you need look no further. After switching sides, Aurora were unable to win more than two T-side rounds before the first map was over.
Mirage ended up being a bloodbath as FURIA ran away with a T-side score of 9-3 before closing the map 13-4, with former playoff choker, current playoff baller, KSCERATO ending the series with 46 total frags. There really is almost no limit to the depth of talent FURIA have.
For Aurora, it’s a new year, a new lineup, and a new city, yet one thing remains the same:
When the lights shine brightest, Aurora never come out on top.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, MOUZ have made their way to the top four of a tier one tournament. It should be expected by now, really, that MOUZ would make it this far, but still, everyone seems to doubt them.
Is that because they rarely make it further? Probably. Is that fair in any way at all? Not at all.
This time, MOUZ did so by overcoming a G2 team that impressed during their time in Krakow, thanks to SunPayus actually getting kills again and malbs looking closer to a NiKo replacement than the SmithZz replacement he appeared to be last year.
Unfortunately for G2, only one of those two players actually bothered to connect to map one.
malbs was a demon on Overpass, providing six multi-kills and seven opening kills (six of which came on the CT side), keeping G2 competitive despite a strong T half from MOUZ. Sadly, SunPayus barely aided him and was constantly caught out with a 3-11 KD on the defensive side.
The opposing AWPer, torzsi, had little concern. The Hungarian quickly put the disappointing Budapest exit behind him, offering stellar support to a blockbuster 107 ADR, 28-15 performance from Spinx as MOUZ forced OT and took map one 16-13.
Dust2 promised a similar level of confidence going into the break, with the score tied at 6-6 once more as G2 headed onto their CT side. But MOUZ, playing in just their fourth Dust2 match in six months, came out swinging, repeatedly finding opening kills and turning them into round wins as torzsi shone once more.
And so, as MOUZ prepare for yet another semi-final clash, we excitedly await to see if this is finally the time they can go one further.
Oh… they play Vitality? Well, there’s always next time.
Years ago, before Stewie and tarik eventually made the move, s1mple and flamie were touted to join the Brazilians of SK Gaming. It was a move that would have created the ultimate superteam at the time, and would likely still be the biggest roster move of all time.
But would it even have worked?
In the second episode of our new series, “Flashbang Realities”, Sam is joined by NA caster, content creator, analyst, and everything-else-you-can-think-of ynoT.
The two discuss what would have happened if the CS:GOAT had joined one of the games’ greatest ever cores in FalleN, fer, and coldzera.
Now this is a must-watch game.
Every game in the playoffs of IEM Krako-wice is, but this one may be more than any other. FURIA are possibly the most exciting team in the world to watch at full flow, partially because of their off-meta reliance on a game-changing AWPer, and Spirit have/are one of the most exciting players.
We can pretend Spirit are a full five-man roster if you want, but we’re all there for donk.
They’ve met fewer times than you’d hope, really; only twice last year, which is a real shame. Spirit weren’t at the top of their game all that often in 2025, but they seem to be finding at least something approaching their best.
With FURIA seemingly peaking at the perfect time (yesterday was their first 2-0 win since they beat 9INE at BLAST Bounty), and Spirit in not-quite-perfect-but-pretty-damn-good nick, this could just be the game of the tournament.
It’s impossible to call a winner, and it’s a game that demands you do not move from your sweaty little gaming chair until one IGL has their hand lifted in the air.
KSCERATO is back to his 2022 best. molodoy is the most exciting AWPer since s1mple in 2021. donk is the best player ever. YEKINDAR is going to either go 21-8 or 8-21 with nothing in between. magixx is… there, doing something useful, we’re certain.
The winner will likely be decided by the AWPers, as sh1ro is the one sniper who can lock molodoy down and make the game from that side of things extremely boring and just let donk off the leash. If sh1ro gets the better of his opposite number, it might be GG.
It’s not that easy, though.
Just please, do yourselves a favour, and watch this bloody game.
In about a month, we’re actually coming up on the one-year anniversary of the first time we got to see these two lineups match up against each other - a game that would turn out to be the first of many.
But really, we’re not complaining. Who can forget such classic games as when Vitality beat MOUZ in Stockholm (twice), when Vitality beat MOUZ in Lisbon, or when Vitality beat MOUZ in Copenhagen, Dallas, and Austin?
Yeah, it’s getting a bit old.
We’re sure the MOUZ players feel the same way. With 58 maps played against Vitality in four years - the team he has faced the most times in his career - torzsi’s 0.97 rating and sloppy win rate must have some part of him asking why he keeps banging his head against the same brick wall.
But this time it might be different.
There’s one game we didn’t mention in that previous paragraph - Cologne. The last time MOUZ stacked up against Vitality in a prestige event semi-final, just like this one in Kraków, the reigning Major champions got beaten pretty comfortably and had to fly home early.
At the time, that was actually not just the first stage match, but the first BO3 overall, Vitality lost since the start of their legendary win streak of the 2025 spring season. And while it was a group stage game, MOUZ managed to repeat the win later that year in Chengdu.
Even now, Vitality look wounded compared to last year, with an uncharacteristic loss in BLAST Bounty and some worryingly close maps against opponents they really shouldn’t need to worry about. It’s a tricky stunt for MOUZ to pull off, but there’s a chance they manage to thread the needle this time.
After all, if at first you don’t succeed…
We picked today’s Play of the Day (trademark pending, don’t steal it), not because it’s flashy, has crazy flicks, or makes you go “inhuman reactions”.
We picked it because it’s smart. Put down a smoke, move to the right place, and you just disappear.
Source: YouTube
