Welcome to all esports and Counter-Strike 2 fans! From January 28 to February 8, 2026, one of the biggest tournaments of the winter season, IEM Krakow 2026, will take place. The event will feature 24 teams battling for the championship title and a $1 million prize pool. One of the opening-day matchups to watch is Aurora vs GamerLegion, a clash that promises plenty of intrigue and high-level CS2. As the teams get ready to face off, we’ll break down the matchup and share our CS2 betting tips and insights for this game.
How The Bookies View It: Aurora Favoured
Bookmakers see Aurora as the clear favourites heading into this matchup, offering odds of 1.55 for their victory. GamerLegion, on the other hand, are priced at 2.41, reflecting their underdog status in this encounter. These odds suggest that Aurora are expected to control the series, but GamerLegion still have enough potential to make this matchup competitive if they find their rhythm.
Aurora Gaming form. What result can be expected from Aurora Gaming
Aurora Gaming in 2025 has quickly established itself as one of the leading teams on the European CS2 scene, showing stability, strategic discipline, and the ability to adapt to high-pressure situations. A major development occurred in April, when the organization replaced its previous roster with the Turkish squad Eternal Fire, aiming to strengthen the team and secure better sponsorship conditions. The new lineup is led by the experienced captain MAJ3R, with star riflers XANTARES, Wicadia, sharpshooter woxic, and support player SouLfly, who recently joined the roster, replacing jottAAA.
The coaching staff includes Fabre, whose analytical approach has helped improve communication, tactical coordination, and map control. The team has quickly integrated these changes, showing strong synergy and consistent individual performances, which are reflected in their results on the international stage.
Since the roster change, Aurora Gaming has delivered notable results across multiple tournaments. They started the season with a 5th–6th place finish at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2025, followed by a challenging 12th–14th at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. At Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025, the team placed 9th–12th, before showing stronger performances at the BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier (2–0 record) and 5th–8th at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025, demonstrating improving synergy and tactical execution.
August saw Aurora continue to impress, finishing 2nd at the Esports World Cup 2025, earning $230,000, while in September they placed 5th–8th at FISSURE Playground #2. October brought further progress with 9th–11th at ESL Pro League Season 22 and 4th at the Thunderpick World Championship 2025, highlighting consistent teamwork, map control, and clutch potential.
Aurora Gaming Map Pool
Aurora’s map pool looks fairly strong and versatile. Their best map over the past three months has been Dust2, with an impressive 85.7% win rate, which Aurora confidently picks as their first choice. The team also performs well on Overpass (75%) and Nuke (60%). However, results on Train (40%) and Mirage (37.5%) have been inconsistent and remain areas for improvement. Inferno is currently the weakest map in their pool, with a 0% win rate.
GamerLegion form. What result can be expected from GamerLegion
We continue our CS2 tips with analyzing GamerLegion form.
In the 2025 season, although GamerLegion did not achieve very high results, they demonstrated a stable level of play.
At BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, GL lost their first match and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in the top 32.
At IEM Katowice 2025, GL performed at a good level. In the Play-in stage, the team defeated SAW and paiN Gaming, qualifying for the Group Stage. In the Group Stage, GL reached the Lower Bracket Final, recording victories over MOUZ and Astralis and finishing in the top 8.
At ESL Pro League Season 21, they started with a loss to MongolZ but then confidently defeated NRG and MIBR, after which they beat TYLOO and advanced to the next stage. In the second stage, they lost to MongolZ and paiN but defeated TYLOO and sAw. However, they were unable to progress further — a loss to G2 secured them 11th place.
GamerLegion performed at their best at PGL Bucharest 2025. In the Group Stage, the team finished with a 3–1 record but lost their first playoff match and finished in the top 8.
GamerLegion also took part in IEM Melbourne 2025, where they confirmed their status as a solid mid-tier professional team. In the Group Stage, the team recorded victories over 3DMAX, Complexity, and FaZe Clan, qualifying for the playoffs through the lower bracket. In the playoffs, the team lost their first match and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in the top 6.
GamerLegion performed at a similar level at IEM Dallas 2025. The team secured several wins against top teams and finished in the top 6.
At one of the main tournaments of the year, Esports World Cup 2025, GL performed below expectations. The team lost their first match and finished in the top 16.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, GamerLegion started with a strong performance in Stage 1, finishing with a 3–1 record. However, in Stage 2, the team completely failed, going 0–3 and being eliminated from the tournament in 16th place.
At CS Asia Championships 2025, GL also failed to meet fans’ expectations, finishing in the top 16.
At PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, GamerLegion finally reached a good level of play. In the Group Stage, the team finished with a 3–2 record, and in the playoffs they reached the Third Place Match, where they lost and finished in 4th place.
At the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, GL unexpectedly lost to lower-tier teams, finishing Stage 1 with a 1–3 record and being eliminated from the tournament in the top 30.
GamerLegion Map Pool
GamerLegion’s map pool over the past three months shows a mix of strengths and weaknesses. Their strongest maps are Mirage and Train, both with a solid 75% win rate, followed by Inferno (63.6%) and Nuke (62.5%), where the team has also looked comfortable. Overpass, often selected as their first pick, sits at a more modest 50% win rate. However, Ancient (25%) and especially Dust2 (12.5%) have been clear problem maps for GamerLegion and could be targeted by opponents in the veto.
Head-to-Head Matchups
Aurora have had the upper hand in recent head-to-head meetings against GamerLegion, leading the overall series 3–2. Their most recent clash at BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1 saw the teams trade map wins, with GamerLegion taking Mirage (13–5) and Inferno (16–13), while Aurora responded with a 13–10 victory on Dust2. Earlier, at PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, Aurora dominated the matchup, convincingly winning Dust2 and Overpass by identical 13–1 scorelines. Overall, the head-to-head suggests a competitive rivalry, but one where Aurora have generally been the more consistent side.
Match Prediction: Aurora VS GamerLegion — IEM Krakow 2026 Stage 1
Taking all factors into account, this matchup looks very likely to go the distance. Aurora enter the series as deserved favourites thanks to their higher ceiling, stronger recent results, and a well-defined core built around experienced leadership and star firepower. Their Dust2 is an obvious advantage in the veto, especially given GamerLegion’s struggles on the map, and Aurora should feel confident securing at least one map through comfort and structure. However, Aurora’s weaknesses on Inferno and their inconsistent results on Mirage open the door for GamerLegion to respond.
GamerLegion, while less consistent overall, have repeatedly shown they can punch above their weight against top teams, particularly on Mirage and Inferno — all maps where Aurora are either shaky or outright vulnerable. Their recent head-to-head history also supports the idea of a competitive series, with both teams trading map wins rather than one-sided results. Stylistically, this feels like a clash between Aurora’s discipline and firepower versus GamerLegion’s resilience and map-specific strengths.
Given the expected veto dynamics, each team should be able to secure a map that strongly suits them, making a clean 2–0 unlikely unless one side severely underperforms. Aurora remain the more reliable team to edge the series overall, but GamerLegion have enough depth, preparation, and comfort picks to force a decider. As a result, the most grounded and realistic prediction for this matchup is a full three-map series, with Aurora having a slight edge in closing it out, but only after a hard-fought battle.
Prediction: Total Over 2.5 Maps.
