Aurora and magic have qualified for StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 through the European closed qualifier, joining Vitality and FURIA at the $500,000 LAN event in September.
The bracket produced two contrasting runs to the same destination. One team went through untroubled from start to finish; the other needed a full decider to survive its final series.
magic reached the decisive tie without dropping a map, beating Walczaki and Gentle Mates twice each before meeting Ninjas in Pyjamas for the spot. Former PARIVISION rifler Andrey "AW" Anisimov led the qualification match, which magic took in two maps.
The win extends a strong run for the Russian side, who closed the previous season with a top-four finish at PGL Astana and second place at Stake Ranked Episode 2.
Aurora's route was less clean. The revamped roster dropped maps to K27 and Nemesis on the way to a qualification match with HOTU, who pushed Cache to all 24 rounds before winning Anubis to force a decider.
Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dortkardes, Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalcin and Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo all stepped up on the final map to book the LAN place. The result also lifts Aurora after a defeat to FOKUS on their BLAST Bounty Season 2 debut.
Ninjas in Pyjamas end the day empty-handed, having watched two LAN berths slip away within hours of each other. Earlier in the day they were beaten by paiN in the BLAST Bounty Season 2 online stage, missing a place at that event’s finals in Malta, before magic ended their StarSeries run.
Vitality and FURIA had already locked in places at the September event before European qualifying began, and with the European bracket now settled, six of the eight teams heading to StarSeries Fall are known.
Both outstanding places will come from the Americas. The North American and South American closed qualifiers are scheduled to run from July 28 to August 2, after which the full eight-team field for September will be set.
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