NAVI win ESL Pro League Season 23 — first Tier-1 trophy since October 2024

On March 15, Natus Vincere (NAVI) became the champions of ESL Pro League Season 23, defeating Aurora 3–1 in the grand final.

The Ukrainian organization looked confident throughout the series and secured victories on Mirage (13:7), Nuke (13:8), and Dust2 (13:9). Aurora managed to claim Anubis (13:11), but it wasn’t enough to stop NAVI from closing the match and lifting the trophy.

This victory marks NAVI’s first Tier-1 championship since October 2024, when the team won IEM Rio. After a long period without major international titles, the ESL Pro League triumph signals a strong return to the top level of competitive Counter-Strike.

For winning the tournament, NAVI earned $250,000 in prize money. The result also continues a positive trend for the team, which previously won the smaller StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025 event.

Aurora, meanwhile, received $151,500 for second place. The Turkish roster has shown steady improvement on the international stage. Their last podium finish at a Tier-1 event came at the Esports World Cup, where the team also finished second after losing the grand final to The MongolZ.

Despite falling short in the ESL Pro League final, Aurora did secure a tournament victory earlier in the season. In November 2025, the team won PGL Masters Bucharest, though the event featured a less competitive field without many of the world’s top teams.

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With this ESL Pro League title, NAVI reassert themselves as one of the strongest contenders in the CS2 scene heading into the next wave of international tournaments.