woxic: "We are really close to being a tier-one team"

The Turkish AWPer says Wicadia is a crucial part of Eternal Fire's uptick in form.

After a long period of non-stop roster changes, Eternal Fire have now kept the same five-man lineup for nine months. The return of Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker and the addition of Ali "⁠Wicadia⁠" Haydar Yalçın have revitalized the roster and helped the team reach a higher level after the release of CS2.

Eternal Fire began CS2 by making the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 18 and finishing in second place at ESL Challenger Jönköping. They have kept up a decent level in 2024, too, as they reached the IEM Katowice group stage and progressed to the European RMR after beating MOUZ in the closed qualifier.

Their road at the RMR has been tough as they have faced Ninjas in Pyjamas, G2, and Falcons, but the Turkish team still finds itself just one win away from a Major berth. After the win against Falcons, woxic talked to HLTV about their RMR campaign and much-needed roster stability, and Wicadia's impact.

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After the first two days, you're done with the best-of-ones, and you have a 2-1 record. You're probably pretty happy about that?

Yeah. We won the first game, and we could have also won the second game. It was a bit of a sad moment after we lost that one. But after that, our team showed up professionally, and we just said that we're going to win our next game, and we're going to qualify. So we are happy and focused on winning the next game as well.

Do you feel more confident now that you are set to play best-of-three matches?

Yes, of course. In best-of-ones, it can always be a tough game. If you lose a couple of pistol rounds or crucial clutches, you can lose the game even if you are the better team. In best-of-threes, even if you make mistakes, you have one more map to come back. And after you do that comeback, there's one more map. It's always good to play best-of-three games for the players.

Talking about your opponents here. You have played NIP, G2, and Falcons. Do you feel you now belong in the tier-one scene?

I can say we are really close to being a tier-one team, but I can't say we are now tier one. For that, we would have to win against FaZe in Katowice and also against G2 here. There are a few little mistakes we are making. That's why we are close to a tier-one level, but if we fix all of that, we're definitely going to be one of the best teams.

What would you say is holding you back the most right now?

I think sometimes communication is getting chaotic in close games, and people are not doing what they're supposed to. It doesn't happen every time, only in crucial rounds. So I think that's the mistake we're making now, and I think people are going to fix this themselves.

Otherwise, we have clear communication and everything is on point in terms of working on mistakes and preparing for our opponents. There are just little mistakes happening sometimes during close rounds and games. If we fix that, if we manage that as individuals, I think we can beat anyone.

You've had a lot of roster changes in the past, but now you've stayed with this lineup for quite a long time. So do you think that is what finally helped you raise your level performance-wise?

It could be [the reason]. We had to make the changes because we were looking for solutions between the players. So I think after Wicadia came, everything fixed itself. We just started to work on it, put a lot of practice in, and we saw the final result. This is the best roster we've had, so I think we're going to stick to it.

Previously, maybe people saw Eternal Fire as the woxic and XANTARES show, but you play much more like a team now. Why do you think that is? Did Wicadia help with that too?

Of course, because he is an entry fragger and a very talented rising star, in my opinion. If he keeps doing what he's doing now, he's going to achieve a lot, maybe even more than me and XANTARES. Because of him, everything looks fixed for us.