woxic: "Winning the Major feels more possible than ever"

Eternal Fire are the first-ever Turkish team to qualify for the top eight of a Major, but the AWPer said that "the job isn't done."

Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker has made history with Eternal Fire as the Turks become the first team from their country to make the playoffs of a Major.

"If we're eliminated in quarters, semi, or final, but it doesn't matter: this is a really big achievement already we have done," the AWPer tells HLTV. "But the job is not done yet. The job is not finished."

He also spoke about his journey since the Colossus, showing he did the "right move" by founding Eternal Fire with Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş, and how Turkey can use more players like Ali "⁠Wicadia⁠" Haydar Yalçın.

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You've made your second Major playoffs now. Is this one a bit more special?

Yeah, this is absolutely so special. Nobody from our country had done this before, and I'm glad to be part of it before I finish my career. It's insane. I was always dreaming of playing in the playoffs and winning the Major, and it feels more possible than ever.

Just tell me exactly how you were feeling in that booth when you won that game.

I became so emotional, and all my teammates were so emotional, we just had a hug with each other. I teared up a bit. Hard work pays off. I'm so happy.

Have you seen the videos at home, of all the Turkish fans in the theatre? How much does it mean to you to know you're being cheered on?

It's always good to get support, but people who are not even watching CS normally are supporting us now. We are representing our nation here, the only team, the only players. I'm so happy we have this sort of community behind us. Of course, there are ups and downs if we play badly or lose crucial games, but overall their support is amazing. We're really happy about that.

How do you reflect on your journey so far? XANTARES told us that you weren't at 100% during the Opening Stage, but you've really grown into the tournament. Do you have that feeling?

Yeah, we had the feeling even before we came here. We have been playing good CS lately, in previous events and in practice, so we said, 'Why not?' It's possible that this is our time.

Something on Wicadia, Major rookie but performing under this pressure. He's just been the final piece for your team, what do you think about him?

I'm so happy that our coach and captain found him and brought him from the academy team to the main roster. When he came to the team I was not part of it, and after he played for one month or something I joined back, so it wasn't on me. But I'm really happy there are still players that can come up from being youngsters, because there are not too many. In the last five years, only one player came up, which is bad for the whole scene.

Our game, from when we were born, it's Counter-Strike. It's sad, no-one of our young players in our country are thinking [like this]. They make some frags and it's not just about that. If they do change their mind, and work more on teamplay and communication, there can be more upcoming talents. I hope there will be more in the future.

Something on qualifying as a Turkish team. It's been a long journey for you, with the Cloud9 thing, even as far back as MOUZ, how special is it to look back on your career now? Is it all worth it?

All worth it now, yeah. After MOUZ, the pandemic started, and not everything went well for me and my career. That Cloud9 project broke down after a short period. After that, XANTARES and I decided to create our own team. At the beginning, there were ups and downs, I was feeling a bit like, 'Did I make the right move?' But, in the end, we proved that we did because we are here in the playoffs.

On the playoffs, you've been unable to play in an arena with this five-man lineup. Do you think you'll be able to feed off the energy?

It's going to give me more power. I know myself, and the players on my team. It can add pressure, but I think we're going to handle it. We have already faced one of the best teams and won against them, BO1, BO3, doesn't matter. If we do the same thing we've done already, there is a bright future for the final.

You've taken some huge scalps, but Virtus.pro is the big boss. Once you've beaten VP, that's like officially, you're a tier-one team. Do you agree?

Yes, I can agree now, that we're a tier-one team. Even if we go down, we have a good mentality, we don't have any issues and we can bounce back. It doesn't matter how we lost, we just have a quick discussion and that's it, we can put it behind us. If we can keep doing that, we can even go to the final, like I said.

MAJ3R promised that one day a Turkish team would win a Major. Is now the time?

I hope so. I think one day it is going to happen, but we're going to make it, I'm sure. We'll go as far as we can. If we're eliminated in quarters, semis, or final, it doesn't matter: we have already achieved something really big. But the job is not done yet. The job is not finished.