woxic's clutches and 40-bomb powers Eternal Fire past Complexity

The Turkish AWPer took over on Train to edge out victory in overtime.

Eternal Fire have carried momentum from their runners-up finish at BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals into the IEM Katowice Play-in, beating Complexity in a two-map series after a masterclass effort from Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker (1.73 rating, 11 multi-kills, 40-20 K-D) got his team over the line on Train.

The Turkish sniper struggled upon the release of Counter-Strike 2 but returned to form in late 2024 after the left-handed viewmodel was added back to the game, only to falter at the Perfect World Shanghai Major with a 0.86 rating over six maps.

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He has been back to his best in the new year, however, save for three poor maps against Spirit in the final of BLAST Bounty, and was otherworldly on Train with audacious smoke pushes, three key clutches, and 2016 Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo-esque combat AWPing around the trains on A Site.

Eternal Fire played with the confidence of a team that just came off a grand final appearance, but some of the plays and overextensions could come back to bite them against a team more drilled and with more time together than Complexity.

The new-look American team showed clear signs of struggle without Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski's star output and were unable to match the sheer firepower of Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş on Anubis, who powered his team to a recovery from 2-6 down to win the map 13-6.

Train pickers are now 0-6

Danny "⁠Cxzi⁠" Strzelczyk and Nick "⁠nicx⁠" Lee garnered six and seven kills, respectively, in a dejected LAN debut for Complexity, but bounced back on Train despite losing in overtime.

Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou's side became the sixth team at a tier-one event to pick Train and the sixth to lose it, while most favorites opt towards other maps as they wait for the meta to develop further.

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An eight-round spree on the T side and fantastic B anchoring from nicx — who finished regulation with a 27-19 K-D, 114 ADR, and 1.50 rating — showed there is still something to be excited about for this new Complexity lineup even without EliGE.

It was, however, not enough to contend against woxic in a flowstate, with the Turk's bold decision-making and repeat multi-fragging pulling his team back in what should have been unwinnable rounds.

He came alive when it mattered most in overtime, going from a 22-15 K-D in regulation to 40-20 over the next ten rounds.

The loss knocks Complexity down to the lower bracket, where they will face the loser of Liquid vs. HEROIC in an elimination match.