Eternal Fire continue their impressive 2025 campaign, securing a spot in the ESL Pro League Season 21 playoffs after defeating Falcons 2-1. This victory marks their fourth consecutive playoff appearance at a major tournament this year, following successful runs at BLAST Bounty, IEM Katowice, and PGL Cluj-Napoca. With this latest result, the Turkish team remains the only squad to qualify for all four of these premier events.
This showdown was the fourth meeting between these two teams in 2025. While Eternal Fire had won the first two encounters, Falcons had managed to turn the tables in their most recent faceoff, eliminating the Turkish squad in the quarter-finals at Cluj-Napoca. This time, however, Eternal Fire made the necessary adjustments, preventing Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and his team from repeating their past success.
The series started with Eternal Fire finding themselves in a tough position, but they turned the momentum in their favor on Inferno, mounting an impressive comeback on the defensive side. Özgür “woxic” Eker played a pivotal role in shutting down Falcons’ attempts to regain control, helping his team bounce back from a slow start. The decisive moments came on Dust2, where Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın delivered a dominant performance in the opening half, setting up Eternal Fire for a confident finish.
Despite some shaky moments early in the series, including a few unexpected losses in critical rounds, Eternal Fire maintained composure and executed well when it mattered most. Their success in this match also highlights the endurance of Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli’s lineup, which has played more LAN maps than any other team in 2025. Since the start of March, they have battled through nine best-of-three series, demonstrating their resilience on the international stage.
Wicadia continued to be a standout performer, building on his stellar Stage 1 form at ESL Pro League. His consistency across multiple maps was a key factor in Eternal Fire’s success, as he once again proved his ability to deliver high-impact plays in crucial situations. His contributions, combined with woxic’s precision with the AWP, were instrumental in securing the team’s latest playoff berth.
As the tournament progresses, Eternal Fire’s coaching staff, led by Sezgin “Fabre” Kalaycı and MAJ3R, face the challenge of keeping their strategies sharp despite the team’s relentless schedule. Their ability to consistently qualify for playoffs at major events suggests that they are successfully managing this demanding task.
For Falcons, this loss comes as a major setback after their grand final appearance at Cluj-Napoca. The team struggled to replicate the same level of performance, with their overall gameplay feeling disjointed throughout the tournament. Their head coach acknowledged the difficulty of their matches, emphasizing that aside from their game against Liquid, every match felt like an uphill battle.
The team’s performance at this event raises concerns, particularly given their previous dominance on Dust2. While NiKo remained Falcons’ best performer statistically, even he struggled in the final maps against both 3DMAX and Eternal Fire. His difficulties in these key moments highlight some of the deeper issues Falcons will need to address as they prepare for their next challenge at BLAST Lisbon, which is set to begin in just a week’s time.
With this result, Eternal Fire move forward with their sights set on yet another deep playoff run, while Falcons must regroup and reassess their approach to maintain their position among the top contenders in 2025.
