MAJ3R: "Our goal is to win an S-tier trophy this year"

Eternal Fire have been one of the busiest teams so far in 2025, playing in all four of the S-tier LANs this year.

They've made the playoffs in all of them, and even the grand final of BLAST Bounty, and now they're looking to go a step further.

Ahead of their ESL Pro League Season 21 quarter-final and BLAST Open Lisbon, we spoke to Eternal Fire's captain MAJ3R about the evolution of the team, Turkish CS, and their goals for the future.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

"Individually the players aren't in the best shape"

You're currently at ESL Pro League, awaiting your quarter-final match after going through with a 3-2 record, how are you feeling about your time there so far?

We play Spirit tomorrow, went 3-2 as you said, so I feel good, even if we haven't we played our best CS yet. We're not at our top level, but the goal was to get to the playoffs and we've done the job.
We have a tough match against Spirit, but we'll do our best to beat them. I feel confident in our ability and capacity to beat them, I really think we have a chance.

You said that you're not playing your best level of CS, what do you think is the reason for that?

I think that individually the players aren't in the best shape, except for maybe Wicadia who is playing his best right now.
I know my team, and I know myself, and I know that we are more capable than what we are showing right now. We're losing against teams that normally we don't lose against, like TYLOO, and we've also lost to Spirit and 3DMAX. In other tournaments, we were able to win against 3DMAX, but they do also play good CS.
I feel that we're not in the best shape, but it's changing day by day. We can do way better.

Do you think it has anything to do with the amount of tournaments you're playing?

Not really, there's a lot of conversation about this, and yes it has been four tournaments in a row, but we've made a final and playoffs at the others. We're playing a lot of CS, but it is paying off.
Day by day we try to be better players individually, beat better teams, and hopefully we can achieve our goal of winning an S-tier trophy in the coming months. This is our main goal for this year.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

"We deserve everything that we've achieved this year"

As you've said, you're still making the playoff appearances, so do you think some criticism from fans and analysts might be unwarranted even if you say yourself that you're not at your peak as a team?

We deserve everything that we've achieved this year, I really believe that in my heart. The final in BLAST, the three playoffs that we've achieved, we deserve it.
I really believe we can do even better. We've made mistakes, but we're working to fix those mistakes. We can show a better face and better results in every tournament.

You added jottAAA in the off-season, what has he brought to the team so far?

He brings a lot of energy, a lot of positive vibes, and he also brings a lot of firepower. I'm really glad that he joined us.
We have to not forget that he only joined three months ago, a lot has changed in our system, but for three months and four tournaments, he's doing really well. Hopefully he can be even better in the next three months, and I really believe in him because of his work ethic.

Given that you have a lot of experience in your team with yourself, woxic, and XANTARES, how important is it to have those younger players like jottAAA and Wicadia?

Of course, we need to mix everything. I have a lot of experience but I also need young players with me, I try my best to teach them but I'm also learning from them, it's a give and take relationship.
Nowadays in CS, you have to sign good players with the same energy and goal. They need to think the same way about how to play CS if you want to perform in events and become one of the best teams in the world.
My goal is to try to teach the guys how I think, how I see CS, and how I want to play it. If we can see the same colour within the team, then we can achieve our goals.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

"Unfortunately, CS in Turkey has fallen a little"

Is it also important for Turkish CS to see these new players coming through?

Yes, for sure. Unfortunately, CS in Turkey has fallen a little, but if some young players can see that jottAAA has had a chance with us, then maybe they will grind a lot and try to show themselves.
I really hope that we can have some young good players coming through in the coming years, both Wicadia and jottAAA are good examples for those players and people who want to work in esports.
It's not easy to do it in Turkey compared to other countries like Denmark or Sweden, it's a lot more difficult to achieve your goal as an esports worker.

You've mentioned the goal of going on to win an S-tier tournament this year, you've struggled so far in some stage games, why do you think that is?

Last year, we weren't used to playing stage games. We only played with crowds once or twice. It's just about experience, I think.
We've made a lot of mistakes, and we've tried to fix them. It's a different environment going from a studio to a stage, so it's just about getting used to it to show the same style there and maintain our level of communication.
As a team and as a player, we're trying to learn from those experiences and hopefully by the next event we have in an arena, we'll play better.
Here at Pro League, it will be in a studio, so we won't have the chance to gain that experience, but hopefully we can carry it forward to BLAST Open Lisbon and we can use our experience there.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

"There's a lot of confidence when we play Vitality"

Would you say that every time you play on stage it gets easier? Or do you think some of the previous times stay in the back of your head?

It's a new day every time. I just remember mistakes I did, or mistakes we made as a team, and we try to not make them again. It's a learning process. In two playoffs we played, we didn't win a map, but in the last one we played we managed to win one. It's a process.

This Eternal Fire team is already the peak of Turkish CS, but how much further do you think you can go in terms of finding the real peak of the team?

I think that, as a player, believing is very important, and so is having a goal. I don't put a limit on my goals or dreams, I really believe that we can do better than what we did last year and even in these three months. We can be one of the best teams in the world if we really want it.

Let's talk about your record against a couple of teams; you have a decent record against Vitality and Falcons, but you're starting to get a worse record against The MongolZ and Spirit, why do you think that is? Is it just a case of contrasting styles?

I think there's a lot of confidence when we play Vitality, it's a match up that we like and we haven't lost against them.
When it's The MongolZ or Spirit, we're trying to find why we're struggling against them and the solution for that, but the key to do so is experience and confidence.

How are you feeling about BLAST Open Lisbon and the chance to go on and play in Lisbon?

To be honest, last year we didn't have the chance to play in BLAST events because of the system, but this year we've had that chance and we made the final, so that's a really great thing. We surprised a lot of people.
We really like BLAST tournaments, so we'll do our best to go to Lisbon. Our goal is to go there, but we have to finish our job here first.