EG vs Eternal Fire preview

EG has been on a torrid run of form in 2023, which has included going out winless in IEM Katowice, losing in the first round of CCT Central Europe against Illuminar, and failing to make it through the IEM Rio Open qualifiers. Their issues culminated in the biggest disappointment of all as they not only won't be at the BLAST Paris Major, they failed to even make the Americas RMR.

Unfortunately for EG, things did not get off to a good start, their opening matchup against Cloud9 failed to spark any hope as they lost 2-0 to a side that has also struggled for form in 2023.

Their loss left them facing the loser of Eternal Fire and G2, and somewhat unsurprisingly it was the Turkish team who dropped into the lower bracket after falling to the IEM Katowice champions. So what can NA fans expect from tomorrow's matchup?

Eternal Fire's end of year madness

Eternal Fire underwent some wild changes at the end of 2022, where they first brought MAJ3R back to helm the roster only to remove him three months later only a day after the team failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major. The team then decided to undergo a major rebuild removing Ahmet "paz" Karahoca and Canpolat "hardstyle" Yıldıran, deciding to once again recall the storied IGL and old friend Calyx. These moves came after star AWPer Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker decided to bench himself in search for a oppurtunity on an international team.

The lineup Eternal Fire settled on is:

• Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş

• Yasin "⁠xfl0ud⁠" Koç

• Ömer "⁠imoRR⁠" Karataş

• Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın

• Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli

• Sezgin "⁠Fabre⁠" Kalaycı (coach)

• Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker (inactive)

Eternal Fire finally perform on LAN

Eternal Fire are a team that historically have caused problems for teams online, but struggle to deliver when it comes to taking the next step up in competition. Only placing in the top 10 of a LAN once at ESL Challenger Rotterdam 2022 where they picked up a fourth place finish against largely tier 2 competition. That was until last week when the Turkish squad managed win the CCT Central Europe Finals.

• Only one top 10 finish on LAN in 2022

• Eternal Fire beat ENCE & BNE on their way to the title

• XANTARES 1.28 rating at CCT

Previous Matchups

The only time the two teams have faced off before was in fact in the previous season of ESL Pro League. EG still sported Bulgarian AWPer Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov whilst Eternal Fire still had both paz and their own star AWPer woxic on the team. EG managed to claim a comfortable victory, running out winners 2-0 thanks in large part to flashback performances by their more tenured members.

EG's win conditions

Ironically EG's firepower has so far mainly come from their IGL, with Sanzhar "nealaN" Iskhakov being the team's joint highest-rated player alongside Timothy "autimatic" Ta. The two veteran players on the lineup will be instrumental if EG are able to not only win against the Turkish super team but if they are to survive as a team. Whilst autimatic has been a rare shining light of the team over the past year, Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte still continues to struggle to find his world-beating form from 2019.

• No star AWPer for Eternal Fire gives wiz chance to shine

• Have to find a way to pocket XANTARES

• The rest of Eternal Fires players are evenly matched with EG

The likely vetoes

• EG should ban Vertigo, as its this lineups perma ban.

• Eternal Fire perma ban Ancient

• EG pick Inferno or Overpass, Eternal Fire are less adept on Overpass which could sway EG.

• Eternal Fire pick Anubis, EG have 0% win rate whilst its the Turkish side's most played map.

• Decider will likely be Overpass or Nuke, as both teams play these maps more than Mirage.