Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş is off to a phenomenal start in 2025, delivering some of the best Counter-Strike of his career.
The 29-year-old rifler has been instrumental in Eternal Fire’s rise toward the higher tiers of CS, and his impact was on full display yesterday when the Turkish squad secured an impressive playoff spot at IEM Katowice by defeating FaZe in a nail-biting series.
Following the match, Eternal Fire captain Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli had nothing but praise for his star player.
Strong commitment
In an interview with ESL, MAJ3R highlighted XANTARES’ loyalty and commitment to the Turkish scene, revealing that the rifler has had plenty of opportunities to leave for international teams but has chosen to stay.
– He’s doing his best for Turkish CS. He has had a lot of offers but he prefers to stay here with us and play for his country. Hopefully, we can reach our goals, because we have really high goals. Today we [achieved] the first thing, getting to play in Spodek which is amazing.
A lot of emotions
Eternal Fire’s battle against FaZe was an instant classic, featuring an intense second map that stretched into four overtimes.
While the Turkish squad has sometimes struggled with keeping their emotions in check, MAJ3R believes they are finally learning how to channel their passion into success.
– We are a team with a lot of emotions. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. It’s just a matter of experience. We have lost so many times because of our emotions, where it’s been so close. After you have failed so much, one day you just stand up and learn to keep your emotions cold and today I’m glad we finished it off, because it was a very, very complicated game, MAJ3R said.
With their victory over FaZe, Eternal Fire has secured a place in the Spodek Arena for the IEM Katowice playoffs.
Here they will face off against The MongolZ on Friday in the quarterfinals.