Written by Xavier "BreadHead" Shanley
With IEM Melbourne just around the corner, ESL has confirmed that the fifth-ranked Turkish squad Eternal Fire—now Aurora after their org shift on April 5— has pulled out of the event and will no longer participate in the Aussie tournament.
Invitations were resent to Astralis, G2, and FURIA, all of whom declined once again following initial refusal in February. This positioned SAW as the next team eligible for attendance via the Global Valve Rankings, currently holding the 17th spot. SAW has accepted the invitation and will be replacing Eternal Fire to make up the full 16 teams.
We can only speculate as to why Eternal Fire has withdrawn from the event, as ESL and Eternal Fire have not provided an official reason for the recent decision. A troubling tweet from star rifler Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş on March 30 revealed ongoing health issues, describing a “big problem with my back” and sharing he “takes five pills a day and I walk around like I'm unconscious. Please excuse me."
Cesetten farkım yok elimden geleni yapmaya çalıştım fakat bu kadar oldu belimde büyük problem var nefesim kesiliyor midem sürekli yanıyor 25 gündür geçmiyor günde 5 tane ilaç alıyorum baygın gibi geziyorum kusura bakmayın
— İsmailcan Dörtkardeş (@XANTAREScsgo) March 29, 2025
Just four days later, on April 3, the Eternal Fire camp posted a follow-up tweet reassuring everyone that XANTARES is “in great health” and that “there's nothing to worry about,” explaining that the 29-year-old underwent a routine medical check-up.
Another possible reason for the late withdrawal is the team's jam-packed schedule to kick off the 2025 season, which has been a topic of discussion within the community. Eternal Fire has now participated in five LAN events for 2025—the most for any team in the top 10 on the global VRS rankings.
Furthermore, their shock shift to Aurora today may also be the reason why they pulled out of the Melbourne trip, but given the squad will suit up at PGL Bucharest this week, the org change is unlikely to have played a part.
SAW unveiled their new lineup at ESL Pro League Season 21, stunning both fans and analysts by finishing first in Stage 1 with a perfect 3-0 record. They further shocked the crowd by defeating Natus Vincere in the opening match of the Swiss stage.
After a very exciting start to the new roster, the team suffered consecutive losses to Spirit, G2 and GamerLegion finishing the event in 12th-14th place. The long journey to Melbourne promises to provide crucial experience for SAW, who just might have the potential to upset a bunch of top teams.
Eternal Fire will be attending PGL Bucharest on April 5, continuing their busy event schedule that includes stops in Qatar, Astana, and Dallas, before the next CS2 Major in Austin, Texas starts this June.
The IEM Melbourne team list is as follows:
- Spirit
- Vitality
- Natus Vincere
- FaZe
- The MongolZ
- MOUZ
- Liquid
- FlyQuest
- Virtus.pro
- GamerLegion
- Falcons
- paiN
- 3DMAX
- MIBR
- BIG
- SAW
