Eternal Fire and Mindfreak will face off in the ESL Pro League Season 21, one of the key tournaments in the first half of the season. For the Turkish team, this match will be an opportunity to confirm their status as a stable participant in S-tier competitions, while Mindfreak, representing the Oceania region, will try to challenge the more renowned opponent. In this material, we examined the current form of the teams, analyzed the possible map pool, and made a prediction for the outcome of the match.
Current Form of the Teams
Eternal Fire
Eternal Fire continues to perform confidently in major tournaments. At the beginning of the year, the team made it through the Play-in stage of IEM Katowice 2025 and reached the quarterfinals, and at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 they also advanced to the playoffs with a 3-1 score but lost in the first match. The team's average rating in S-tier events over the last month is 6.2. In their last five matches, Eternal Fire secured three victories, defeating 3DMAX, BIG and Imperial Valkyries, but lost to FaZe and Falcons.
| Date | Team | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 days ago | Eternal Fire | 1 - 2 | Falcons |
| 10 days ago | Eternal Fire | 2 - 1 | 3DMAX |
| 11 days ago | Eternal Fire | 2 - 0 | BIG |
| 12 days ago | Eternal Fire | 1 - 2 | FaZe |
| 12 days ago | Eternal Fire | 2 - 0 | Imperial Valkyries |
Mindfreak
Mindfreak has recently been competing exclusively in C and B level tournaments, not making it to S-tier events, which is why their average rating in top tournaments is 0, while in less prestigious competitions it is 6.2. The team's recent results cannot be considered successful: in the BLAST Rising Asia Spring Closed Qualifier they were eliminated after two losses, they took third place in the EPL World Series: Oceania Season 1, and in ESL Challenger League Oceania they have a negative record of 3-5. In their last five matches, Mindfreak managed to win only once, defeating Housebets, while four losses came against The Art of War and Housebets.
| Date | Team | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 days ago | Mindfreak | 0 - 1 | The Art of War |
| 8 days ago | Mindfreak | 0 - 1 | The Art of War |
| 9 days ago | Mindfreak | 0 - 1 | Housebets |
| 9 days ago | Mindfreak | 1 - 0 | Housebets |
| 14 days ago | Mindfreak | 1 - 2 | Housebets |
Team Map Pool
Eternal Fire will likely ban Ancient first, as this map is traditionally banned by them and is one of the best for Mindfreak. The Australians, in turn, will probably ban Inferno, as this map is most frequently banned by them, while Eternal Fire has decent results on it.
As their first pick, Eternal Fire will likely choose Anubis, where they have a high win rate of 76%, and Mindfreak hardly plays this map. The Australians might respond by picking Mirage, as they use it more frequently than others and have a 63% win rate there. In the second ban phase, Eternal Fire will likely remove Train. Mindfreak, in turn, might ban Dust II, as Eternal Fire has a good win rate there.
The remaining map for the decider will likely be Nuke, as both teams do not prioritize these maps in their selections.
| Map | Eternal Fire Winrate | M | B | Last 5 Matches (Eternal Fire) | Mindfreak Winrate | M | B | Last 5 Matches (Mindfreak) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient | 0% | 1 | 33 | FB, FB, FB, FB, FB | 67% | 3 | 8 | FB, L, W, W |
| Train | 50% | 4 | 3 | W, W, L, L | 100% | 1 | 2 | W |
| Anubis | 76% | 21 | 1 | W, W, L, W, W | 50% | 6 | 10 | W, W, W, L, L |
| Dust II | 53% | 17 | 4 | L, W, L, W, W | 33% | 6 | 2 | L, L, W, L, L |
| Inferno | 56% | 18 | 3 | W, L, L, W, L | 71% | 7 | 18 | FB, FB, FB, FB, FB |
| Nuke | 59% | 17 | 17 | W, W, W, W, L | 50% | 14 | 2 | L, W, L, W, W |
| Mirage | 54% | 13 | 16 | W, W, L, L, W | 63% | 8 | 4 | L, L, W, L, W |
Match Prediction
Eternal Fire appears to be the obvious favorite in this matchup. The Turkish team consistently performs well in major tournaments and defeats strong opponents, while Mindfreak has yet to show a competitive level even in B-tier competitions. A key factor could be the map Anubis, where Eternal Fire has one of the best win rates.
Prediction: Eternal Fire wins 2:0
ESL Pro League Season 21 will take place from March 1 to 16 in Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament will feature 24 teams competing for a prize pool of $400,000. You can watch the matches and follow the results via this link.
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