soulfly on reaching a Tier 1 Final: “I really did this, because my brother was not believing in me”

Caner “soulfly” Kesici is the latest addition to Aurora‘s CS2 roster, having joined the team at the start of the season to replace jottAAA. He faced a difficult task making the step into Tier 1 Counter-Strike, and has already performed admirably in his new role.

At BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026, soulfly and Aurora are set to face The MongolZ in the Quarter-Finals. Ahead of that matchup, we were able to speak with soulfly about his adaptation to Tier 1 Counter-Strike, proving to his brother he can make it at the top, how he has fit into the team on Anubis, where expectations on the map are sky-high for Aurora.

soulfly: “Our Vitality time will come… I really believe that”

Daniel Morris: soulfly, you’re obviously new to Aurora. You came into the team just as Anubis was re-added to the map pool. Aurora, they have a reputation as being arguably the best team in the world on that map. How has that been trying to fit into that system and live up to those expectations, specifically on that map?

Caner “soulfly” Kesici: Okay, on Anubis we have some rules that in default, I do not have that much space, which is okay because it’s always changing team by team. Some teams, from everywhere, they like to do pressure, and some teams, they like to do pressure in one way. So in our teams it’s… so my position has not that much space, but it’s fine as long as we win. I think we are also doing good. We just didn’t do well at the last game at NAVI, but in general, we like the map and I like the way we play as well.

Daniel: I think a lot of people were quite surprised when Aurora gave you the call-up. To most fans, I think you were probably most known the the local Turkish scene. Were you surprised at all when you heard that Aurora were interested?

soulfly: I mean, honestly, I wasn’t that surprised because, as you said, we don’t have that many players. So you know that if something goes wrong on Aurora, they will come to me. And I was thinking this offer quite often because when our coach, ex coach, came to me and he said, “You have an offer from Aurora, what do you think?” I said “Okay, my time has come,” because I could have also gone to this team when they were Eternal Fire. I got two times this offer, and one offer, I didn’t want to go, because I was doing good on my ex-team, and then the next time I wanted to join them but they were also doing good, so they just didn’t need me. I mean it didn’t surprise me and I’m happy to be here.

Daniel: I do want to touch on your previous team a little bit. Obviously, you were at Fire Flux. What would you say has been the biggest difference you’ve noticed in the teams that you dace on Aurora vs. the teams that you were facing at Fire Flux? Like, how big was the jump in your opinion?

soulfly: I mean it’s huge, you know, because when you play Tier 3, 2 tournaments, sometimes you are not expecting to do any moves, for example, but in Tier 2, since they are doing these moves and in Tier  1, you know that if there is one, one smoke, he will not gonna go through in a stupid way. Which I was always hoping for because I like to play team play and it’s in Tier 3 teams or like these kind of tournaments, you don’t have that much space to play with intelligence. They like to shoot all the time and I like the way we’re playing because as I said, we are using our intelligence, we are using team play. So yeah, that’s all I can say.

Daniel: Looking around the scene at the moment, it feels like some of the main challengers to Vitality, your MOUZ, your Spirit, your FURIA, they’re struggling to find form this year. Do you feel that Aurora are pretty well-placed to fill that gap and become a real challenger quite consistently?

soulfly: I really believe that. Because when you look at other teams, they are really struggling, as you said. When it comes to us, I think we are not struggling. We have some parts that we are struggling a lot, the mentality part. But I think day by day we are improving about that. I’m also adapting in the team, so when we do practice, I can feel that it’s going really good. So I really believe that we will be one of these… like, Vitality time, you know? It will come, but I don’t know when. But I really believe that.

Daniel: You, yourself, you’re still a very young player, only 21 years old. You’re playing with some legends of Turkish CS, you know, woxic, MAJ3R, XANTARES. What sort of advice did they give you coming into the team and how have they helped your transition into Tier 1 Counter-Strike?

soulfly: I mean, all these three players, they are giving me different type of plans, I would say. For example, XANTARES is teaching me… when I watch him, I usually learn a lot from his peak or angles. So about the game, and how I am supposed to play, aim, and peek, I’m learning from him. And about the game part, MAJ3R, he’s teaching me good. He likes to play teamplay a lot, he’s French, you know? So he’s teaching me about how team should be played. And when it comes to woxic, he is also very friendly and he’s very social. So I really like to hang out with him and in-game he has a really good mentality. I never see him not believing, or being toxic. No. He’s really… I can trust him in the game so much because I know if something goes wrong, he will say, “You can do it, it’s fine, we can still come back from this.” So yeah, that’s all I can say.

Daniel: You recently played your first Tier 1 Grand Final against NAVI. That was a pretty solid Final for you, I would say. Could you feel any added pressure in that match and how did you feel that you handled it?

soulfly: I mean, I’m a calm guy usually, but when you play a Final, what I dreamed when I was young, it became real. And I was looking around, see the fans are screaming and I was saying, like, “Am I really here?” I really did this, because my brother was not believing in me. He was saying to me, “There’s millions of people playing, do you think you can achieve this?” And I said, “Yeah, I can do it.” He said, “Okay, do it then.” And I did it. So obviously that match was kind of a pressure because most of the fans, like 80%, were supporting NAVI. When we are winning the round, everybody is like, “Ooh!” you know? And then when they are winning, they scream. But it kind of affects me. End of the day, this is also my first Final, you know, I have a lot to learn and I feel like I’m doing good and the team is also happy about my improvement and I’m also satisfied with my improvement. Yeah, that was a pressure, but I think I kind of handled well.

Daniel: You guys have The MongolZ at BLAST Open Rotterdam first up. Last time you played them was at ESL Pro League in Stage 2. There, they beat you 2:0. Do you remember what the main issues were for you to actually solve against them? Was it something specific about The MongolZ that you found quite difficult to play against?

soulfly: When we play against them, I feel like there was a different game style between us. When you play against Vitality, you know how they play. But when you play against The MongolZ, they kind of surprising you, you know. I know what we did wrong and I don’t want to say it now. And I think I also know that what we did good. So we need to balance what we did wrong. I think we’re going to fix that, and hopefully we will win.