ENCE take fnatic by storm

After all four groups of ESL Pro League Season 15 have been concluded, we find ourselves in the playoff stage of the event. 24 teams have already been cut down to just 12 teams and things are beginning to get intense. The first Bo3-series of the playoff stage of the event was set to be a brawl between ENCE and fnatic. ENCE proved to be a real menace in Group B as they finished above both FaZe and Vitality, only losing a single Bo3-series in the group stages. Fnatic, however, also surprised the CS:GO scene when they managed to finish third in their group with recently signed "poizon" as a stand-in. A close brawl was on the cards when ENCE and fnatic locked horns today, however, on the day one team proved substantially stronger than the other. An intense battle on Nuke between the two rosters ultimately concluded with ENCE as the winners in a 2-0 victory against fnatic.

The first map of the Bo3-series was chosen by fnatic and saw the brawl begin on Overpass. Despite being the pick of fnatic, it became clear from early on that ENCE had the upper hand in the first map of the series. A, seemingly, impenetrable defense from the CT-sided ENCE roster proved a difficult task for fnatic to break through and secured an 11-4 lead for ENCE to take with them into the second half of Overpass. Despite switching sides, fnatic never really got comfortable on Overpass and with "poizon" failing to provide what we have come to expect from him, things were just too difficult for fnatic on Overpass. At the dominant scoreline of 16-5, it was ENCE who closed out the first map of the series with intent.

The second map of the series was, of course, picked by ENCE and took place on the concrete of Nuke. Nuke is, by far, one of ENCE's best maps in their arsenal and with a win-rate of 90% (10 maps) in the past three months, fnatic looked like they were heading toward a daunting future, at least until the map got underway. After losing the first three rounds, fnatic woke up and posted a stellar defensive half against ENCE. Thanks to a great performance from "mezii" as well as some crucial impact from the iconic "KRIMZ", fnatic managed to secure an 11-4 lead going into the second half of Nuke. It looked as if Nuke was all fnatic going into the second half, however, once again the trend continued and the CT-sided performance posted by ENCE was more than impressive. Only allowing the fnatic offense a single round it was ENCE to claim Nuke and take home the Bo3-series at the scoreline of 16-12.

The 2-0 victory against fnatic means that ENCE are set to take on Movistar Riders in the Quarter-finals of ESL Pro League Season 15.

Highlight of the Bo3-series

ENCE – fnatic 2-0 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Playoffs)

16-5 (Overpass) | ⁠Spinx – 2.00 Rating / 26-9 K-D / 117.7 ADR

16-12 (Nuke) | Spinx – 1.59 Rating / 26-15 K-D / 112.5 ADR

MVP:  Lotan "Spinx" Giladi – 1.75 Rating / 52-24 K-D / 114.7 ADR