Heroic is the best chance for the home crowd in Copenhagen to see a Danish majority team in the playoffs at the PGL Copenhagen Major. The three Danes on the roster made sure that the dream of seeing a Danish team stayed alive with a good start in the opening round. Against Lynn Vision the expectations were none other than a convincing Heroic win, and they didn’t disappoint.

It was one-way traffic throughout the map of Nuke, where the Chinese team never really got anything going. Guy 'NertZ' Iluz continued to impress with a very solid 1.69 rating in the match that Heroic won 13-5.

SAW did one better in their encounter with KOI. A 13-4 win told the story about a very convincing performance from the Portuguese who are now on a 10-match win streak. Speaking about story, João 'story' Vieira went 21-7 in the 17 rounds on Nuke.

You can see the results of the other matches today down below.

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Nertz

story

Heroic

Several new lineups got their first taste of CS2 action at the open qualifiers tournament for the PGL Copenhagen Major. 

Among them was Heroic, where Guy "NertZ" Iluz, Nico "nicoodoz" Tamjidi, and Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski made a good first impression as the trio debuted with four straight victories. The round of 128 win against Sprout was especially impressive with Heroic only dropping two rounds during the match.

Another new lineup we saw the first glimpse of was PARIVISION. An early defeat at the hands of the unknown lineup of Galaxy Gaming saw Robert "Patsi" Isyanov and Artem "ArtFr0st" Kharitonov eliminated in the round of 258. A disappointing first showing from the CIS team, that on paper looks like a potential Major participant.

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The online qualifier should continue today at 16.00 (CET). There are four spots for the closed qualifier available in each of the four online qualifiers. You can see the bracket of the tournament [link:{"url":"https://www.challengermode.com/s/PGLCS2_EU/tournaments/5cb35541-de63-443f-7266-08dbec30b584/brackets/1","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

nicoodoz

kyxsan

The first two teams from Group B of ESL Pro League are ready for the playoffs. Both ENCE and BIG won their upper-semifinals in Group B to secure the qualification.

BIG won 2-0 against Heroic after a dramatic match, where the Germans deflected a Heroic comeback on Ancient through a triple overtime win. On Inferno, it was once again a close affair, but Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa stepped up for BIG and played a key part in their 16-13 win.

ENCE and MIBR also played a very competitive match, where the two first maps went into overtime. MIBR has been uplifting at the tournament with their opening win against MOUZ. Against ENCE they forced the IEM Dallas winner to a third map, where Guy 'NertZ' Iluz turned up the heat with 37 kills in 27 rounds. ENCE won 2-1.

Unsurprisingly both Rooster and Evil Geniuses dropped down to the Last Chance Stage after defeats against Monte and MOUZ.

Krimbo

With four Grand Finals in a row, ENCE have solidified their spot at the top of CS:GO. The Finnish Organization has excelled in spotting raw talented players such as Spinx, dycha, SunPayus, and NertZ and turned them into prolific players on the team led by in-game leader Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer.

We spoke with the latest addition to ENCE Guy "NertZ" Iluz about the Danish IGL.

- Snappi has a really special personality. I was playing with a lot of in-game leaders, and I feel like when you have your in-game leader as a captain, it helps the team a lot.  I never met someone like him before. If we have some argument about a situation everyone loves him and respects him, and nobody will say anything, NertZ tells in an interview Pley.gg

The Israelian has had a great impact on the ENCE roster since he arrived at the team six months ago. At the age of 24, he is playing his first full season in Tier-1 Counter-Strike while also averaging a very respectful 1.11 rating against the top 20 teams in the world. But why is it only now, at the age of 24, that Guy "NertZ" Iluz is showing the world of CS, what he is capable of in Tier-1?

- By the sound of it, I am a bit cocky, but I was the best player of Israel for almost four-five years. I needed to start the service of the army, which not everyone is doing. After three years of service, I was almost 22 years old and had not played competitively. After I finished the army, I started playing FPL and this is why I was late (to breaking through). I am playing how I am playing right now because I sacrificed a lot. This is my dream from the start of my journey, from when I was 12 years old, that I wanted to be a competitive player, so I will do everything to be the best, NertZ explains.

When asked to put words on his own career so far, the ENCE player took a long pause before answering.

- A guy that didn’t show everything he can show.

At Pro League Season 18 we will see if NertZ and ENCE can show even more than they have already delivered in 2023. In their opening round later today, they face Evil Geniuses in a match, where ENCE are huge favorites.

In the full interview below you can hear more about NertZ and also hear where he ranks ENCE among the best teams in the world.

Snappi

ENCE

Finnish esports organization ENCE has confirmed the signing of Israeli rifler Guy “NertZ” Iluz to their CS:GO lineup. In a [link:{"url":"https://ence.gg/article/welcome-nertz","isNewTab":true,"text":"statement"}] released on Thursday, ENCE expressed their excitement over the addition of the 23-year-old player.

NertZ, who most recently played for UK-based team Endpoint, is said to bring added firepower to the team. According to ENCE, they have been eyeing NertZ for some time, as his skills and potential is undeniable.

“We’re happy to announce the new fifth player to our main CS:GO roster. ENCE welcomes NertZ to the team, a 23-year-old Israeli, most recently playing for Endpoint,”

Guy “NertZ” Iluz’s passion for competitive gaming started at a young age, thanks to his older brother who introduced him to the world of Counter-Strike 1.6 when he was just 10 years old. From that moment on, NertZ was hooked and quickly became a skilled player.

When CS:GO was released, the Israeli was eager to join a team and compete at a higher level. He played for several Israeli teams, but he knew he wanted to challenge himself on the international stage. Inspired by the success of fellow Israeli players like Spinx and flameZ, NertZ was motivated to take his skills to the next level and make a name for himself in the global CS:GO scene.

“For me joining an organization like ENCE feels like a crazy story. I remember back in the days when I heard the song EZ4ENCE while playing a Deathmatch, so you can understand how proud I feel now. I’m really happy to represent them.”

The new ENCE roster, including NertZ, will make its debut in the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 17 in Malta. They will be competing in Group D with teams such as Liquid, NAVI, Spirit, and Astralis.

Eetu “sAw” Saha, ENCE CS:GO coach, said, 

“We’ve had our eyes on NertZ for some time already, as his skills and potential are undeniable. He seems to fit the team really well, both role-wise and in terms of personality. I’m excited to welcome NertZ to the team and start working hard to reach our full potential together!”

Fans of ENCE and NertZ can look forward to watching them in action starting in March.

Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså is no longer an active member on ENCE with the Danish rifler having been put on the bench, the Finnish organization revealed yesterday. That means valde is set to depart the team less than six months after joining the Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer-led squad.

- We have reached the conclusion to bench valde due to differences in his playstyle compared to the rest of the team. Unfortunately, it hasn’t clicked as well as we had hoped during the past six months, ENCE GM, Niklas "Willkey" Ojalainen explains.

Quickly after the news regarding the demotion of valde, [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/35608/ence-bench-valde-due-to-differences-in-playstyle-target-nertz","isNewTab":true,"text":"rumours "}]about ENCE targeting Endpoint’s Guy “Nertz” Iluz began to occur – a player who they already have kept an eye on before.

And with Nertz not representing Endpoint in the ongoing Major qualifiers doesn’t make a potential transfer more unlikely. 

ENCE has informed that they will play with their academy player Henri "⁠HENU⁠" Ylilehto in their upcoming matches at CCT Central Europe Malta Finals.

valde

At the LAN event in Jönköping, Sweden there are only two matches left in the tournament.

Endpoint, MIBR, Eternal Fire, and Outsiders all won their two opening matches to secure qualification for ESL Pro League Season 16. All four teams won their matches without dropping a map. Evgeniy "FL1T" Lebedev (Outsiders), Guy "Nertz" Iluz (Endpoint), and İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş (Eternal Fire) all ended with a rating above 1.45 for the four maps played.

Today the last two spots for the tournament will be found. In the first match, it will be an all-even French derby, when Falcons face HEET. In the second match, Illuminar from Poland will go head to head with FTW from Portugal.

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Nertz

Player stats

Articles mentioning Nertz

SAW and Heroic find easy victories in opening round

New Heroic lineup off to great start at PGL Copenhagen qualifiers

BIG and ENCE secure qualification for playoffs

Nertz on Snappi: I never met someone like him before

ENCE confirm signing of Israelian rifler

valde benched on ENCE as they target Endpoint rifler

Endpoint, MIBR, Eternal Fire, and Outsiders qualified for ESL Pro League Season 16

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