FaZe defeat ENCE in EPICENTER opener

FaZe are through to the Group A winners' match at EPICENTER 2018 after defeating ENCE 2-1 (16-8 on Train, 13-16 on Inferno and 16-8 on Mirage).

The EPICENTER opener began on ENCE's map pick, Train, with FaZe retaking the B bombsite to win their CT pistol. The Finnish side forced in the next round, but they could not find more than one frag, with the European mixture eventually increasing their lead to 4-0.

ENCE nearly got on the board on a shoddy buy in the next round, but Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer and Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács turned a 2v5 situation around. After losing one more round, Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen called a tactical pause, with ENCE winning back-to-back rounds once they got their economy back on track. Nevertheless, FaZe kept shutting down their opponents convincingly to pick up a dominant 13-2 half-time lead.

In the second pistol, Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard denied Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli from clutching a 1v2 situation, but ENCE still found a lifeline as they responded with three successful rounds, 5-14. However, that was not enough to stop FaZe, who hit map-point with nothing but pistols, and then remained calm and collected to close out Train four rounds later, 16-8.

FaZe's map pick, Inferno, kicked off with Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's men winning their third pistol of the series and the subsequent anti-eco to take control of proceedings. ENCE responded well, however, stringing four rounds together without much effort. FaZe then restored parity at 4-4, especially thanks to rain and GuardiaN stepping up to the plate.

ENCE won their fifth round with a triple and a double-kill from allu and Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo, respectively, but FaZe regained control of proceedings and closed out the half with a 9-6 lead.

FaZe further added to their lead in the second half by picking up their fourth pistol and an anti-eco. ENCE did not back down and responded with a massive and vigorous run to turn the score around, 14-11. FaZe still responded with two more rounds, but it was too little, too late, as ENCE eventually secured the win to take the series to a third map.

On the decider, Mirage, FaZe won the first pistol once again, and followed that up with an anti-eco and the first gun-round. The European mixture remained in the lead, constantly denying ENCE's executes with a very tight defence. The Finnish team looked set to get on the board in the seventh round, but FaZe clutched a 3v5 situation to crush their opponents' hopes.

ENCE then finally got on the board thanks to a 1v2 post-plant clutch from sergej in the tenth round, but they were unable to prevent FaZe from bagging a crushing 13-2 half-time score, with their second round being on the back of a triple-kill from the 16-year-old.

In the second half, FaZe quickly hit match-point after securing yet another pistol round, their sixth of the series. ENCE still tried to mount a comeback, but it was in vain as olofmeister and co. eventually sealed the deal at 16-8.