ENCE to DH Masters semi-finals over FURIA

ENCE have defeated FURIA in a three-map encounter (Overpass 16-9, Train 11-16, Nuke 16-9) to advance to the semi-finals at DreamHack Masters Dallas, with the Brazilians set to compete in the quarter-finals.

FURIA opted with Overpass to kick off their series against ENCE, a map the Brazilian side had previously found great success on in their opening match with NRG. They looked to repeat that showing with a great start on the Terrorist side, which saw them get off to an 8-2 start as the Finns struggled to find an answer.

Eventually, key plays from Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo helped ENCE get back on their feet, as the last five rounds went their way, with Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli and Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila adding a multikill each to close the half with just a one-round deficit.

When the sides switched, the favorites had complete control over proceedings, as an A execute in the pistol transpired into their first lead on the map, and ENCE kept up momentum despite losing the first gunround to a double and triple from Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos and Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato, respectively. FURIA were on the back foot from that point on and never recovered, with the Finnish team emerging victorious at 16-9.

Train followed with FURIA once again looking in the driving seat at the beginning, this time playing on the CT side and racking up a 5-1 lead on the back of a couple of key plays from Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan. ENCE responded with two of the next three, finding entrances to the lower bombsite, but the Brazilian side bolstered up their defence to secure a huge 12-3 half.

Although ENCE clinched the second pistol, the success was short-lived, as yuurih's 1v2 clutch in the second-round forcebuy helped the underdogs reach map point. FURIA still had their work cut out for them, with ENCE defending cleanly for several rounds in a row, but once the second map reached double digits, arT stepped up with a massive quad-kill in the lower bombsite to finish it off 16-11.

Nuke was set to decide the series. For the third time in a row, KSCERATO & co. were the ones to get off the line more quickly, leading 3-0 on the CT side following a clean pistol round victory, but this time ENCE figured out how to penetrate the defense, responding with a seven-round streak. In the end, Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's team came away with a nine-round offense, setting themselves up for a comfortable second half.

And that is how they looked, in the end, giving up the first two rounds before dominating on the defense, closing the series with a 7-1 streak for 16-9, 2-1.