ENCE punch their ticket to the Legends Stage after defeating BIG

BIG have one last chance to qualify for the next stage of the Major.

ENCE are the latest team to qualify for the Legends Stage of the PGL Major Stockholm after defeating BIG 2-1. The European mix came into the series with a 2-1 record in the Challenger Stage featuring a win against GODSENT and a loss to FaZe on the opening day as well as a victory against MOUZ on Wednesday.

Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's team was able to bounce back after a disappointing collapse on Dust2 and bring the fire into the next two maps. Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha propelled his team to a comfortable 16-8 victory on Mirage before sending BIG to the 2-2 pool following a 16-10 win on Nuke. The Germans need to win their last best-of-three series on Friday if they want to qualify for the Legends Stage.

ENCE got off to a great start on Dust2 after converting a force buy on their second CT round, kicking off a brief winning streak for the European mix which culminated in a 8-3 lead. BIG was eventually able to adapt their offense and take the last two rounds of the 6-9 half.

The Germans switched to the CT side with momentum on their side and wasted no time in making the most of it. BIG took the second pistol round to kickstart a dominant half in which Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne made the B bombsite inaccessible to ENCE, enabling his team to take the lead and comfortably close Dust2 16-10.

Mirage was a more straightforward affair with ENCE running away with the map after a few early rounds of BIG dominance. Snappi's team turned a 0-4 start into a 10-5 lead at the end of the first half thanks to the exemplary performance of dycha and several successful offensive calls. ENCE made quick work of the Germans on their CT side, swiftly closing the map 16-8 despite losing both pistol rounds.

Nuke witnessed BIG fail to convert an anti eco for the third time in the series, a weakness which ENCE exploited to gain an early foothold on the CT side. Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz's men were able to salvage a 6-9 half before their inability to stabilize their defense gave the opportunity for ENCE to take the map 16-10 and with it the series 2-1.

The group now looks as follows: