ENCE knock out NIP en route to ESL Pro League grand final

With a 2-0 sweep of the Swedes, ENCE have reached their first big-event final with the current core.

ENCE became the first grand finalists of ESL Pro League Season 15, eliminating Ninjas in Pyjamas with a 2-0 victory in the semi-finals (Nuke 16-10, Ancient 16-14). Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's team is set to face the winner of FURIA vs. FaZe in the best-of-five title decider on Sunday at 17:00 .

The semi-final exit marks the final showing of the current Ninjas in Pyjamas roster before they bring in Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin in time for the European Regional Major Ranking event later this month, where the new signing will replace academy member Love "⁠phzy⁠" Smidebrant with hopes of qualifying for the Belgian Major.

To no one's surprise, ENCE picked Nuke after amassing an eight-map win streak on it in the past three weeks and kicked off the series on a high note following a dominant performance on the Terrorist side. Ninjas in Pyjamas found themselves on the back foot early on after being unable to deal with Snappi's team's quick pace and inventive calling, and they could never recover after falling behind 0-7.

Even though ENCE's switch-up from yard control to a quick ramp play and a Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser quad-kill cost the European team a couple of rounds, it did little to stop ENCE, who went on to claim a 12-3 half and looked to finish the map off in quick fashion.

Ninjas in Pyjamas did not go down without a fight, with a key Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner Deagle triple stopping ENCE's onslaught early in the second half, but they were simply too far behind to complete the comeback, falling 10-16.

Ancient followed, where at first it was looking like a repeat of the first map, as ENCE got off to a flying start once again on the back of a Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi triple in the pistol round, this time beginning the map on the CT side. Despite a 0-6 deficit, however, Ninjas in Pyjamas made it a competitive half with a couple of quick plays towards B and a series of close retake scenarios on A, where phzy was the difference-maker.

Still ahead by three rounds at halftime, ENCE went on to extend their lead on the back of another Spinx play in the pistol round, but soon the score was even after Ninjas in Pyjamas put up a wall on the B site. The European team finally broke through in the 23rd round and looked to run away with the map, but a 1v2 clutch from REZ and a forcebuy win had the map going the full distance. In the end, it came down to another clutch in round 30, where Spinx came out on top up against REZ thanks to a timing play towards CT spawn.