ENCE through to BLAST EU Spring Showdown grand final

The Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer-led team are the first grand finalists of the tournament after besting HEROIC, 2-1.

ENCE are the first team at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe to make the grand finals of the event after a well-deserved 2-1 victory over HEROIC as they took Ancient 16-9, dropped Overpass 13-16, and won the decider on Mirage, 16-5. The win sets up a spot-deciding matchup against the winner of the second semi-final, either Astralis or Ninjas in Pyjamas, for qualification to the upcoming BLAST Premier Spring Final.

The first map of the semi-final series was played on Ancient, which was ENCE's pick. HEROIC got the early advantage on team economy, taking pistol and the three succeeding rounds as the defenders for a quick 4-0 lead. ENCE then started to claw back into the game as they were finally able to purchase their rifles, successfully breaking through HEROIC's site defense as Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković's side were able to pull ahead against their Danish rivals and establish a 6-4 score in ENCE's favor. As the first half dragged on, both teams went back-and-forth on round wins as ENCE came into halftime with a narrow 8-7 lead.

ENCE started the second half strong as they won the pistol round off the back of Snappi's Dualies, which secured three kills against HEROIC's B site push. It was an uphill battle for HEROIC early in the second period, as a failed full-buy in the 18th and ENCE's strong site defense set the Danes back five rounds, down 7-12.

HEROIC looked like they were starting to find their groove after winning back-to-back rounds, however an unsuccessful site take against ENCE's half-eco shattered HEROIC's momentum and economy once again, as Maden's 26-kill performance helped his team ultimately claim Ancient 16-9, and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Overpass kicked off in ENCE's favor, securing the opening pistol and the two following rounds to give them a swift 3-0 advantage. HEROIC were able to get themselves on the board in the fourth after a successful bomb plant, yet continued to struggle as the attackers in the ensuing rounds, succumbing to ENCE's impressive site control and finding themselves at a 1-6 deficit. Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller's squad started showing some fight as they were able to string together rounds to add to their tally, yet still trailed ENCE by five at the switch, down 5-10.

The second half saw a resurgence from HEROIC on their CT side as they took nine consecutive rounds to erase ENCE's advantage and swing the momentum in their favor, managing a 14-10 lead. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali's fragging were key for their team's newfound success in the game, constantly shutting down ENCE's advances. Despite their hot start as the defenders, ENCE collapsed after swapping sides as they were barely able to keep up with HEROIC's lockdown defense as the Danes secured Overpass 16-13 to force a decider on Mirage.

Mirage saw absolute dominance from ENCE, who garnered a commanding 13-2 lead after 15 rounds behind some remarkable firepower accompanied by crucial map control across the board for Snappi's crew. HEROIC did show signs of life at times, most notably in the 15th round after they converted a 2vs5 situation to a 2vs1, before Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi spoiled their hard work and clinched the 13th round on the board for his team. HEROIC mounted a last-ditch effort to get themselves back in the game by taking the first three rounds of the second half, however ENCE wasted no time closing out the map 16-5 and the series, 2-1.