ENCE qualify for BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022

The European mix squad has now qualified for the 8-team BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 happening in June.

ENCE are the winners of the BLAST European Showdown after defeating Astralis in the grand final, qualifying for the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 in the process. This now means the team list for the event is almost set, with the final attendee coming from the North American Showdown final between FURIA and paiN.

ENCE will be elated about coming through two previous qualifiers and winning the final of the Showdown, capping off their marathon road to the BLAST Spring Finals.

For Astralis, this will no doubt be a disappointing loss, considering their improved performances since signing Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen and the fact they looked to be in the driver's seat following a near-perfect first map.

The series started off on Mirage, where ENCE were looking to start the series with a win on their map pick. It was Astralis however who got the better start, winning the pistol round to start off their CT side. ENCE were quick to strike back, winning a round with just upgraded pistols and then tying up the score at 3-3. After the opening couple of rounds Astralis started to dominate rounds, with Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer having a dominant performance with several multikills. This meant the Danes won all nine rounds of the remaining rounds, winning the half 12-3.

Once switching sides, Astralis won the second pistol with a B rush, which meant ENCE ran out of time to mount a comeback before they could get a decent economy, as they lost the map 16-3. Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer had a fantastic performance, getting up to 31 kills and dying only five times throughout the whole map, which meant he achieved a 2.53 rating.

Next up was Astralis's pick of Ancient, where ENCE were able to find a lot more success on their defensive side. They were quick out of the gates, getting up to a 7-0 lead before the Danes finally got their first round on the board. It took them a while to get into the game, but Astralis were able to end the half with a few good rounds, getting back to just a five round deficit at half time.

The second half started with Astralis winning the pistol with a bomb defusal. The bomb plant enabled ENCE to get a decent force buy which they converted into a succesfull round, getting up to a 13-6 scoreline due due to that win. Astralis took a while to get going on their CT side, but once they did it started to prove that picking the map was not a mistake as they started to get back into the game. In the end, the deficit was simply too much for Astralis to overcome, eventually falling to the European team in a 16-13 loss.

Nuke was the decider map, where Astralis won yet another pistol round in the series, putting ENCE on the back foot straight away. The European mix team was able to strike back immediately, winning the force buy and equalizing the score. ENCE got up to a 6-1 lead, but at that point Astralis found a way to break down their defense, getting within one round of their opponents. In the following rounds, Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and Olek "⁠hades⁠" Miskiewicz were able to both win a 1v1 clutch, setting up their team for a 9-6 CT half on Nuke.

Once Astralis got to the defensive side, they won their fifth pistol round of the series, setting them up to tie up the scores at 9-9. The teams continued to trade rounds, with ENCE keeping a small lead through the second half, eventually closing out the series with a 16-12 win.

As it stands, the teams are set to play at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 are: