ENCE oust Movistar Riders from CCT Central Europe Finals

ENCE recovered after a lacklustre 4-16 loss on Mirage to continue their lower bracket campaign through the playoffs.

ENCE's run through the CCT Central Europe Malta Finals playoffs continues after the side took down Movistar Riders in the lower bracket final, eliminating the Spaniards on the back of a hard-fought 16-14 win on Inferno, a disappointing 4-16 showing on Mirage, and a more composed 16-7 display on Nuke to close out the series.

The result allows ENCE to breathe a sigh of relief after the side were cast down to early elimination territory following an 0-2 defeat to Eternal Fire in the playoffs' first round. Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's troops still have a long way ahead of them in their quest to lift the trophy, with the side needing to win their bout in the consolidation final on Sunday at 15:00 if they wish to secure a place in the title decider.

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Conversely, Movistar Riders' time in Malta has come to an end. The Spanish ensemble performed admirably in light of their recent in-server woes, even sending Spirit, the event's highest-rated team, home in the Group B decider match on Friday. Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet and company's 3rd-4th place performance in Malta will likely do wonders in boosting their confidence after the in-game leader confessed to HLTV that their aspirations ahead of the event were to simply "win a single match."

A stand-out performance from Henri "⁠HENU⁠" Ylilehto, ENCE's tournament-long stand-in, kicked off Inferno, with the Finn's superb holds of the A bombsite and his server-high 11 kills enabling the multinational roster to climb to a 5-3 lead on the CT-side. This advantage wasn't built to last, however, and Movistar Riders quickly honed in on vulnerabilities in ENCE's hold of the B site to go on an unblemished seven-round spree and sport a commanding 10-5 scoreline by the side swap.

ENCE turned to Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković and HENU to get their comeback attempt off the ground; the Montenegrin and Finn consistently added kills to their tallies round after round to drag the side to double digits and bring the two teams to 10 rounds apiece. The map descended into a slugfest from this point on, neither side able to post more than two rounds at a time to set up a 14-14 stalemate and ensure the first map of the series went the distance. In the end, though, it was ENCE who managed to prevail, a superlative quad kill from Maden in the 30th round being enough to wrap up Inferno in style, 16-14.

Play made its way to Mirage, ENCE's pick, for the second map of the series, but it was the Spanish outfit who got off to the better start, a near-impenetrable defensive wall stifling whatever Snappi's men threw at them, 4-1. Movistar Riders' grip on the game only tightened as the half played out, picking off the European combine at every opportunity to allow ENCE just two bomb plants by round 12. Thankfully for ENCE, the team enjoyed a much-needed resurgence in form as their T-side entered its dying stages, the roster adding three crucial rounds to the scoreboard to reduce the deficit to 4-11 by the swap.

This late-half recovery proved to be all ENCE could muster on their map selection. Movistar Riders, who were now brimming with both confidence and energy, wasted no time in adding the five rounds they needed to lock in a 16-4 victory, a map-ending collateral from Antonio "⁠MartinezSa⁠" Martinez capping off a stellar performance from the reinvigorated Spaniards.

ENCE appeared far more composed at the outset of the Nuke decider, overturning the Spaniards' 3-0 start with six explosive rounds of their own to nurture an early lead, 6-4. Snappi and co. had completely found their rhythm from here on out; the European roster employed an aggressive T-side to bully their way onto the bombsites and keep the Spanish lineup subdued, eventually waltzing up to a comfortable 10-5 advantage by the interval with each of the team's individuals pulling their weight.

HENU continued to boost his stock value once the second half began, tapping down two Movistar Riders players in Yard to nab his team the pistol round and set the stage for a lopsided scoreline in ENCE's favour. Strong fragging from alex enabled the Spanish quintet to briefly interrupt the onslaught, but this proved to be only temporary with ENCE's defence holding firm in the ensuing rounds to let the international mix record a 16-7 showing and secure the side a spot in the consolidation final.