ENCE secure EPL playoffs spot over Rare Atom

After an upset-filled first day in which Rare Atom dismantled Liquid, ENCE breezed past the Chinese squad in the playoffs decider.

ENCE are through to the ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D upper final following a commanding victory over Rare Atom (Overpass 16-3, Nuke 16-12).

Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's team have already guaranteed themselves a top-two finish in the group and a place in the playoffs, but are still to face FORZE on Sunday at 16:00 for a quarter-finals berth. Rare Atom drop to the lower bracket of the triple-elimination format to face the winner of Astralis vs. Natus Vincere on Friday at 19:30 .

Having dismantled Liquid on the map on Wednesday, Rare Atom opted to pick Overpass. This time, though, they didn't get the chance to showcase the same commanding defense they had against the North American side after their lacking Terrorist side gave them little space to work with.

Starting on the offense, Zhuo "⁠advent⁠" Liang's team got broken early by a Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković 1v2 clutch in the second round, and from then on ENCE kept capitalizing on early advantages they gained across the map. Limiting their opponents to just three rounds in the first half, the favorites rallied to a quick 16-3 victory on the opener, with their newest addition Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz finishing atop a rather evenly spread scoreboard.

Nuke turned out a closer battle in which ENCE ultimately prevailed. Snappi's team took some time to warm up to the Terrorist side, but once they got on the board in the sixth round they continued to thrive, abusing Rare Atom's lacking protocols.

The Chinese team kept themselves in the running as they finished the first half on seven rounds, converting a crucial and surprising late retake on the A bombsite as they defused the bomb in a 4v4 situation towards the end.

ENCE's defense proved too strong in the end, though, as only the pistol and following two conversions went their way before the favorites took control of the match with stalwart setups on A.