Magical moments from NertZ earn ENCE semi-final berth in Cologne

The Israeli rifler produced back-to-back solo-carry rounds to earn ENCE a victory over HEROIC.

ENCE have booked themselves a spot in the semi-finals of IEM Cologne, doing so by besting HEROIC on Nuke (16-12) and Mirage (16-14) either side of a loss on Overpass (8-16).

HEROIC seemingly had the series in the bag as they were looking in control towards the end of Mirage, but two career highlights in back-to-back rounds from Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz put the wind in ENCE’s sails, allowing them to clinch a narrow win.

ENCE progress to the semi-finals, where they will await the winner of the series between Cloud9 and Vitality. HEROIC will now have to battle through a quarter-final matchup, where they will play the winner of the bout between Natus Vincere and Astralis.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
04/08/2023	HEROIC 19:10 Astralis	Match
05/08/2023	ENCE 15:30 Vitality	Match

The series began on ENCE’s pick of Nuke, and they opened their account with a powerful offensive half. HEROIC seemingly had things under control after saved guns broke ENCE’s momentum in the third round, but a late surge ensured ENCE took a healthy seven-round offensive haul. The European combine then dominated their defensive half, Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García in particular fragging well, and sealed a 16-12 victory.

Overpass was a fairly one-sided affair in HEROIC’s favour, six of ENCE’s rounds came when they had the economic advantage in the first half. HEROIC’s playbook was simply too deep for ENCE’s defense to cope with, and once the sides switched, HEROIC strolled to a 16-8 victory.

Mirage was a far closer affair, with force-buy wars commencing both halves and either side having chances to run away with the map. Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer carried the early stages of the CT side for his team, but HEROIC adjusted, and some clever mid-round calls ensured an 8-7 scoreline at the half for the Danes.

HEROIC seemed just about in control of things when the sides switched, and appeared to be heading for victory, only for NertZ to pop up with two of the plays of the tournament so far, in back-to-back rounds no less. This completely reversed the momentum, with SunPayus in particular seeming buoyed by his teammate’s magic, and ENCE duly clinched a narrow 16-14 win.