SunPayus: "I think we're capable of winning with the positive mindset we have right now"

The Spaniard, a semi-finalist at the LANXESS in 2022, has done one better in 2023 and will play the IEM Cologne grand final with ENCE.

ENCE made it to the IEM Cologne final by taking out one of the tournament's favorites in the lead-up to the title decider, Vitality. Before that they beat 9INE, fnatic and HEROIC in the group stage.

The semi-final match had been spiced up on the last episode of HLTV Confirmed by Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz, who was eager to beat his Vitality compatriots, Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi and Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan. But as the series got underway it was Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García bringing the heat to Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut in the AWP battle taking center stage.

SunPayus had a statement game, neutralizing ZywOo's star power and spearheading his team to victory with a 1.48 rating across the three maps played: Mirage (16-14), Nuke (14-16) and Vertigo (16-7). "I'm very happy, but I shouldn't get all of the credit," he told HLTV in the LANXESS Arena's mixed zone after the series.

"The whole team is playing really well and that helps me play my own game," he said, mirroring the comment he made on ESL's desk segment following the series. "That makes me very happy and I just hope I can play the same way in the final."

The Spanish AWPer isn't a neophyte in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, where he played in 2022 with Movistar Riders, but this grand final appearance will be a new milestone. Back then it was a 1.38-rated performance in the quarter-finals that got his side over the line against Liquid and into the semi-finals, which they would go on to lose against FaZe.

SunPayus started to show his potential was crystalizing with ENCE at IEM Dallas 2023, in the closing stages of the Spring season, when he won his first Big Event trophy and got an MVP award to go with it thanks to a 1.27 rating throughout the tournament. That was also where he and his teammates secured their berth at this IEM Cologne with a direct invite to the group stage.

ENCE, now fighting to establish themselves among the best of the best, have a real chance of winning one of Counter-Strike's most coveted titles in Cologne. "Every team in the top ten is in a similar place and the gap between teams is very small," the 24-year-old said.

"One player having a good game, or winning some clutches... The margins in the server are very small. I'd say we're doing very well, but every team here is very good and we have to be very careful."

All of ENCE's energy is now focused on one thing, raising silverware come Sunday, which SunPayus sees as a real possibility. "We're going to win the final," he said just before being wrangled back with the rest of his team, who were done with their press obligations and waiting for the most sought out player by journalists at the LANXESS after his performance against Vitality.

"If we play well we can beat any team that's put in front of us. I think we're capable of winning with the positive mindset we have right now."

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
06/08/2023	ENCE 16:00 G2	Match