ENCE survive MIBR scare to clinch EPL playoff berth

They were pushed hard by their Brazilian opponents, but ultimately ENCE’s class shone through.

ENCE have qualified for the ESL Pro League playoffs after triumphing in an epic battle with MIBR, taking wins on Vertigo (22-18) and Ancient (16-11) either side of a loss on Anubis (17-19).

MIBR put up fabulous showings on the first two maps, taking ENCE to double overtime on Vertigo and ending the Europeans’ 9-game win-streak on Anubis. Raphael "⁠exit⁠" Lacerda was a monster on the first map, Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji and Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa carried the second, but the Brazilians simply ran out of steam by the end of the series.

As for ENCE, they were thoroughly out of sorts for much of Vertigo, but recovered in time to clinch the map. The European side were ultimately outplayed on Anubis, a rare occurrence for them, but showed their class on Ancient to close the series comfortably, thanks in no small part to Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz.

BIG are up next for ENCE, with playoff seeding on the line, whilst MIBR will take on Monte in the lower bracket.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
08/09/2023	Monte 16:00 MIBR	Match
10/09/2023	BIG 17:30 ENCE	Match

Vertigo, MIBR’s choice, opened the series, and the Brazilians asserted authority early, particularly exit. A pistol win and conversion granted MIBR the advantage on offense, and they continued to exploit a slow start from ENCE with a varied attack to win the first half 8-7.

Despite losing to a second-round force after winning the pistol, MIBR kept control of the game and got themselves to a 13-10 scoreline on CT. It was at this point that ENCE started to wake up, the rest of the team finally joining Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and NertZ on the server. This allowed the European squad to force overtime, even in the face of a couple of match points.

In overtime ENCE continued to improve round after round, and despite having to fend off another match point, Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and co. looked comfortable by the end of the map, winning four rounds in a row to secure a 22-18 victory.

Next came ENCE’s choice of Anubis, and MIBR put up another strong showing. The game opened with ENCE taking a 5-3 lead on defense, their well-timed CT aggression catching MIBR off-guard. The Brazilians recovered beautifully, however, with insani’s immense aim powering them to seven rounds on the bounce, securing a 10-5 lead.

NertZ picked up what turned out to be a vital 1v3 pistol clutch to kick off ENCE’s T side, because afterward insani continued his powerful form to hang on to MIBR’s shrinking advantage. Much like on Vertigo, ENCE really came to life down the stretch, picking up the pace on their offense to put MIBR under pressure. The European squad bagged five in a row to get to match point, but MIBR answered back with two of their own to force another overtime battle.

MIBR were a different beast in overtime, their crossfires holding true on the CT side and their blistering attacks proving potent on the T side, sealing a 19-17 victory to send the series to Ancient.

Unfortunately for MIBR they ran out of steam on the final map of Ancient, although perhaps the superlative 37-frag performance of NertZ was simply too much to handle. saffee did pick up a couple of impressive clutches, and MIBR put some pressure on towards the end of the map, but ENCE secured a 16-11 win.