ENCE smash through Riders to reach Pro League semi-finals

SunPayus posted a 1.72 rating to top the board against his countrymen.

ENCE are eyeing the possibility of making a fifth grand final in a row at ESL Pro League Season 18 after a completely dominant 2-0 victory over Movistar Riders.

Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and company gave the Spanish team no chance with lopsided scorelines on Overpass (16-2) and Anubis (16-5), and the AWPer himself put on a stellar performance which earned him a 1.72 rating.

"When SunPayus is feeling the game, I don't think anyone can stop him," Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz said after the game, returning a compliment to his AWP. In a pre-game interview SunPayus had said that he had never played with someone like the Israeli.

Movistar Riders lasted under ten rounds before getting steamrolled by ENCE on Overppass. Despite losing the pistol round, there were close chaotic situations that could have gone the way of the Spaniards early on, but when they failed to close them out it was smooth sailing for the international side.

Riders' nerves and stage freight showed at times, most clearly when they let NertZ take down players peeking at him one by one through a smoke on Long.

ENCE shut it down without a hitch, 16-2, and momentum was fully on their side heading into their Anubis pick. SunPayus, peeking a different part of the map every round with plenty of success, quickly put his team on the fast track to victory.

Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet and company put up some resistance by winning three of the last five rounds of the first half to make it 5-10, but after the switch it was once again Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer’s men firmly in the driver’s seat.

ENCE’s pistol round victory all but sealed the deal as they went on a 6-0 tear to end it 16-5 despite Antonio "⁠MartinezSa⁠" Martinez’s best efforts to at least get one on the board with a flashy quad-kill in the final round.

The desk spent much time looking for silver linings for Movistar Riders in a series that didn't have many for the Spanish side, but a 1.07 rating for MartinezSa despite such a one-sided thrashing is something to take away from a series as SunPayus' successor tries to find his footing at Big Events.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
30/09/2023	ENCE 19:00 MOUZ	Match

Up next for ENCE will be a semi-final bout against the victor of the MOUZ vs. G2 series. It will be a rematch of one of the last four LAN grand finals ENCE have played, no matter if it is MOUZ, a team they beat at IEM Dallas, or G2, whom they lost to at IEM Cologne.