ENCE secure playoffs over fnatic

Maden led the way in damage dealt for ENCE with close to 100 ADR throughout the series.

ENCE have secured a spot in the playoffs with a 2-1 victory over fnatic in the IEM Sydney Group B upper bracket semi-finals. The game wasn't a comfortable one for Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and his men, though, as they had to fight tooth and nail throughout the three close maps to earn their spot in the next phase of the tournament.

"The game is in such a bad state at the moment that it’s hard to play at a high level," Snappi said about CS2 after the match. "It’s a bit tough and I hope that Valve is fast." When asked about what’s to come? "A lot of randomness," the Danish in-game leader said.

The series kicked off on fnatic’s map pick of Overpass, where both teams remained neck and neck early on with a lot of impact from Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and Aurélien "⁠afro⁠" Drapier.

The two teams remained even at the half and ENCE won the second pistol round, but Snappi and his men then made a crucial blunder by running into a full eco stack on Long and giving up the round. From there on out it was fnatic who took the lead and went on to take their pick, 13-10.

Starting on the preferred T side on Anubis, fnatic were quick to bounce back after giving up a third pistol round, winning five in a row on the way to an 8-4 half.

ENCE made it four out of four pistol rounds, but dropped the ball when trying to take the lead as a Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong double with a shotgun and flanks on the other side of the map put fnatic on 10. Finally, though, ENCE found the edge on the attack to win 13-10 and force a decider after some close situations went their way.

ENCE made it five for five in pistol rounds, but failed to convert that into a strong lead as fnatic imposed a 5-2 lead. Finally, with Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković taking point and averaging 152 damage per round, ENCE linked five rounds in a row to hit a narrow 7-5 lead at the half, leaving the map wide open.

If there was ever a pistol round for fnatic to win it was this last one, and they finally did. ENCE tried to force in the second round despite not planting before, and managed to put down the bomb, but not to win the round. From there on out they had an edge over fnatic, however, and were a step ahead on the attack to take it 13-10.

Date	Matches
IEM Sydney 2023
18/10/2023	Monte 04:30 fnatic	Match
18/10/2023	G2 11:05 ENCE	Match

ENCE now have one final group stage match, against G2, for seeding in the playoffs. The winner will go straight to the semi-finals and dodge the first round, which will pit the second and third teams of each group.

fnatic, on the other hand, have a date with Monte in the lower bracket, in one of two victories needed for teams now down in that LB to make their way to the playoffs.