gla1ve masterclass sends Astralis home

ENCE had their IGL's immense performance to thank for an easy win over his old organization.

ENCE ensured Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander earned bragging rights over his ex-teammate Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz by storming to a 2-0 win over Astralis, sending the Danish superteam home from Katowice early doors.

This matchup offered a little extra intrigue as gla1ve was matching up for the first time against the organization with which he won innumerable trophies. The Danish IGL turned up emphatically on Ancient after his team outplayed Astralis on Vertigo, crushing his old team with a very rare carry performance.

"If I could choose one game at this tournament, this is probably the one I would want to win," gla1ve said in a post-game broadcast interview, and that desire was apparent in his showing on Ancient.

ENCE have certainly bolstered their credentials with this victory, but Astralis were thoroughly underwhelming in Katowice. Their T sides in particular were poor, their individuals struggled to find impact, and their showing was a shadow of the level they displayed at times at BLAST Spring Groups.

ENCE keep their hopes of making the main event alive with this victory, and The MongolZ will be the next hurdle they have to overcome if they wish to secure qualification.

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024 Play-in
02/02/2024	The MongolZ 16:30 ENCE	Match

ENCE bagged the win on Vertigo simply by virtue of their superior mid-rounding on the map, they consistently read Astralis like a book and outmanoeuvred them. When individual moments were needed, Krzysztof "⁠Goofy⁠" Górski and Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha provided them, and ENCE duly secured the first map.

Ancient was a complete stomp and it was almost entirely down to one man: Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander. Astralis' old IGL haunted them with a 2.25-rated performance, and by the end of the map the Danish squad seemed completely broken. As such, ENCE claimed an easy victory.