gla1ve and ENCE triumph over Astralis again to secure Copenhagen spot

ENCE take Astralis down 2-0 once more to send the Danes to the last chance qualifier.

ENCE have repeated their Katowice play-in feat of beating Astralis 2-0 (Vertigo 13-6, Ancient 13-9) to qualify for PGL Major Copenhagen in convincing fashion.

The ENCE core now go into Copenhagen for their second Major appearance together after making the Legends stage at Paris, but this time with four-time Major winner Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander at the helm.

gla1ve becomes only the third Danish player to qualify, and he does so by overcoming his former team once again. "It means a lot to me, to everyone," the legendary IGL told James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks post-game as he held back his tears. "I'm really happy we beat Astralis but I like them a lot, all the guys in the office too. I hope they make it."

Astralis are now staring down the barrel of missing three Majors in a row as they are sent down to the six-team Last Chance Qualifier.

The Danes cut dejected figures as their huge off-season investment continued to struggle on the server, losing all four pistols and failing to show any of the individual quality befitting a team with four of the top 20 players of 2023.

Vertigo has been a problem map for Astralis with five losses in a row and ENCE made it six with a blistering display on their pick. A clear game plan was in place as ENCE hit a struggling Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard on B early on to condition Astralis before flipping the script and dominating the Ramp as well.

A crucial 2vs4 ensured the momentum stayed in ENCE's hands as Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha punished jabbi under Ladder before rotating to B to grab a 7-1 lead that Astralis could not claw back.

Ancient was Astralis' pick, just like it had been in Katowice, and things improved for the Danes as they earned a 7-4 lead despite going down 0-3 once again.

But, losing yet another pistol, going 0-4 for the series, put ENCE back in the driving seat at 8-7 up and Astralis would not get on the board for another few CT rounds.

Some openers were picked up by the Danes but some misguided re-aggressions down B Ramp early in the half cost them, before gla1ve stepped up a gear with some mid and late round fakes at the close. A trademark B rush at 11-9 then sealed the deal as ENCE punched their tickets in for the Copenhagen Major in style.