ENCE played a strong match, claiming victory over HEROIC at the Elisa Masters Espoo

ENCE played a strong match, claiming victory over HEROIC at the Elisa Masters Espoo

The experienced captain gla1ve led his young debutants to glory on their organization's home turf.

Lucas "gla1ve" Rossander's team debuted with a youthful lineup, featuring Ryan “Neityu” Aubrey (19 years old) and Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabar (17 years old). Despite having just five days of practice together, they managed to win the trophy with victories over 9z, The MongolZ, and HEROIC, all teams ranked in the top 30 globally.

The road to victory wasn’t easy, as ENCE faced strong resistance: HEROIC arrived as favorites after their successful run at IEM Rio and even won the first map. Finnish fans might have thought their fairy tale was over. However, ENCE turned the tide, securing a 10-2 lead in the first half on Nuke and Vertigo, which allowed them to close out those maps. The fourth and final map was Dust2, where gl1ave channeled his 2018 form, finishing the final with 82 frags and a 1.29 rating, securing his first trophy since December 2020.

The only downside for ENCE is that it might be challenging to maintain this momentum, especially given their previous roster’s failure to qualify for the RMR.