The final of probably the last Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event under the Intel Extreme Masters flag in Dallas was the crowning glory of a great tournament. Even if it leaves some sad fan hearts in this country.
In the end, it was a straightforward affair for ENCE: they cruised over final opponents MOUZ with a smooth 2:0. A 16:9 on Mirage and a 16:10 on Nuke left no questions about a deserving winner.
Too strong was the Finnish team around star AWPer Alvaro “SunPayus Garcia, who was also voted MVP of the tournament in the end. Besides the Spaniard, who had outstanding numbers over the whole tournament (1. 27 rating over 11 maps), it was Guy “NertZ“Iluz and Pavle “Maden” Boskovic who ensured a clear preponderance in favour of ENCE.
@ENCE LIFT THE IEM DALLAS 2023 TROPHY 🙌🏆@SnappiCSGO@NertzCS@madenncs@Dychacs@SunPayuscsgo@sAwCSGO pic. twitter.com/9bJMMy2VLs
– ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) June 4, 2023
On MOUZ’s side, only David “frozen” Cernansky and German rifler Jon “JDC” de Castro reached normal form and so the Hamburg-based organisation clearly lacked the firepower to make the final truly eye-to-eye.
For ENCE, it was the first major trophy since Marco “Snappi Pfeiffer took the reins as ingame leader. Since the signings of SunPayus and NertZ the team has gone from strength to strength and has already found itself at least in the ranks of the secret favourites at the last big events.
In Dallas, they were now able to fully realise the potential expected by experts and fans for the first time, when they were able to beat not only MOUZ, but also other well-known teams such as Complexity Gaming, Astralis and especially FaZe Clan twice on their way to the title.
After the semi-final against FaZe Clan, which ENCE won in the fifth (!) overtime of the decisive third map, it was clear that this team is ready to withstand any pressure and to be there when it counts.
So for the upcoming ESL Challengers in Katowice and especially for the IEM in Cologne, ENCE will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.
