ENCE made good of their repeated grand final appearances in Dallas, defeating fellow international side MOUZ 2-0 in a straightforward fashion, granting their in-game leader, Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, their first significant tournament win, having competed in Counter-Strike since 2008.
The Danish IGL, born in 1990, joined ENCE in January 2021 and led the team to an impressive revival as the organization shifted away from an all-Finnish lineup to an international roster. After a poor finish at the BLAST Paris Major, where the team finished 12-14th, getting eliminated from the Legends Stage with a 1-3 scoreline, this was an incredibly impressive bounceback from the #11-rated team in the world, according to HLTV.
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Back during the Paris Major, Snappi attracted some attention after commenting on Danish in-game leaders, rating himself on top ahead of fellow veterans like karrigan and cadiaN and gla1ve:
“I think I’m the best Danish IGL, I do honestly believe so. I think all five [cadiaN and HooXi included] of us should probably believe that we are the best because we’re competitors and we’re facing each other. I’m doing it with a budget that is far less than all of them, I’m bringing tier 2 players into tier 1, and I do believe that I’m good. I have belief in myself and in the current team, I don’t care if it’s a mad thing to say but I do believe I’m currently the best.”
“I would say the difference between him and me is that he has always had the best players in the world and he has done amazingly.
I have so much respect for Karrigan’s achievements especially over the last year. For everyone and for me Karrigan has been the best IGL in the world over the past year and a half, but I also have to believe I am good enough to beat them.”
Well, Snappi proved his critics wrong in style in Dallas, defeating karrigan twice and gla1ve once along the way to victory, including a match for the ages against FaZe in the semis where the decider map went over 60 rounds.
The grand final itself was a much more straightforward affair for ENCE, as MOUZ, who defeated Astralis and Heroic along the way to book their spot, couldn’t cope with the fragging output of SunPayus and Nertz, succumbing to a straight two-map defeat as the score read 16-9 on Mirage and 16-10 on Nuke.
Still, this also marks a significant turnaround for the runners-up, who also have been unable to put up consistent performances in the circuit, showing the breadth and depth of talent in the professional Counter-Strike scene.
