In the rematch of the IEM Katowice final, ENCE beat Astralis to be crowned the champions of the BLAST Pro Series Madrid. This Sunday, the Finnish lineup defeated the best in the world twice: in the group phase and in the grand finale. ENCE beat Astralis 2-0 to lift their first BLAST Pro Series trophy. The Finnish side also ended the 31 game win streak of Astralis on Nuke. Aleksi “allu” and co took home $125,000.
In the group phase, ENCE was the only team to be able to defeat Astralis. On Dust2, the Finns won by 16 to 13 with 22 kills for Jani “Aerial”. ENCE got second place in the group by beating NiP, Na’Vi, Cloud9 and Giants Gaming which guaranteed them a place in the final.
ENCE dominating the best team in the world
The final began with Astralis picking their strongest map, Nuke. This is the same map in which the Danes were invincible since December 2017. They managed to accomodate a winning streak of 31 games by beating some of the best teams in the biggest competitions.Y et the Finnish side started on the right foot by winning the first six rounds of the maps. The nine AWP kills of Nicolai “dev1ce” were not enough to give Astralis a fighting chance. ENCE wiped out the Danes’ 16 to 9 to reign supreme on Nuke.
On Train, the map in which ENCE is known for playing very well, Astralis started by leading 5-0 as CT’s. Yet, the Finns were having none of it and managed to get the lead by 8 to 7 at halftime. After the break, ENCE won six straight rounds to turn the game in their favor. Emil “Magisk” got 26 kills, but was unable stop the IEM Katowice runners-up, who won 16-13.
Another one for the collection!! ???#EZ4ENCE #BLASTProSeries #Madrid pic.twitter.com/HmrQBGySgQ
— ENCE (@ENCE) May 11, 2019
No BPS points for ENCE
Despite recent results in the BLAST Pro Series tournaments, the ENCE eSports will not be able to qualify for the final championship of the season. The team is not included in the seven members of BLAST Circuit, who are fighting for qualification of the Global Final.
The BLAST Circuit system was introduced before the start of the BLAST Pro Series tournaments in 2019. The participants of the season are Astralis , Natus Vincere, Team Liquid , FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pajamas, MIBR and Cloud9 . Over the course of the year they will score points for the final places in seventh edition of the championship. . It will be held in December 2019, where the teams will compete for $ 500 thousand.
ENCE participated in two BLAST competitions this year – the team won BLAST Pro Series Madrid 2019 and finished third at the BLAST Pro Series – São Paulo 2019 . The organizers invited the team to the championships as a Wild Card entry. Meanwhile, the rest of the compositions received Circuit-invites.
The next announced tournament from BLAST will be the championship in Los Angeles . It will be held from July 12 to July 13, six teams will play $ 250 thousand. Currently, Team Liquid, Cloud9 and FaZe Clan are the confirmed participants of the competition.
