ENCE Win Blast Premier Spring Showdown EU

ENCE will be making its stage debut at Altice Arena, Lisbon. Despite a terrible start in the finals, ENCE managed to stay composed and take the win at Blast Premier Spring Showdown EU.

At every phase of the bracket, ENCE got the toughest opponent possible. Starting off against Copenhagen Flames. The Flames were coming off a flawless RMR run where they secured a 3-0 Legends spot. ENCE started with a 16-7 win on Vertigo but went on the backfoot as Flames took the win on Mirage. Only one could proceed in Blast Premier Spring Showdown EU though and ENCE Captain Snappi led his team from the front, securing the series win with a strong Ancient.

Then came ENCE's toughest test-a match against Heroic. Coming in, Heroic was the biggest favorite for the event. At this point, however, that seems like a guaranteed failure scenario for Heroic. From the get-go Heroic was on the backfoot, letting ENCE build a monstrous eight-round T-side half on Ancient. ENCE then showed everyone how CT Ancient is actually played, taking the map 16-9.

On their own pick, Heroic still looked shaken. ENCE was able to put up a wall as they won 10 CT rounds on Overpass. Heroic however finally powered up in the second half with four players posting a rating greater than 1.20. This meant that despite Maden's best efforts, Heroic took the map with a close 16-13.

Heroic's troubles on the T side did not end there. Mirage was supposed to be the middle-ground decider but ended up being ENCE's casual walk to the finals. 13 CT rounds meant that there was nothing Heroic could do except for watching as ENCE moved on to the Blast Premier Spring Showdown EU Finals.

Astralis had had their fair share of strong games as they beat Movistar Riders and NIP 2-0. But in this game, ENCE was the favorite. And Astralis immediately threw that idea out the window. Nine consecutive CT rounds, 31-5 for BlameF, ENCE stood no chance. The massive muscles of BlameF pulverized the international squad on their map pick, taking the lead in the game with a 16-3 game.

For teams like Heroic, losing in that fashion would mean game over. But Snappi used his decade of experience and galvanized his roster going into Astralis' pick of Ancient. Where BlameF took a step back, k0nfig and Farlig took over posting a combined 44 kills. Despite the firepower disadvantage, ENCE kept their indomitable CT side on Ancient. 10 rounds, gave them some room to work with and they capitalized it to get a final chance at the Blast Premier Spring Showdown EU throne.

ENCE on Nuke is one of the most tactically exciting combos to watch. The game was as close as it gets, with massive individual performances, tiniest margins, amazing clutches all put together to create a game that lived up to the finals billing. ENCE took their CT side start well and won nine rounds, but the half could have been much cleaner had it not been for heroic rounds from Astralis' star trio.

In the end though, ENCE had some beautiful calls from Snappi and took the win 2-1. A perfect run capped off with a massive comeback victory, this is exactly what we needed from ENCE to start discussing their position as a true contender.

ENCE will be making its stage debut at Blast Premier Spring Finals Lisbon. With their win at the Spring Showdown EU, there is only one spot remaining in the Altice Arena. Will Furia take the NA win? Or will paiN prevail as they upset Liquid and Furia to lock in their spot in Lisbon? Stay tuned to Esports.gg to find out.