ENCE crisis in 2024

The ENCE Counter-Strike team is enduring its worst period in years. The Finnish club’s roster changes and poor performances in major tournaments have led to a drop outside the top 30 in the world rankings.

In December, ENCE overhauled its roster after key players Snappi, SunPayus, and moved to Falcons. NertZ also left for HEROIC, leaving only dycha and kuben. ENCE then recruited gla1ve as the new captain and added Polish players hades, Kylar, and Goofy.

ENCE’s first tournament, IEM Katowice 2024, saw them reach the playoffs unexpectedly. However, their success quickly faltered at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, where they lost early to South American teams Imperial, paiN, and FURIA.

The team struggled in tier-2 tournaments, finishing 9th-10th at YaLLa Compass 2024, 3rd-4th at ESL Challenger Jönköping 2024, and 5th-6th at Skyesports Championship 2024. Their crisis deepened with poor results in the RMR qualifiers, where they lost to KOI, UNiTY, and Monte.

In late May, ENCE released dycha and hades due to "competitive ambitions" and a lack of progress. They replaced them with sdy from Monte and podi from their academy.

Under the new coach, enkay J, who joined after leaving Entropiq, ENCE finished last in ESL Pro League Season 20. Enkay J began his role a week before the tournament and was not registered to assist during the event.

The team's prospects will be clearer after the Elisa Masters Espoo 2024 from October 16-20.