Astralis vs ENCE: Elisa Masters Espoo 2022 review
On November 18, Astralis faced ENCE in the Elisa Masters Espoo 2022 CS:GO playoffs. The favorite in this encounter was the Snappi team. The match took place in a best-of-3 format. It was the fifth meeting of the teams in 2022. Last time, roster gla1ve defeated ENCE by the score 2-0. Astralis played in the tournament without Nikolai Ridtz.
The teams were competing for the prize fund of 200.000$. The stronger of the pair played with Fnatic for the Grand Final, and the loser left the championship. In the second quarterfinal, 500 and BIG met. Sprout and Fnatic earned a spot in the semifinals of the championship. Astralis finished third in Group B at the Elisa Masters Espoo 2022 CS:GO. Lucas Rossander's team earned a slot in the tournament's quarterfinals. Cybersport.io team has prepared a short review of this match - let's go.
Mirage
The first map, as expected, went according to ENCE scenario, on the first half of Astralis wasn't visible on the map. The score 11:4 speaks for itself. Maybe the bad mood or the absence of two key players affected the team's performance, but the gown and company looked terrible. In the first half, thoughtless attacking, poor preparation, and lack of coordination were all about Astralis. BlameF alone tried to carry the team.
In the second half, the squad came out with more confidence and gained 10 rounds, making the score 12:10. It seemed that MistR and the crew would be able to turn the game's tide. But it wasn't that easy. ENCE showed that they were at this tournament not for nothing and crushed Astralis, the score was 16:11. The best player on the map was Pavel Dycha. The cyber athlete dealt an average of 106.4 damage per round, and his rating was 1.50.
Ancient
On Ancient, as in many previous games on this map, a lot depends on the defense side. If you took for the side attack only 4 rounds, it does not mean that you are lost, as CT side here in predominance. That's what happened this time as well. Even though ENCE starting on the offensive side, could only take 4 rounds, they gave battle after the first half.
After the change of sides, Astralis also managed to take their 4 rounds, and it was only a matter of time, only one round separated them from the victory on this map. But ENCE began to gain momentum and took the rounds one by one, making the score 14:15. The last round before the extras was "scorching". In this round, the incredible BlameF brought victory to his team by making two unbelievable frags when he had less than 10 HP. 1-1 on the maps, moving on to Overpass.
Overpass
Apparently, gla1ve was able to set his team up properly, so the first half ended with a huge score of 12:3. ENCE didn't seem to have much time to get over its embarrassing loss on the previous map. The situation was the same as on Ancient map after the switch of sides. Astralis had a couple of rounds left to win, but they lost concentration and started giving up rounds. Dycha and his team, in turn, found the motivation and brought the game to the extras.
During the extra rounds, organizations have relied on an opponent's error rather than their tactics. So the game went from one to another until the score was 20:20. After that, the guys from Astralis seemed to have decided to finish this «show match» and quickly dealt with ENCE, bringing themselves the victory.
ENCE remains an ever-promising team, a dark horse whose fans hope it will shoot and prove itself sooner or later. Will they become a stable team, confidently performing in major tournaments?
Do Astralis need more training on the attacking side? Will dev1ce be the game-saver for this squad? Write your thoughts in the comments below this article or in our social networks. That's it, see you next time. Subscribe and follow the latest eSports news!
