G2 send ENCE packing in Cologne

Two top-6 teams crossed paths in an early elimination game in the group stage of IEM Cologne, with G2 mustering a 2-0 win over ENCE to avoid a 13-16th place finish. G2 will be continuing their challenging run in the lower bracket gauntlet of group A where they will need to beat NIP and one more team to secure a spot in the LANXESS Arena.

For ENCE, this result brings a strong season to a frustrating finish, as after a second-place at IEM Dallas and a peak HLTV world ranking, the international squad finished 5-6th at BLAST and were now eliminated from IEM Cologne without a single win. The loss against G2 will leave a particularly bitter taste in their mouth as Marco “⁠Snappi⁠” Pfeiffer and co., had good first halves on both Dust2 and Ancient, but ran out of steam after the switch.

A blazing-hot Olek “⁠hades⁠” Miskiewicz got ENCE off to a spectacular start on Dust2, their opponents’ map pick. The Polish AWPer sometimes criticized for his performances against top teams boasted a 12-0 K-D as his team took an 8-0 CT side lead, but ENCE failed to hold on to that momentum. A pistol-buy B hit worked out for G2 and Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač followed it up with a 1v2 clutch as his team fought back into the half for a 9-6 finish.

Aleksi “⁠Aleksib⁠” Virolainen‘s men won the second pistol, but Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi‘s Deagle quad kill put ENCE back into the driver’s seat, and at 12-7, they looked good to close out map 1. However, G2 would secure 12 unanswered kills across the next three rounds, snowballing into a stronghold of a CT side. Snappi struggled to find holes in the defenses and ultimately ENCE capitalized on Dust2, 16-13.

It was time for NiKo to remind everyone why he is considered one of the greatest CS:GO players of all time as the Bosnian put on a masterclass on Ancient. He secured multikills in the first five rounds and didn’t slow down for the rest of the CT half, but ENCE still managed a strong offense, earning eight for their efforts.

With the Bosnian sharpshooter continuing to find impact all over the place, G2 looked unstoppable on the Terrorist side. Six rounds in a row put ENCE on the back foot and fighting for survival in the tournament at 13-8. Ilya “⁠m0NESY⁠” Osipov‘s quad kill ensured the 14th in a back-and-forth round and made it smooth sailing towards a 2-0 victory.