ENCE have reached the grand final at the IEM Katowice Major after defeating Natus Vincere 2-1 in the semi-finals (16-14 on Train, 3-16 on Dust2, and 16-14 on Mirage).

The semi-final match between Natus Vincere and ENCE kicked off on Train where the Ukrainian team started on the CT-side. Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev picked up an ace to win the pistol round and Natus Vincere made it 2-0 in the following round. ENCE got on the scoreboard in the fourth round after they bought rifles two times in a row (3-1).

The Finns could have tied to game at 3-3 but Natus Vincere won the sixth round with pistols and a saved AWP. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev got two kills each with their AWPs in the seventh round, making it 5-2. A 1vs2 victory by Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko extended Natus Vincere's lead to 7-2 but Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo responded with a quad kill, three of which came with a CZ-75. ENCE got within one round of Natus Vincere before halftime (8-7).

It wasn't easy for ENCE but they pulled through

Natus Vincere secured the first two rounds in the second half but the AUGs reigned supreme in the first gun round as ENCE trailed 10-8. Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli & company weren't able to tie the game at 10-10 as Natus Vincere went on a three round streak (13-9).

s1mple's incredible triple kill in the 24th round with the AWP made it 14-10. allu responded with a 1vs2 clutch two rounds later and Sami "⁠xseveN⁠" Laasanen got a quad kill as ENCE earned one map point. The Finnish squad closed out the game with a 16-14 scoreline thanks to allu's triple kill in the 30th round.

Natus Vincere picked up the first two rounds on the T-side but Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila got a quad kill to help ENCE win the first gun round. flamie responded with a triple kill in the fourth round, starting a five round Natus Vincere streak.

The CIS side never took their foot off the pedal and led 13-2 at halftime. flamie secured the second pistol victory with a triple kill and Natus Vincere earned twelve map points after Zeus and Edward won a 2vs4 in the 18th round. s1mple & company went on to win the map 16-3.

Mirage started with the T-sided ENCE's pistol round victory and they made it 2-0 thanks to Aerial's triple kill in the following round. Natus Vincere got on the scoreboard with pistols, winning the third round to trail 2-1. Zeus clutched a 1vs2 in the sixth round as Natus Vincere led 4-2.

ENCE hit back in the seventh round but Natus Vincere made it 5-3 after s1mple opened up the eighth round by getting two kills with one bullet and closed it out with a 1vs1 clutch and a quad kill. s1mple then pushed his team over the line for a 9-6 first half finish.

Natus Vincere gained a huge advantage by winning the first three rounds in the second half but ENCE came back to tie the game at 12-12 as allu started to pick up the pace. xseveN won a 1vs1 against s1mple to deny the 1vs3 clutch, giving ENCE the lead (14-13). ENCE secured the penultimate round with a 3vs3 post-plant victory on the A-site to earn one series point. allu's team picked up the 30th round to win the map 16-14 and the series 2-1, advancing to the playoffs at IEM Katowice.

IEM Katowice 2019Best of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 1 2 2nd March 2019 ENCE 14Train 16 16Dust2 3 14Mirage 16

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	73 - 39	+34	85.0	1.47
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	59 - 48	+11	84.3	1.19
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	50 - 53	-3	77.1	1.09
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	44 - 50	-6	66.3	0.94
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	45 - 50	-5	58.4	0.93

ENCE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jani 'Aerial' JussilaAerial	60 - 56	+4	92.2	1.24
Sami 'xseveN' LaasanenxseveN	52 - 51	+1	81.1	1.04
Jere 'sergej' Salosergej	52 - 54	-2	74.2	1.03
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib	40 - 56	-16	61.8	0.80
Aleksi 'allu' Jalliallu	35 - 54	-19	43.4	0.68

Sami 'xseveN' Laasanen Age: 24 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 757 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev Age: 31 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1312 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 31 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.92 Maps played: 1326 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Aleksi 'allu' Jalli Age: 26 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 1276 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.64 Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1140 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Jani 'Aerial' Jussila Age: 25 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 420 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Jere 'sergej' Salo Age: 17 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 416 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.63 ENCE #9 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.23 Maps played: 959 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.66 Natus Vincere #3 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov