- ENCE take home the grand prize of $100 000 after defeating MOUZ
- MOUZ played well throughout the event, contrasting to their performance in the year so far
- However, this was not enough, as ENCE defeated them 2-0 in the finals of the IEM Dallas
ENCE dominated MOUZ on Mirage and Nuke at the IEM Dallas 2023 grand finals, to take home their first LAN trophy in a long time.
ENCE Defeat MOUZ
Yesterday, the Intel Masters Extreme tournament in Dallas, Texas, came to an end with ENCE’s dominating victory over MOUZ. The winners took home the grand prize of $100 000 and marked their first LAN victory since Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer took the role of the team’s in-game leader. It took some time for the team to find their footing after Olek “hades” Miskiewicz and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi left the team last year, but it’s safe to say ENCE are now finally back in the game.
Meanwhile, it’s not all doom and gloom for MOUZ, despite them losing the match. The team could be pleased with themselves after they showed a vastly improved performance in Dallas, different from how they have been playing during the year so far. MOUZ often failed to make it out of the group stages of tournaments, as evidenced by them being eliminated by GamerLegion from Blast Paris Major last month.
Here’s How the Match Went
Despite MOUZ’s improved performance throughout the IEM Dallas, the team was not able to grab the title under their fellow European players’ noses. The match started on Mirage, but unfortunately for MOUZ, their opponents’ 24-year-old SunPayus kept them on their toes using his aggressive maneuvers across the map.
In the moments when MOUZ gained traction, ENCE often had a player to make multi-frags and break their momentum. Although the team managed a few rounds, ENCE had a huge 11-4 lead by the time the first half had ended.
But MOUZ were not planning to go down without a fight and came out swinging when the sides switched. The team strung up four rounds but may have gotten overconfident, as ENCE once again broke their momentum and answered with a few rounds of their own. Eventually, a vital clutch from NertZ allowed ENCE to take Mirage 16-9.
It was time for ENCE to pick a map, and they chose Nuke. For the first few rounds, they might have thought they have made a mistake, as MOUZ, who were playing on the CT side, stormed off to a strong 4-0 lead. However, their efforts would end up being not enough as ENCE finally got their economy back on track and the game flipped.
A series of tidy A executes, good calling from Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, and potent mid-round fragging in chaotic situations from their individuals allowed ENCE to retake the lead. This led to the team finishing the first half with a stable 9-3 lead over MOUZ.
The second half seemed to be a repetition of the first, as MOUZ once again started strong and strung together four rounds. However, ENCE recovered and never looked back once they had. Their opponents seemed unable to respond, winning just a couple of more rounds, before ENCE quickly wrapped up the map, taking it 16-10 and winning the IEM Dallas 2023 grand prize.
