ENCE sAw: “Eventually, we will be able to lift a trophy.”

ENCE has been an established name in CS:GO esports scene for many years, yet the organization is still waiting to claim one of the prestigious trophies that the competitive CS:GO scene has to offer. This year, however, things have started looking promising for the team led by Finnish coach sAw.  

Eetu “sAw” Saha has been on the Counter-Strike scene since 2014, having played under numerous banners until switching to coaching in 2020, following his 2-years-long tenure with HAVU Gaming. He signed with ENCE at the end of November 2020 and since then, the team was under his guidance able to regain their position among the world’s CS:GO elite. 

Particularly during the 2022 season, ENCE were able to make deep runs and hit playoffs in numerous top-tier events. Most notably, they finished as runner-ups at ESL Pro League Season 15 and IEM XVII Dallas, and also secured the 3rd-4th place at PGL Major Antwerp. Around that time, the international squad climbed as high as the second position in HLTV’s world rankings.  

While ENCE weren’t quite able to claim a trophy, it is nonetheless a great success for the 30-years-old coach, who’s been thoughtfully and patiently preparing players for their ascendance on the international stage. 

In an exclusive interview with Fragster, sAw talked about his CS:GO journey and what he considers most important when it comes to coaching, he revealed why he thinks ENCE didn’t yet claim a title in 2022, and what are his expectations from the newly revamped roster in the new competitive season. 

From player to coach 

In esports, it is a common practice that some athletes eventually transition to coaching, as their deep game knowledge and expertise are essential in guiding esports athletes in their pursuit of success. This was also the case of sAw, who, prior to his transition at the beginning of 2019 made a name for himself in the European CS:GO scene with HAVU Gaming. According to his words, it was a rather spontaneous process, even though the idea that coaching would be the next step in his career had always been there. 

“It was probably my last year as a player that I was thinking about coaching,” sAw said. “When we reached a peak with the teams I played in, which could be, say HLTV rank 25, then we would always fall down again and maybe follow up with some rebuilding. This cycle kept repeating, so I felt a bit stagnated.”

Then, the opportunity presented itself. “When ENCE were asking me, I kind of just decided that it felt like the right time,” he said, adding that he could either try the cycle one more time or switch to coaching right away. 

As a former IGL, sAw had obviously good knowledge of the game, what a team needs, and how it should function, but when it comes to coaching itself, he had to learn on the go. “As a player, I had this idea of what a coach should be like, and what kind of coach I want to be myself, and then I’d try to pick up on that,” he said. And while he didn’t have any formal training, he uses the knowledge and experience of traditional sports coaches.

“For example, I’m reading and listening to books from various teams, sports, and coaches, just to get different ideas and expand on my knowledge and the stuff I can bring into a team.”

Importance of individual approach and staying calm as a coach

During his eight-years-long CS:GO career, sAw has learned many valuable lessons, but according to his words, among the most important ones would be learning how to work with a lot of different people and their unique traits. 

“I feel it’s important to treat everyone the same,” he said. “But then, of course, people are different, so you need to figure out different approaches or ways how to have discussions with them.”

As an example, he mentioned differences in ways of motivating individual players and build the desired hype in them: “I’m not the most hype person myself, but I try to hype the team not only verbally, but also by giving them pats on the back, high fives, fist bumps — all this. However, some people might get more hyped up when we actually talk about what’s the plan for the game and what’s important in this match. It’s important to notice these differences and approach individual players accordingly.”

Another important — but not easy — thing for coaches is staying calm under pressure, especially during times when things are going downwards. To avoid negatively affecting players, a coach shouldn’t show stress and frustration too much. Instead, it can be used intentionally, as a tool. 

“I think if you rarely show anger or frustration, then players will take it seriously when you actually do,” explained sAw, highlighting the importance of timing in such cases. “But most of the time, you need to be the guy who is in charge and who actually shows the way, who is calm, focused, and keeps up with the plan instead of focusing too much on what’s going wrong.”

When it comes to his coaching style, he revealed that he doesn’t like to tell people exactly what to do, but rather uses a more rewarding approach: “I try to make them understand my point by either asking questions or explaining the stuff.”

Gaining experience on stage 

Whilst ENCE competed in playoffs of numerous prestigious CS:GO events this season, they weren’t quite able to snatch a trophy, despite being a number two team in HLTV’s world rankings earlier in May. According to coach sAw, what the team was missing to make a triumph was experience. 

“We are a young squad, inexperienced at this level,” he said. “We would make a deep run, we would feel happy with the result too soon, and then we would miss that last effort towards victory.”

“Playoff matches are pressure matches, where a specific mindset is required from players, which is something we still need to talk about and figure out ways of how to go into the final. Basically, you need to take it as it would be any other match. Don’t overthink it and don’t give it the power to let it pressure you, because that’s what makes you play differently.”

Will ENCE finally lift the trophy? 

Optimistically, with so many playoff appearances in the recent competitive CS:GO season, the team should now have enough experience to finally claim a title. However, ahead of the new season, which kicked off last month with the ESL Pro League Season 16, ENCE updated their roster, adding Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and Valdemar “valde” Vangså, while parting ways with Lotan “Spinx” Giladi and Aleksander “hades” Miskiewicz. 

While both are notable additions, the team naturally might need some time to adapt, and it’s still not certain whether they will be able to pick up where the former line-up left off, and continue in their conquest for the trophy. 

SAw is confident, yet realistic: “I think we can for sure make it, but it’s gonna be a lot of work at the start. If we get over the first two months, and we won’t have any fallouts between players and any conflicts that we can’t resolve, then we will be able to work the same as we had before, because we have a solid foundation.”

And despite the fact that ENCE’s start into the new season was rather disappointing as they didn’t manage to advance to the ESL Pro League S16 playoffs, they earned the Legend Status in the upcoming IEM Major in Rio, placing second just behind NAVI at European RMR B. Most recently, the team finished as runner-ups at the ESL Challenger Rotterdam, proving their good shape ahead of the Major.

So when it comes to lifting trophies, the coach thinks it’s just a matter of time. “I think that at some point if you just work hard, good things will come,” he added. “Eventually, we will be able to lift a trophy.”