Heroic and ENCE qualify for IEM Cologne 2023 playoffs

The emotions of the IEM Cologne 2023 continue, and we have the first two teams that managed to seal their qualification for the playoffs, Heroic and ENCE. We see much tighter competition in each match with each passing day.

However, it is worth noting that the team that continues to crush all its opponents on the first level scene is Heroic. The Danish squad keeps winning games, which is most surprising is that they are not afraid of any opponent. In this IEM Cologne 2023, Heroic qualified for the playoffs after an excellent victory over Monte by 2-0.

On the other hand, we have ENCE. This team has gradually managed to raise its level of play during the 2023 season. After beating 9INE, they crushed Fnatic in the semifinals of the Upper Bracket of Group A to qualify for the next tournament stage.

Likewise, Heroic and ENCE will have to play the Group A Final match to define the positions since it depends on when they will start their playoffs.

Let’s see what happened in ENCE and Heroic’s victories in the semifinals of the IEM Cologne 2023.

ENCE apply a clean sweep against Fnatic

ENCE proves again that their victory at IEM Dallas 2023 was not a coincidence, and their game pace is higher than ever. In this opportunity, they applied an excellent clean sweep to beat Fnatic and thus seal their qualification to the playoffs of IEM Cologne 2023.

It all started in Overpass, Fnatic’s map pick, where the black&Orange started extremely well, winning 8-7 in the first half on their T-side. However, in the second half, ENCE, led by Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia, put up a spectacular offense to take a solid 16-13 victory.

Then, in Nuke, the second map, we have that ENCE took advantage of their excellent pace and level of play on the T-side to take a partial victory by 11-4, which gave them a lot of advantage in this map that, as we know, is more favorable to the CT side. However, Fnatic tried to wake up to the change of sides, and they managed to win up to six consecutive rounds, but this was not enough, and ENCE ended up taking the victory by 16-11.

THE FIRST TEAM CONFIRMED FOR THE #IEM COLOGNE 2023 PLAYOFF STAGE

🏆 @ENCE 🏆 pic.twitter.com/tf3iS7AqdD

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 30, 2023

Heroic crush Monte Esports 2-0

The #1 ranked CS:GO team in the world, Heroic, continues at an exceptional level of play, and, this time, their victim was Monte Esports. Undoubtedly, Heroic is one of the most compact teams in the modern history of CS:GO, and in every tournament, they certify it. Despite not having such big names, it is a team that shines and gets important victories.

The series began in Mirage, Monte’s map pick, where the Ukrainian squad was very close to taking the victory, but Heroic counted on Martin “stavn” Lund and René “TeSeS” Madsen, who prevented it. In the first half, Heroic took a 9-6 partial victory, leaving them just seven rounds away from winning the first map of the series. However, Monte’s CT side was spectacular to the point that they managed to take a 14-11 lead on the scoreboard. Finally, with an amazing awakening by Heroic, they took the victory by 16-14.

In the second map, Overpass, things changed completely because Monte Esports started with the right foot this time by winning the first half 10-5. Then, at the change of sides, Heroic planted itself so that Monte could only win one of the 12 games played. As a result, Heroic sealed the series at an excellent 2-0 thanks to a 16-11 Overpass victory.

THE SECOND TEAM CONFIRMED IN THE CATHEDRAL OF COUNTERSTRIKE.@heroicgg 🇩🇰#IEM pic.twitter.com/3zlFmXTYyz

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 30, 2023

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