ENCE benches experienced player after underwhelming IEM Katowice showing
After an unexpected underwhelming performance at IEM Katowice 2023, ENCE have made the decision to bench veteran player Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså from their active CS GO lineup, as announced earlier in the week.
The team looked for options to fill out the spot, ultimately opting to sub-in academy player Henri “HENU” Ylilehto for the next Tier 1 tournament, CCT Central Europe Malta Finals. However, it seems the 20-year-old might not keep his place in the future, as the team is reportedly attempting to bring Endpoint’s Guy “Nertz” Iluz, according to an HLTV article.
The organization has already made a previous attempt to sign Nertz back in the summer of 2022. However for a certain reason or coincidentally, a couple of days ago it was revealed that Nertz will not be playing under Endpoint’s banner at the BLAST.tv Paris Major qualifier due to personal reasons. The report mentions that “ENCE has shown renewed interest in the Israeli and could potentially make a move for the 23 year old.” ENCE have already managed to qualify for the RMR tournament for a French Major spot, which is set to start on April 11th ending around the 14th.
Looking at the other side of the situation, Valde is technically one of the newest ENCE signings, signing his contract back in August 2022. Since wearing the ENCE jersey, he has recorded a 1.05 rating during Tier 1 tournaments in the last 6 months.
I know it wasn’t an easy decision, but I’m benched in @ENCE – we’re on good terms but roles simply didn’t fit, although we all worked hard to try and make it. I’ll do a statement later.
Still dedicated to winning trophies.
I appreciate all the support you guys have shown me ❤️
— valde (@Officialvalde) February 14, 2023
ENCE has definitely had an overall disappointing start to the 2023 season. At the IEM Katowice 2023 play-ins, the squad won their opening game against paiN Gaming but then were absolutely smothered by Cloud9 and Complexity, which ultimately meant elimination and a quick trip back home from the competition. Soon after, they were able to attend the closed qualifier for the IEM Brazil 2023 major, meeting a similar fate as the previous tournament; they were eliminated after losses against HONORIS and BIG.
Historically ENCE has been able to fight against the best in the business, even achieving a Major final last year. Of course, benching a veteran player such as Valde might go further than just a poor showing, nevertheless, the organization will need to find a suitable replacement soon. Taking into account “experience” can’t be teached, ENCE will look for other players in the active roster to take the leadership role, unless another experienced player is brought.
As of the moment no confirmation has been communicated by ENCE or parties involved, with Nertz still being the main candidate to fill out the shoes of Valde moving forward in 2023.
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