ENCE and fnatic will meet in a key match in the group stage of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 qualifiers. Both teams have a 1-2 record, so this is a match for survival - the winner will get a chance to compete for a quota to the major, and the loser will leave the tournament. The format is Bo3, which opens the door to a deep tactical struggle and a possible entry to all three maps. Over the past six months, the rivals have not met each other.
Current form of the teams
ENCE approached this match with a series of unstable results. In the last 5 matches, the team beat ECLOT, Nexus, and 500, but lost to Heroic and Astralis. The lack of depth in the map pool is especially noticeable, as some maps are not played at all.
Date | Team | Score | Opponent |
Apr 15 | ENCE | 0 - 1 | Astralis |
Apr 14 | ENCE | 0 - 1 | Heroic |
Apr 14 | ENCE | 1 - 0 | 500 |
Apr 03 | ENCE | 1 - 0 | ECLOT |
Apr 03 | ENCE | 1 - 0 | Nexus |
fnatic, despite mixed performances, demonstrates a little more stability. In the last 5 games, they beat GamerLegion and Ninjas in Pyjamas, but lost to BetBoom, BC.Game, and once again to NiP. Problems are visible, but there are also strengths.
Date | Team | Score | Opponent |
Apr 15 | fnatic | 0 - 1 | BetBoom |
Apr 14 | fnatic | 1 - 0 | GamerLegion |
Apr 14 | fnatic | 0 - 1 | BC.Game |
Mar 30 | fnatic | 0 - 2 | NiP |
Mar 29 | fnatic | 2 - 0 | NiP |
Map pool
ENCE plays Ancient (62%) and Anubis (67%) with confidence, but has serious problems with Inferno (0%) and Nuke, where recent results have been poor. The team usually avoids Mirage and Dust II, although it sometimes shows positive results on them. In general, the mappul is limited, with clear strengths and weaknesses.
fnatic has a more flexible and balanced mappool. They are strong on Train (71%) and Inferno (53%), often play Ancient, Mirage, and Dust II. They also have good statistics on Anubis (63%). Due to the volume of maps played, fnatic has an advantage in the Bo3 series.
Map | ENCE WR | M | B | Last 5 Maps (ENCE) | fnatic WR | M | B | Last 5 Maps (fnatic) |
Inferno | 0% | 0 | 23 | - | 53% | 19 | 5 | W, W, W, L |
Train | 25% | 4 | 2 | L, L, W | 71% | 14 | 1 | L, W, W, L, W |
Ancient | 62% | 26 | 2 | L, L, L, W, L | 45% | 33 | 5 | L, W, L, L, L |
Dust II | 50% | 12 | 10 | W, W, L, W | 40% | 5 | 31 | L, W |
Mirage | 40% | 15 | 9 | W, L, L, L | 50% | 26 | 13 | L, W, L |
Anubis | 67% | 12 | 6 | L, W, W, W | 63% | 8 | 22 | L, L, W, W |
Nuke | 55% | 11 | 7 | L, L, W, W, W | 55% | 20 | 13 | L, L, L |
Match Prediction
The match has the potential to last for three maps. fnatic looks stronger in terms of game stability and has a more developed mappool, which is a significant advantage in Bo3. However, ENCE can put a lot of pressure on peak maps like Ancient or Anubis. We expect an equal fight, but with a slight advantage on the side of fnatic.
Prediction: fnatic will win 2-1.
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025: European Regional Qualifier takes place from April 14 to 17. The entire tournament is conducted online. Participants compete for six slots at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. You can follow the results and progress of the tournament via this link.
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