Ence (stylized as ENCE) is a Finnish

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

organization with teams and players competing in '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' (''CS:GO''), '' PUBG: Battlegrounds'', ''

StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

'', and ''

NHL 22 ''NHL 22'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It is the 31st installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/ ...

''. ENCE was founded in 2013 and the organization takes inspiration for its name from the

Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refl ...

of Greek mythology. It is currently based in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and is the most popular esports organization in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The organization also competed in ''

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by u ...

'' and ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...

'' until 2018, and in ''League of Legends'' for the 2020 season. ENCE is best known for its success in ''Starcraft II'' and ''CS:GO''. Serral was the first non-Korean to win a

StarCraft II World Championship The ''StarCraft II'' World Championship Series (WCS) was a ''StarCraft II'' professional tournament series organized and sanctioned by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from 2012 to 2019. For all but its first year of operation, it was the highest ...

and the ''CS:GO'' team finished second at

IEM Katowice Major 2019 The Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019, also known as IEM Katowice Major 2019 or Katowice 2019, was the fourteenth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship and the world championship for the thirteenth sea ...

''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''

ENCE was founded in 2013 and picked up a Finnish ''CS:GO'' team which competed in local tournaments. In July 2014, the team disbanded after a series of disappointing results and did not return to ''CS:GO'' until 2016. The organization fielded multiple Finnish lineups for the next two years but did not have a stable roster until April 2018, when the organization signed Aleksi " allu" Jalli, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen, Jani "Aerial" Jussila, Jere "sergej" Salo, and Sami "xseveN" Laasanen. The roster of young talent went on an unexpected Cinderella run at

before finally losing in the finals to

Astralis Astralis is a Denmark, Danish esports organization. Best known for their ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' team, they also have teams representing other games, such as ''FIFA'' and ''League of Legends''. The parent group of Astralis is the A ...

. During the Major the team's unlikely success made them a fan favorite among neutrals and in Finland. The Verkkars, a Finnish musical duo, released a song called "EZ4ENCE", titled after the team's chant; it references players, coaches, and team

memes A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

. "EZ4ENCE" went viral in Finland during the tournament, eventually becoming the fourth-most-popular song in a Finnish top 50 published by Spotify. The song would later be added into the game by

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

. ENCE remained one of the top ''CS:GO'' teams in 2019, winning BLAST Pro Series Madrid and finishing second at DreamHack Masters Dallas and IEM Chicago. IEM Katowice 2019 remains ENCE's best performance at a ''CS:GO'' Major, although they reached the playoff round of StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019 and the semifinals of

PGL Major Antwerp 2022 The PGL Major Antwerp 2022, also known as PGL Major 2022 or Antwerp 2022, was the seventeenth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' (''CS:GO'') Major Championship. It was held in Antwerp, Belgium at the Sportpaleis from May 9 to 22, 2022. Twenty ...

. The team's results worsened at the start of 2020 and ENCE gradually replaced all of the players from the IEM Katowice run with an international roster. In February 2022, with the release of Joonas "doto⁠" Forss, ENCE's roster was completely non-Finnish for the first time in the organization's history. The team instead set up a Finnish academy team. Shortly after, ENCE partnered with ESL, receiving a guaranteed spot in the

ESL Pro League The ESL Pro League (formerly ESL ESEA Pro League; shortened as EPL) is a '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' (CS:GO) professional esports league, produced by ESL. It is based on four regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, and currentl ...

. The new roster has reached the top-5 of HLTV's world rankings.

Current roster

''Starcraft II''

Serral, a Finnish

Zerg Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game series '' StarCraft'' revolves around interstellar affairs in a distant sector of the galaxy, with three species and multiple factions all vying for supremacy in the sector. The playable species of ...

player, joined ENCE in October 2016 and is one of the best players in the world. In 2018, Serral became the first non-Korean player to win a

''NHL'' esports

Finish player Erik "EKI" Tammenpää represents ENCE in ''

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

'' esports. EKI is the most successful Finnish player in the game and one of the top players globally. He was chosen by the Finnish Association of Sports Journalists as the 2021 Finnish esport athlete of the year.

References

{{Professional Counter-Strike competition Counter-Strike teams Defunct and inactive Hearthstone teams Defunct and inactive League of Legends teams Defunct and inactive Overwatch teams Esports teams based in Finland Esports teams established in 2013 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds teams StarCraft teams