Allu Steps Down From ENCE

Aleksi “allu” Jalli will be taking a leave of absence from ENCE for personal reasons. The Finnish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team announced the news on Wednesday, May 12.

Allu’s Return Date Unknown

Allu has decided to take a step back from CS:GO esports scene, citing personal reasons. The Finnish CS veteran stated that the “hectic years with minimal breaks” left him feeling drained and fatigued both inside and outside of the game.

“Together with Head Coach Eetu “sAw” Saha, General Manager Niklas “Willkey” Ojalainen and the rest of the team, we have taken the step to accommodate this, and allu will be sidelined from action for the time being,” read ENCE’s announcement.
“Wellbeing and the ability to operate in full form is a top priority for us, and we hope to see a fully-refreshed allu on the servers.”

Allu commented on his choice to take a break from competing, stating it was the hardest decision he had to make in his career. At the same time, he described it as “necessary to be able to continue playing and competing.”

ENCE and allu have not revealed when the 28-year-old will return to action. This could pose a problem for ENCE, who are now left without a key player on their roster.

A Major Blow to ENCE

A team that once terrorized the global CS:GO esports scene, ENCE, haven’t been performing well of late. Since their playoffs appearance in ESL Pro League Season 13, the international team struggled to impress.

They failed to reach the second stage of IEM Summer qualifiers, managed a rather poor third-fourth place finish in Elisa Invitational Spring 2021, and went out of Flashpoint Season 3 qualifiers in 13th-16th place.
Most recently, ENCE were seen competing at Spring Sweet Spring #1, where they lost to EPG Family in the quarter-finals.

Due to their underwhelming results in 2021, ENCE have dropped to no.26 in the global rankings. This is a slight improvement from 36th at the start of April, but a far cry from where they were in 2018-2019.

With allu stepping away from the active lineup, ENCE’s chances to improve now seem even slimmer. As the longest-standing member and the most experienced player of ENCE, allu has played a key role in ENCE’s runner-up finish at the IEM Katowice 2019 and has been with the team throughout their most successful years.

Losing a veteran figure in such hard times will hardly do ENCE any favors; however, some might disagree. Allu has been heavily criticized for his role in the team and the impact he had on ENCE’s downfall.

According to his teammates, allu’s temper and his attitude made the atmosphere hard to work in. It was later revealed that allu was kept on the roster after ENCE’s rebuild in January 2021, only because he has shown willingness to improve his attitude.

ENCE Continue with Hades

Replacing allu as ENCE’s starting AWPer will be a 21-year-old Olek “hades” Miskiewicz. The Polish CS:GO esports pro joins ENCE as a stand-in, having recently stepped down from Wisla Krakow.

During his one-year stint with Wisla Krakow, hades helped the Polish side claim gold at Nine to Five #5, as well as two runner-up finishes at Nine to Five #3 and ESL Mistrzostwa Polski – Fall 2020.

Last month, hades led Wisla Krakow to a fifth-eighth place finish at Snow Sweet Snow #3 and a fourth-place finish at the ESEA Season 36: Premier Division – Europe.

Hades will make his debut with ENCE on Wednesday, May 12, in their clash with SKADE at LOOT.BET/CS Season 9.

Odds for HAVU vs. SKADE match

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:
ENCE +151
SKADE -213
ENCE +1.5 -222
SKADE -1.5 +163
Over 2.50 Maps -102
Under 2.50 Maps -130

Due to the abrupt roster change, ENCE enters this bout priced as underdogs. The esports bookmakers have them priced at +151, giving them a mere 39.8% implied probability to win.

A lot of ENCE’s success on Wednesday will come down to hades and whether he can fill in allu’s shoes. The Polish AWPer was one of the best players at Wisla Krakow, averaging a 1.14 rating across 12 months.

Whether he will manage to recreate his form in a new team remains to be seen. That said, the expectations put on his shoulders are high.