NIP Defeat ENCE 3-1 To Win IEM Fall Europe

NIP have been crowned the IEM Fall Europe champions after defeating ENCE in a best-of-five match that was inconsequential in regards to the Major — where they will be the only Swedish team in contention —, but gave the victor a larger portion of the $105,000 prize pool.

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NIP’s final victory was the cherry on top of a perfect tournament as they went undefeated in all stages, bagging five best-of-ones in the group stage followed by two best-of-threes in the playoffs and the best-of-five grand final while showing an absolutely stunning form just weeks away from the PGL Major in Stockholm, for which they qualified as Legends topping the European Regional Major Ranking.

NIP have shown to be in great shape ahead of the Major

Thoughts are already very much on the Major in the NIP camp, as coach Björn “⁠THREAT⁠” Pers showed in the post-match interview on the broadcast by stating that “we’re going into a hardcore bootcamp before the Major and hopefully we can bring the crown back to Sweden.”

NIP will have a couple of days of rest first to savor their victory ahead of their bootcamp, though, so the team can reset mentally while Linus “⁠LNZ⁠” Holtäng‘s maiden victory at an event of this caliber sinks in as the youngster stated that he “never felt this happiness before.”

Despite the final loss, ENCE also showed great form of their own at the RMR event, losing only once before the final, to OG in a multiple overtime affair in the group stage while leaving behind teams of the calibre of Vitality, Astralis and G2.

The tournament hasn’t come to an end just yet, however, as last but not least is the Astralis vs. Vitality match, which went live at the conclusion of the final and will decide the two other semi-finalist teams’ placings in the tournament, be it third or fourth.

ENCE have much to be proud of in their run at IEM Fall

The final series started off on Overpass, where LNZ made a splash early on to give NIP an early T-side lead. ENCE put forth a bit of resistance but were eventually overrun by the Swedes, who went on to take the map 16-8. Roles were reversed on Mirage, where there were all smiles on the ENCE side as they glided to an 11-4 lead on the attack before closing things out 16-7 to tie things up and keep the series exciting.

ENCE then started out with a strong defense on Ancient in an incredibly showing by Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi, but NIP came alive on the defense, taking the reins late in the game to win in the very last round, 16-14, and take the lead in the series 2-1.

The Swedes finally dominated on Nuke, starting on the CT side and running away with an 11-4 half-time lead as Nicolai “⁠device⁠” Reedtz kept things in check with his AWP to round out a great final series and tournament showing, individually. After switching sides NIP didn’t lay off the gas pedal, cruising to a 16-6 victory to add the IEM Fall Europe trophy to their cabinet.

The IEM Fall Europe standings are:

1. NIP – $27,500 + 2500 RMR Points
2. ENCE – $17,500 + 2344 RMR Points
3. Astralis / Vitality – $12,000 + 2188 RMR Points
4. Astralis / Vitality – $9,000 + 2031 RMR Points
5. Movistar Riders – $7,500 + 1875 RMR Points
6. G2 – $6,500 + 1719 RMR Points
7. Copenhagen Flames – $5,500 + 1563 RMR Points
8. Fiend – $4,500 + 1406 RMR Points
9. FaZe – $3,000 + 1250 RMR Points
10. BIG – $2,500 + 1094 RMR Points
11. OG – $2,000 + 938 RMR Points
12. Heroic – $1,500
13-16. mousesports – $1,000
13-16. Sinners – $1,000
13-16. Dignitas – $1,000
13-16. DBL PONEY – $1,000
17-20. FunPlus Phoenix – $500
17-20. Complexity – $500
17-20. MAD Lions – $500
17-20. SKADE – $500
21-24. AURA
21-24. Endpoint
21-24. Sprout
21-24. fnatic