Counter-Strike at ENCE is seeing a new look going into the 2021 season. We are introducing three new additions to the roster, an overhaul in our team management philosophy, and a new Performance Coach to help the team.
The second half of the 2020 season was a turbulent time in ENCE’s Counter-Strike division. After a promising start in the ESL Pro League Season 12, the uplift was short-lived with a combination of coaching suspension and lineup changes defining the season. This ultimately concluded in the events that took place halfway through December. “As an organization, we have failed to see the gravity of the underlying issues in our previous lineup. While we have always tried to emphasize the importance of openness and communication — we take full responsibility for not being able to intervene soon enough”, says Niklas “Willkey” Ojalainen, GM at ENCE.
“These recent events have been a big learning experience for us here at ENCE."
- Niklas "Willkey" Ojalainen, GM at ENCE
The social media events in December started a process within the organization where we carefully started to evaluate our own processes and how we can help our players to navigate through the human aspect of everything to do with professional gaming. “These recent events have been a big learning experience for us here at ENCE. We are staying humble and believe that with our newly set structure and philosophy we can start our road back to the top”, Niklas “Willkey” Ojalainen adds.
The social media events in December were heavily focused on Aleksi “allu” Jalli and his behaviour as a teammate and a figurehead of the team. We fully recognize that he has made mistakes during his time at ENCE. However, putting all the responsibility on one individual's shoulders is not acceptable. All team decisions have been made in cooperation with the leading players, coaching, and the organization. Aleksi has been an important voice in the team due to his seniority as a player but putting all blame on him as an