noway pushes ENCE aside to get Imperial up 1-0
Imperial's journey at the first CS2 major started with a tough match-up against Polish team ENCE, a squad that has been finding its form after adding legendary Danish IGL Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander. For the Brazilians who cruised through the Americas RMR with a 3-0 record, this BO1 would be crucial to keep that momentum going.
The veto saw Anubis left open at the end with ENCE the ones getting to choose which side to start on, and they sent Imperial to the defensive side to begin the match.
It was a tough first half for the Brazilians. On the less favorable CT-side, the pistol round would be crucial to start off on the right foot, but ENCE were able to claim that round and the following two. The Brazilians would win the next three in a row to tie the game, but once again the Poles would come back to take a commanding lead, as the half ended with Imperial trailing 8-4. As the teams switched sides, Imperial claimed the first four rounds of the half, managing to tie the game once again 8-8. After some traded rounds, the Brazilians found themselves 11-10 ahead, with a good economy. After a flawless round, Imperial was just one round away from being up 1-0, just like their fellow countrymen of paiN.
ENCE fought back with two rounds in a row and sent the game to overtime. Once there, the Polish squad seemed on rails as they reached match point at 15-12. Imperial got back on the board with a flawless CT-side to send the game to a second overtime. The Brazilians couldn't keep the momentum going in the second OT, which started with ENCE winning the first round. Imperial got the second and the third was very close to going their way, but an accurate bullet stopped HEN1 from defusing at the last second. With a 17-16 deficit, VINI and co. needed a flawless T-side to win the match, but Kylar had other plans as he got an ace to make it 18-17 for ENCE. Imperial sent the game to a third overtime. This time it would be Imperial with a 20-19 lead going into the CT-side, which turned into a 22-19 win.
ENCEImperial| ENCE |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kacper 'Kylar' Walukiewicz |
35 - 24 | +11 | 90.3 | 70.7% | 1.28 |
 Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander |
22 - 25 | -3 | 74.5 | 78.0% | 1.07 |
| Olek 'hades' Miskiewicz |
26 - 24 | +2 | 57.6 | 70.7% | 1.02 |
| Krzysztof 'Goofy' Górski |
22 - 28 | -6 | 61.8 | 61.0% | 0.83 |
| Paweł 'dycha' Dycha |
17 - 31 | -14 | 49.2 | 68.3% | 0.72 |
| Imperial |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaiky 'noway' Santos |
37 - 28 | +9 | 94.9 | 80.5% | 1.41 |
| João 'felps' Vasconcellos |
23 - 26 | -3 | 75.1 | 75.6% | 1.16 |
| Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo |
23 - 25 | -2 | 75.5 | 78.0% | 1.16 |
| Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
26 - 19 | +7 | 58.3 | 82.9% | 1.12 |
| Lucas 'decenty' Bacelar |
23 - 24 | -1 | 59.0 | 65.9% | 0.90 |
