ENCE have beaten Windigo 2-1 in the grand final of the EPICENTER Europe Closed Qualifier to secure their place in the Wild Card Qualifier.
The Europe Closed Qualifier featured six teams who competed for a spot at the EPICENTER Wild Card Qualifier that will take place on LAN on October 22. ENCE started their campaign in the semis where they beat 3DMAX while Windigo took down AGO in the quarter-finals and G2 in the semis to become ENCE's opponents.
Windigo kicked off the grand final by picking up Mirage 16-6 but ENCE equalized by taking Train 16-4. The deciding map was much closer than the first two as Aleksi "allu" Jalli & company won it 16-14 to secure the series 2-1.
With this victory, ENCE have qualified for the EPICENTER Wild Card Qualifier where two spots at the main event will be on the line.
Additionally, on October 19, the team that is ranked the highest in the HLTV rankings among the winners of the regional qualifiers held in Europe (ENCE), CIS, Americas, and China, will receive a direct invitation and won't have to play in the Wild Card Qualifier.
EPICENTER 2018 Europe Closed QualifierBest of 3
Windigo
Matchpage 1 2 4th September 2018 
ENCE 16Mirage 6 4Train 16 14Dust2 16 | Windigo | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikolay 'pNshr' PauninpNshr | 50 - 52 | -2 | 68.4 | 0.99 |
| Georgi 'SHiPZ' GrigorovSHiPZ | 46 - 59 | -13 | 80.3 | 0.96 |
| Kamen 'bubble' Kostadinovbubble | 52 - 52 | 0 | 72.1 | 0.96 |
| Yanko 'blocker' Panovblocker | 42 - 54 | -12 | 67.5 | 0.90 |
| Viktor 'v1c7oR' Dyankovv1c7oR | 38 - 50 | -12 | 63.8 | 0.86 |
| ENCE | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jani 'Aerial' JussilaAerial | 60 - 44 | +16 | 83.3 | 1.34 |
| Sami 'xseveN' LaasanenxseveN | 55 - 42 | +13 | 87.5 | 1.20 |
| Aleksi 'allu' Jalliallu | 63 - 43 | +20 | 73.4 | 1.19 |
| Jere 'sergej' Salosergej | 41 - 48 | -7 | 76.2 | 1.06 |
| Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib | 48 - 51 | -3 | 78.8 | 1.05 |
The $300,000 EPICENTER 2018 will be held in Moscow, Russia with the group stage scheduled for October 23-25. The Park of Legends Ice Palace will host the playoffs from October 27-28.
Windigo #38 Nikolay 'pNshr' PauninKamen 'bubble' KostadinovViktor 'v1c7oR' DyankovYanko 'blocker' PanovGeorgi 'SHiPZ' Grigorov Aleksi 'allu' Jalli 
Age: 26 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 1158 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.64 
3DMAX #35 Audric 'JACKZ' Jug
David 'Davidp' PrinsBryan 'Maka' CandaLucas 'Lucky' ChastangGaëtan 'JiNKZ' Jamin 
G2 #14 Richard 'shox' PapillonKévin 'Ex6TenZ' DroolansKenny 'kennyS' SchrubEdouard 'SmithZz' DubourdeauxAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro 
AGO #25 Grzegorz 'SZPERO' DziamałekDamian 'Furlan' KislowskiDominik 'GruBy' SwiderskiMateusz 'TOAO' ZawistowskiTomasz 'phr' Wójcik ENCE #18 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo