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ENCE and BIG are now one win away from a Major spot, as they move into best-of-three games on Thursday.

ENCE followed up their opening day victory by dismantling Falcons 16-6 on Vertigo, with the European combine looking to put their disappointing EPL performance behind them by securing a place in the 2-0 pool.

Meanwhile on the A stream, BIG sent reigning EPL champions Vitality down to the 1-1 pool by defeating them 16-10 on Dust2, despite Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut's best efforts.

valde started Vertigo off with a fantastic ace

The battle between Falcons and ENCE was played on Vertigo, a map the European combine played just twice in the last three months. Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså got his team off to a flying start in the pistol round with an ace, before Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt found several multi-kills to get his team tied up on the scoreboard as soon as Falcons got to a gun round. ENCE stabilized soon after and began to run away with the map, winning nine rounds in a row on their way to a 12-3 lead at the interval.

A late resurgence by the French squad made the scoreline somewhat respectable, but the deficit simply proved too much for them to overcome, with Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company booking their spot in the 2-0 pool by closing out the map 16-6.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR BBest of 1 FalconsMatchpage 6 16 5th October 2022 ENCE 6Vertigo 16

Falcons	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabiermisutaaa	15 - 18	-3	80.2	0.90
Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittNBK-	13 - 18	-5	74.4	0.84
Jordan 'Python' Munck-FoehrlePython	11 - 20	-9	64.9	0.73
Bryan 'Maka' CandaMaka	9 - 17	-8	44.1	0.51
Ali 'hAdji' HaïnousshAdji	8 - 18	-10	45.9	0.42

ENCE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Paweł 'dycha' Dychadycha	20 - 10	+10	100.3	1.53
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangsåvalde	17 - 12	+5	97.1	1.51
Pavle 'Maden' BoškovićMaden	22 - 12	+10	91.1	1.42
Álvaro 'SunPayus' GarcíaSunPayus	14 - 11	+3	71.3	1.17
Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferSnappi	18 - 11	+7	74.6	1.10

Vitality and BIG met on Dust2, with Vitality coming into the game with a five-match win streak on the map since adding Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi. The start of the map was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams winning rounds from disadvantageous situations, such as Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische clutching a 1vs4 in the pistol round. The reigning EPL champions kept the lead all through the first half, which finished 8-7 in their favor after a late streak of rounds for the German side.

BIG looked much more comfortable once on the CT side, winning the pistol and following conversion to take the lead. Their utility usage in the entire game was second to none, shutting down Vitality's advances in crucial moments. They lost just two rounds in the second half, winning the map 16-10 to join the 2-0 pool.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR BBest of 1 BIGMatchpage 16 10 5th October 2022 Vitality 16Dust2 10

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Florian 'syrsoN' RischesyrsoN	21 - 12	+9	82.3	1.52
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	22 - 15	+7	90.8	1.26
Nils 'k1to' Gruhnek1to	21 - 20	+1	79.7	1.21
Karim 'Krimbo' MoussaKrimbo	13 - 14	-1	49.6	0.88
Elias 's1n' Steins1n	8 - 17	-9	48.8	0.65

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	23 - 19	+4	97.5	1.29
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	17 - 15	+2	72.8	1.15
Lotan 'Spinx' GiladiSpinx	19 - 16	+3	72.7	1.14
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	10 - 20	-10	47.3	0.70
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	9 - 15	-6	42.0	0.69

Group Swiss 2W - 0L BIG ENCE 1W - 0L Natus Vincere HEROIC Outsiders MOUZ 1W - 1L Monte OG Vitality Falcons K23 Sangal 0W - 2L HEET FANTASY Illuminar SAW Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt Age: 28 Team: Falcons Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 2075 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Florian 'syrsoN' Rische Age: 26 Team: BIG Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1748 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 21 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.27 Maps played: 1054 KPR: 0.84 DPR: 0.61 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Age: 27 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1242 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 BIG #16 Elias 's1n' SteinJohannes 'tabseN' WodarzFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeKarim 'Krimbo' MoussaNils 'k1to' Gruhne Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer Age: 32 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 1608 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.67 Vitality #3 Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautDan 'apEX' MadesclaireEmil 'Magisk' ReifPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Falcons #35 Bryan 'Maka' CandaAli 'hAdji' HaïnoussKévin 'misutaaa' RabierNathan 'NBK-' SchmittJordan 'Python' Munck-Foehrle ENCE #18 Paweł 'dycha' DychaMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPavle 'Maden' BoškovićValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåÁlvaro 'SunPayus' García Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi Age: 22 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 476 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65