We warmly welcome two legends of the game, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński, as the new ENCE CS IGL and coach duo.
Today, we welcome two legends who have already engraved their names into Counter-Strike history: Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander joins as our new IGL, and Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński takes the mantle of a head coach.
Our General Manager, Niklas "Willkey" Ojalainen, welcomes the new members: “Big changes need big names to fill them. I want to give a warm welcome to Jakub and Lukas.
We had our eyes on Jakub already three years ago, but our collaboration did not work out at that time. Now it's the perfect time for us to see what we can do together. We needed someone to fill the big shoes Eetu left empty, and Jakub was free, so it was no no-brainer move for us. This is even more so after Jakub and Lukas had meetings, and it became clear that they were on the same page about the game and wanted to work together. As it was previously, it's really important for us that the coach and the IGL have a good working relationship. Jakub has shown that he has the eye for scouting and the skillset to build a good structure for the team. Now it's time to show what he can do with those skills with us.
Lukas, on the other hand, must be the biggest addition to our roster we have ever made here at ENCE. I think it's a clear sign that we have been doing the right things when a player of Lukas's caliber wants to join us. He has won it all and has the experience to share what it takes to cross the line to do it. Lukas is super motivated to show he still has it and likes the responsibility IGL gets here at ENCE. I trust that hungry Lukas is a dangerous foe to any opponent we face.”
Welcome, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander
This man needs no introduction. We are honored to have with us one of the greatest IGLs of all time, a four-time Major winner and the mastermind behind the legendary Astralis era. ENCE is now the first new team for gla1ve since joining Astralis in 2016, and we look forward to where his experience and expertise will lead us.
Will this be the start of a new gla1ve era?
gla1ve shared his excitement: “It's an incredible opportunity for me, and I feel very blessed to be on a team with so many amazing players. I have a lot of excitement going into this project as it's a completely new environment for me, but also because we have so much stuff to dive into with Counter-Strike 2. I know what this team is capable of, and I love that I'm a part of that now!
It's been a warm welcome so far, and we have our first tournament this week, so I'm beyond excited to be playing my first official CS2 match with ENCE already!”
Welcome Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński
A legend in his own right, kuben adds more Polish power to our roster. Part of the legendary Golden Five in Counter-Strike 1.6, he has since then coached the legendary Polish Virtus.pro, winning numerous tournaments over the five years he spent in the organization, as well as more recently led Apeks to the epic semi-final run in the 2023 Paris Major.
kuben details his feelings about joining ENCE: “I felt nothing but pure joy of happiness when I heard ENCE was interested in signing me. I was talking with ENCE three years ago and came close to becoming a coach during COVID. Eventually, the impression I left back then could have been the key to joining ENCE now. I have worked hard in international teams for the last few years to finally get back to the level I belong to. I’ll do everything in my hands to help these guys succeed.“
The full ENCE roster:
This ENCE lineup will debut this week in Elisa Masters Espoo 2023.
