Fariha B. November 17, 2020
ENCE's young gun Jere "sergej" Salo will be stepping down from the active roster due to lack of motivation when it comes to playing competitive Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
The star rifler will join Jani "Aerial" Jussila on the bench, who recently went inactive due to medical concerns.
ENCE has been going through a rough patch as of recent, and Sergej's departure from the active lineup only adds insult to the injury. The Finnish organization has revealed that Sergej lacks the required energy to compete in a game of CSGO.
"Jere has come to a conclusion that he currently doesn't have the necessary motivation to pursue forward in the intense world of professional Counter-Strike and has asked to be removed from the playing roster," ENCE said.
This will be Sergej's first break in his three-year tenure with the team. During his time in ENCE, the youngest rifle in the team has managed to bag an MVP award in Star Series 2018 and is currently the 13th best player in the world. The organization hasn't commented on Sergej's comeback or the duration of his break.
Sergej will be spending his time fulfilling his duties in the Finnish military, starting from January 2021. His exit leaves the team with an empty fourth slot for DreamHack Masters Winter which airs on 30th November.
SaddyX to stand in for Sergej
Despite several setbacks, ENCE was quick to fill up the vacant slot. The organization confirmed that SJ Gaming's Tuomas "SADDYX" Louhimaa will be carrying ENCE's rifle while Sergej is away. Saddyx joined SJ Gaming in 2019 and has managed to peak a rating of 1.12. His experience in CS GO should allow him to effectively replace Sergej in Dreamhack Masters winter.
Sergej's exit from ENCE leaves Aleksi "allu" Jalli as the only core player in a team that was created in 2018. Sami "xseveN" Laasanen and Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's departure caused enough damage which was later accentuated by Aerial sudden leave from the squad. With Sergej leaving the active roster, allu will be playing alongside a relatively new and unpolished lineup.
The current roster, featuring the newcomer Saddyx, will debut on 30th November.
With two new players, the team's performance is likely to falter, as Joonas "doto" Forss is still new in the squad. However, ENCE has previously been successful in controlling damage caused by Slaava "Twista" Räsänen's coaching bug abuse and Aleksib's move to OG. So, it's very likely that this roster might end up surprising the fans.