Max Melit sat down with Sami "⁠xseveN⁠" Laasanen following ENCE's hard-fought victory over OpTic to know more about the team's start to the DreamHack Winter tournament.

The Finnish side got off on the wrong foot in Jönköping as they lost to G2 after enjoying an 11-4 lead, bouncing back from that defeat with a 2-1 victory over OpTic after fighting back from a map down.

xseveN discusses ENCE's first matches at DH Winter

Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila has posted multiple big maps in Jönköping and currently boasts a 1.18 rating, with the calling and aggression from the likes of Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and xseveN forming a base for the 25-year-old to shine.

In this interview with xseveN, the 24-year-old discusses the team's close win against OpTic, the upcoming clash against G2, and Aerial's performances thus far.

First thing I wanted to touch on was that jumping shot from Aerial in Round 18 on Dust2 [laughs]. Did you happen to see it or catch the reaction, at least?

I didn't see it, but his reaction was like... 'What the f*ck' [laughs].

Dust2 has been a strong map for a long time for you, sort of the foundation for your map pool and rise throughout the year in a way. Have you been forced to make many changes to your style on it?

Yes, we have been adapting every map, I think. Everyone is watching our game now so we need to create new things every time.

Was the halls aggression I saw against Optic from you a part of that?

Yes. Kind of.

More broadly, what are your expectations for the rest of the event, having just beaten OpTic?

Firstly, we want to beat G2. We want revenge. Of course, we want to win it. Nothing else.

Speaking of winning Dreamhack Winter, you still have the echoes of winning StarSeries and the breakout ESL One Cologne performance around you. With these results, and those earned here in mind, where do you see yourself compared to the rest of the scene?

Well, we are not tier one. We have been to many tournaments, and we have been doing kind of well. Close to tier two, I think.

Aerial had a huge performance in this series, which obviously makes things easier. But when someone like him or Aleksib can't post big numbers on the T side, what are the biggest challenges you face?

Hmmm... That's a good question. I would say that the hardest thing is that we are not yet so good at reacting. So those one or two seconds delays, they can lose us the round. We need to be better at that. The fast communication.

A way I, and others, often characterize ENCE is as being almost a Danish team given the way you play. Is this a fair assessment?

I don't really know. We have taken a lot of stuff from Danish teams. So maybe that. And our players are similar. They have a similar style.

How has this event been for you individually?

Not too good. I need to step up a little bit.

Max Melit covers DreamHack Open Winter 2018 for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.

Sami 'xseveN' Laasanen Age: 24 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 710 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 G2 #28 Audric 'JACKZ' JugRichard 'shox' PapillonKenny 'kennyS' SchrubAlexandre 'bodyy' PianaroLucas 'Lucky' Chastang Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 21 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 453 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.65 OpTic #13 Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferRené 'cajunb' BorgJakob 'JUGi' HansenKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeNikolaj 'niko' Kristensen ENCE #14 Sami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo Jani 'Aerial' Jussila Age: 25 Team: ENCE Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 373 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.66

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