HOTU Dominate ENCE to Secure ESL Pro League 22 Stage 2 Spot

HOTU Dominate ENCE to Secure ESL Pro League 22 Stage 2 Spot

On September 30, 2025, HOTU (a Russian-Kazakh roster) locked in their place in ESL Pro League Season 22 Stage 2 with a commanding 2–0 victory over ENCE in the Stage 1 Swiss bracket. 

HOTU’s run in Stage 1 was flawless: they had already taken down FURIA 2–0 in their opener and edged B8 2–1 before facing ENCE. Against ENCE, they allowed just 12 rounds across two maps, illustrating their dominance. 

On Dust2, HOTU dismantled ENCE 13–4. Every member of the squad posted ratings between 1.33 and 1.67 in what was a thoroughly one-sided affair. Their choice map, Ancient, also went poorly for ENCE: HOTU won 11–1 on CT half, then closed the map 13–8 after ENCE attempted a comeback. At one point, ENCE called a timeout after losing six straight rounds, but HOTU immediately struck back. 

The top performer for HOTU was mizu, who posted a 1.85 rating across the series.Other notable contributors included kade0 (1.46) and frontales (1.36) among the five-man roster. 

ENCE, on the other hand, fell short without putting up serious resistance. Their star AWPer sdy mustered a rating of 0.93, and rigoN ended at just 0.59 for the series.

With this, HOTU now get a bit of breathing room before Stage 2 begins on October 4. Meanwhile, ENCE must regroup and attempt entry again via the 2–1 Swiss pool. 

Additional Context & Related News

ENCE’s Recent Form & Roster

ENCE currently sit around #26 in the global HLTV rankings.Their lineup includes rigoN, sdy, myltsi, podi, Neityu, coached by enkay J. 

Their results in other tournaments over the year have been mixed. For example:

At the Thunderpick World Championship 2025 European Series 2, ENCE defeated SINNERS 2–1, with rigoN posting a strong 1.35 rating across the match. 

Earlier, they swept SPARTA 2–0 in the same event. 

In the Betclic Clash Summer 2025 Play-in, ENCE also held off 500 2–1. 

These results show that ENCE can still perform under pressure, though the loss to HOTU was a notable regression.

HOTU & Their Trajectory

Though HLTV’s original article does not include direct quotes from players, it’s worth acknowledging how impressive HOTU’s performance was — especially given they are less established compared to some tier-one teams.

As of now, I did not locate a public post-match interview or quote from HOTU players. But their statistical dominance and clean Stage 1 run speak volumes.

Broader Perspective & Related Commentary

While specific post-match remarks are lacking, it’s useful to frame the result within the esports narrative context:

Emerging teams that succeed in Swiss or group stages often benefit from strong map vetoes, tactical cohesion, and momentum. HOTU’s clean performance suggests they may be on that trajectory.

Conversely, veteran teams like ENCE may struggle with maintaining consistency across multiple events — something that’s evident in the contrasting results of their recent tournaments.

One recent related HLTV piece worth noting: lmbt, coach of MOUZ’s academy side, spoke about the challenges in nurturing new talent:

“The main goal is developing the players and finding those talents, those gems. It’s pretty hard nowadays.”

Though not directly about HOTU or ENCE, that quote underscores how difficult it is to bring up fresh lineups that can compete at high levels — exactly what HOTU seem to be doing.