ENCE has benched its entire Counter-Strike 2 main roster and coaching staff and moved them to the transfer market, signaling a return to a Finnish, homegrown rebuild strategy.

The organization has made all players and coaching staff available for transfer as they refocus on Finnish CS and rebuild around local talent.

ENCE acknowledges that the Finnish talent pipeline has weakened and that climbing back to the world’s top rankings will take years, with current Finnish teams outside the top 30 on Valve’s rankings.

Among the benched players, Neityu and podi are highlighted as strong prospects likely to attract interest from other teams, with podi expected to have multiple suitors as an AWP option in CS2.

ENCE has not seen major CS2 success recently, with only one CS2 Major appearance at PGL Copenhagen and no top-20 world ranking since mid-2024.

Paavo “podi” Heiskanen was benched for pursuing tier-one CS rather than sticking with Finnish up-and-coming players.

The benched lineup includes coach enkay J and AWPer podi, who will pursue other opportunities, with no replacements announced yet and the next steps of the new chapter to be revealed soon.

ENCE cites structural challenges in the current esports ecosystem as a key driver for resetting and building a long-term, locally focused organization rather than continuing an international roster approach.

Historically, ENCE rose to prominence through Finnish CS:GO era highlights such as the EZ4ENCE era and IEM Katowice 2019 Grand Final, but recent international rosters and trades weakened the team and led to this rebuild.

The benched players and staff set for transfer are Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev, Paavo “podi” Heiskanen, Ryan “Neityu” Aubry, Maciej “F1KU” Miklas, Szymon “kRaSnaL” Mrozek, and coach Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn.

The organization emphasizes rebuilding around Finnish talent and developing the next generation of Finnish stars, returning to their roots after a period of international competition.