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Aleksib's journey to OG - The Finn far from Finnished

OG provides a clean slate on which the Finnish talent Aleksib can prove his individual skill and leadership capabilities.
Aleksib's journey to OG - The Finn far from Finnished

Aleksib begins his newest CS:GO journey outside of Finland on OG. Like Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså, this marks his first international venture as he joins Issa "ISSAA" Murad and Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski on the new lineup.

Most know Aleksib thanks to his time under ENCE, during which he led the squad to multiple trophies and the grand finals of a Major.

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(Photo Credit: StarLadder)

As an all-Finnish roster, ENCE had a mild reception in 2018 when first announced with Aleksi "allu" Jalli's popularity and interest in young talent Jere "sergej" Salo being the main points of interest.

Having previously led an ENCE team, Aleksib once again took up the mantle. Not only did Aleksib lead in the server, he was often left to do the bulk of interviews and media obligations for ENCE. This put the young Finnish IGL in the spotlight, increasing his popularity and bringing respect.

With ENCE emerging as a surprise challenger at ESL One Cologne 2018, falling just short of the playoffs in a close best-of-three against eventual winners Natus Vincere, it was disappointing to see them fall in the Europe Minor for the FACEIT Major in London.

Wins at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 and DreamHack Open Winter 2018 towards the end of the year helped strengthen the team ahead of 2019, as ENCE surge through the Minor, make it all the way to the New Champions Stage, defeat Team Liquid and get some long-awaited revenge on Na'Vi at IEM Katowice 2019.

Walking onto the stage in the grand final to The Verkkars' EZ4ENCE, fans from Finland and beyond had been won over by the underdog roster many had doubted a year previously. A respectable finish against the dominant era-establishing Astralis might have seen the Danes win the trophy, but the hearts of Katowice were firmed with ENCE.

No matter how many successful placings ENCE achieved, there was always a question on everyone's lips.

When would suNny join the lineup?

While Miikka "suNny" Kemppi was a shining example on mousesports of a star player, he was benched by the organisation as he "didn’t share [their] vision for the new team."

After sitting on the sidelines for so long, the return of suNny was long-awaited. It was Sami "xseveN" Laasanen many expected to be the unfortunate sacrifice to make space on the team once things went south.

In August, ENCE confirmed suNny would be joining the team after the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, but he would instead replace Aleksib.

No longer responsible for the team, Aleksib still took part in interviews with the grace and dignity his teammates often refused to honour the process with.

With allu leading, the team managed to retain their Legends spot by finishing in the top eight and Aleksib was able to put in a solid final performance for ENCE.

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The community's adoration for ENCE turned sour, with many seeing the removal of Aleksib as a 'betrayal' and the subsequent ENCE struggles karmic justice for the benched leader.

Now on OG, the best karma would be leading yet another team to victory and making it look even easier than ENCE.