KATOWICE, Poland -- A fan is dancing in the middle of the floor seats at the Spodek arena in Poland, a Finnish flag draped around his shoulders as he spins endlessly, arms spread as if they were wings.
In front of him, a group of like-minded fans are signing, their arms interlocked, bouncing around like they're at their favorite rock band's concert. Behind them, up in the nosebleed seats of the venue, the chanting and singing continues, a rhythmic, booming sound vibrating off the concrete walls.
There is no space to move inside the arena; the unlucky onlookers who arrived late have to sit on the floor or stand squished together, some on the tips of their toes, to see the action in front of them.
This is Counter-Strike at its best.
Natus Vincere, the No. 3 team in the world, is anchored by the best player in the game, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev. Their opponents, the story of the tournament, ENCE from Finland, are a group made around veteran Aleksi "allu" Jalli, Jere "sergej" Salo and relative unknowns from the Nordic region. Back and forth they went through three maps, with the underdogs taking a close first game before the Ukrainian superstar and his team fought back with a commanding victory in the second set.
"They seem very cool and very humble," FaZe Clan player Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson said of ENCE. "Like Finnish guys, they don't show much emotion. A lot of players have said it for a long time, but they seem to play the right CS. They play like a team rather than play as individuals. This sergej seems really good already. When I watch him play, I'm impressed by how he doesn't go for stupid plays or stupid frags."
The stage was set for a memorable finale, and the cast of characters delivered. ENCE continued to claw their way back into the series after falling behind early through all-around stellar team play. S1mple, at the height of his powers, played at a level that could only be achieved by the best player in the world.
At the final turn, though, ENCE was simply too much for s1mple to handle. One Na'Vi member went down, then another, and the deafening silence of the arena swelled into a cascade of sound, the Finnish Cinderella booking its ticket to Sunday's grand final.
"It just feels amazing," ENCE's Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen said in a postmatch interview on-stage. "I don't know what we just did, but we beat Na'Vi 2-1. It feels great."
The dancing and singing poured out into the hallways of Spodek while the Na'Vi faithful were left in disbelief, wondering how yet another world-class performance by s1mple was wasted. Another major, another trip home without a world championship.
Ranked as the No. 17 team in the world entering the competition, ENCE had to play through the European Minor qualification tournament to even make it Katowice. After only dropping a single game in the European Minor, they found themselves on the brink of elimination in the New Legends stage, beginning the Swiss-system stage with two losses before rallying off three straight victories to make it into the quarterfinals.
In the round of eight, their fun was supposed to come to an end. ENCE's opponent, Team Liquid, was the No. 2 team in the world and a presumptive finalist destined to face world champion Astralis.
With the European crowd behind them, ENCE kept the run of a lifetime going and swept the North Americans.
"They play a really structured and smart style that doesn't really rely on individuals having this crazy skill or mechanical aim or anything like that," Renegades player Jay "Liazz" Tregillgas said of ENCE. "They play very cohesively as a team. I think it's also a matter of teams underestimating them."
And ENCE is easy to underestimate. The team's leader, allu, has bounced around teams since he started playing professionally. ENCE's best prospect, sergej, is only 17 and still trying to find consistency amongst the elite teams and players in the world. The other starting members could almost be considered journeymen, having bounced around the European scene on multiple teams. Sami "xseveN" Laasanen, one of the standouts in ENCE's win over Na'Vi, transferred 13 separate times to different squads before finally joining the current ENCE roster.
It's a team without ego or players who need to be called the ace. As long as they win, that's good enough for them.
Throughout the tournament, the team's cool yet forthcoming attitude has won them the favor of the crowd. The meme "EZ4ENCE" has been spammed on every social media platform imaginable. Currently in Finland, a song titled "EZ4ENCE" is in the top 50 of all tracks on the country's Spotify, and it has over 300,000 views on YouTube in only two weeks.
ENCE made it through the European Minor, the shark-infested waters of the group stages, the best North American roster ever to be put together and the best player in the world at full strength. Astralis is different, though. To beat them and end their historic reign, it will take more than just hopeful dreams and playful memes. ENCE, playing as one, will have to be the better team.
While Astralis has the same five-as-one mantra as ENCE, the Danish team does it with five of the best players in the world. On almost any team imaginable, a player like Emil "Magisk" Reif or Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen would be considered the crown jewel. As a part of Astralis, they're sometimes forgotten behind the legacy and individual aptitude of Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz.
But even in the face of what might be the best Counter-Strike team of all time, there is no pressure on the Fins; with each victory, their confidence has grown, as has the belief that this party can turn into a coronation.
"I think it'll be a tough game, but we'll play Astralis," Aleksib said, "and we're going to break their record."