Yesterday, one of the most accomplished IGLs in the history of Counter-Strike was benched by a team that won just one A-tier trophy during his almost two-year stay.
ENCE, a team that was once ranked among the best in the world, is now ranked 46th. The results speak for themselves, and they’re mostly terrible. So it’s no surprise that Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, despite his extraordinary achievements during the Astralis era, has finally been benched.
At 30 years old, gla1ve can probably no longer afford to play CS2 all day every day, like some of his younger opponents do. Meanwhile, the game’s meta is constantly evolving, creating new challenges for IGLs. Those who can’t adapt fast enough get left behind.
Recently, we saw that even players like Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev are no longer able to play the game as well as they once did, simply because of this problem. If you’re not constantly thinking about the game and staying ahead of the meta, it’s hard to be a champion.
Gla1ve’s Career and ENCE Years
Before joining ENCE in 2023, gla1ve had been a member of Astralis for around seven years. During this time, he won four Majors and numerous other S-tier events.
In particular, between 2017 and 2019, Astralis was one of the most dominant teams in CS history. Their winning streaks were comparable to Vitality’s, and gla1ve was the IGL.
Between 2020 and 2023, Astralis gradually lost its edge and became just another esports club in Counter-Strike. Gla1ve was benched twice during these years, first in 2020 and then in 2023. The second time, after five months of inactivity, he started playing for ENCE.
Initially, hopes were high because everyone knew what he was capable of. But after nearly two years of failures, ENCE decided to give the IGL role to Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev and bring in Rigon “rigoN” Gashi from Bad News Eagles.
