ENCE have signed Joe “joeski” Holmes for a trial period until the end of August. The 19-year-old player will replace Niki “Cliqq” Kinnunen in the active roster, while the club will use the coming weeks to check whether joeski fits the team’s new structure after Aleksi “allu” Jalli joined as head coach.
ENCE continue rebuilding the roster
This move does not look like a random replacement, but rather as part of a broader rebuilding process. After allu’s arrival, the team began changing its approach to work, updating the basic principles of its game, and looking for a more stable foundation for the new season.
The club directly stated that they do not want to stop the roster’s development too early. ENCE have already received the first useful conclusions after their opening tournaments, but now they want to see how the team will look with a new player in matches where the result and the dynamics inside the roster should show more than practice.
Why joeski specifically
joeski joins the roster as a former Young Ninjas prospect and a player whom ENCE want to evaluate specifically in real official conditions. On an individual level, he has a fairly balanced profile: over the last three months, across 68 maps, he has a 1.06 rating, 57/100 in entry, 56/100 in opening, and 58/100 in clutching.
For ENCE’s young roster, this is important because the team is not simply looking for a player “to fill a slot.” They need a candidate who can fit the tempo, avoid breaking the structure, and at the same time add more variety in rounds. That is why a trial until the end of August looks logical: the club is not taking on a long-term commitment, but is giving the player a full chance.
What ENCE said
ENCE General Manager Eemeli “Woomera” Ikonen explained that the team is still in the early stages of building the foundation of its new young main roster. According to him, the club wants to check all possible options, and the opportunity to test a player of joeski’s caliber looks convincing enough to give this decision time. Woomera:
We are still in the early stages of building the foundation of our new young main roster and want to make sure that we explore all possible options. With the opportunity to bring in a player of joeski’s caliber on trial, we believe it makes sense not to rush and to see whether he can be the right option for the team. There is no need to hurry the process, and we will make the final decision over the coming weeks.
Context after the final against BC.Game
Before this, ENCE had already managed to undergo an important LAN test at Elisa Breakout Series 1. The team reached the final, defeated BOJONG, SINQU, Kuusamo, and HAVU, and in the deciding match put up a serious fight against BC.Game, although they eventually lost on Mirage and Nuke. allu assessed the performance positively after the tournament, despite the defeat in the final. The coach noted:
After a lot of work, we were able to test our level at Elisa BreakOut Series. The goal was to reach the final, and we achieved that with a fairly clean run, apart from the initial nerves in the first game. We also gave BC.Game a very strong fight, and the opportunities to win were in our hands. We have only been together for a short time, but we performed very well.
What changes after replacing Cliqq
Cliqq’s departure from the active roster for the duration of the trial does not necessarily mean a final decision regarding the roster’s future. ENCE’s wording shows that the club wants to evaluate this exact combination of players, not simply mechanically replace one player with another.
For joeski, this is a chance to quickly prove his value in a team that is searching for a stable identity. For ENCE, it is an opportunity to understand whether this option can raise the roster’s ceiling, especially after a decent, but still raw start to the season.
Decision postponed until the end of August
The main conclusion in this story is simple: ENCE are not rushing the final choice. The club is taking joeski on trial, giving him official matches, and leaving itself room for a calm evaluation of the results.
If joeski quickly fits into allu’s structure, this trial can turn into a full transfer. If not, ENCE will have enough data to continue the search. In any case, August will become an important period for the future of this young roster.
