ENCE signs suNny, will move Aleksib to the bench after the Major

Miikka “suNny” Kemppi will replace Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen on ENCE after the StarLadder Berlin Major, the organization announced today.

The rest of the players also extended their contracts, ensuring that they’ll represent ENCE through the end of 2021.

This move marks suNny’s return to competitive play. The Finnish star hasn’t been in action since he was moved to mousesports’ bench in March following a restructuring of the team. SuNny was named the 16th best player in the world by HLTV in 2018 and helped mousesports win big tournaments at StarSeries i-League season four in February 2018 and ESL One New York in September 2018.

SuNny previously played for ENCE in 2013, 2014, and 2016 before he broke onto the international scene with PENTA in 2017. He’ll reunite with Aleksi “allu” Jalli, who was also on the team during that period.

Aleksib, the player being replaced by suNny, was an integral part of ENCE’s success. He’s been playing for ENCE since April 2018 and led the squad to win StarSeries i-League season six in October 2018 and BLAST Pro Series Madrid in May. ENCE also made it to the grand finals of the IEM Katowice Major in February.

Aleksib said the move come out of nowhere for him.

“Despite the hardships, such as a failure at a tournament or having differing opinions, we were still able to stay on the right path and reach success,” Aleksib said. “We built this team from scratch. I’m proud to say that I was a part of the team’s growth from being potential to being elite. This has been a rewarding journey for me and now it’s coming to a close.”

The Finnish organization said the move was a necessary change for ENCE to keep making championship-contending runs at the biggest tournaments.

ENCE hasn’t announced who will take over the in-game leader role after Aleksib’s departure, though. Allu is the most experienced player on the lineup but he’s never been an in-game leader before in his career—at least not on the big teams he played for, such as Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan.

SuNny will make his debut with ENCE at BLAST Pro Series Moscow in September. ENCE’s current team are returning Legends at the StarLadder Berlin Major and will begin their tournament run on Aug. 28.