Snappi tests positive for COVID-19, out for IEM Winter

Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, will miss IEM Winter after testing positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement from ENCE. The 31-year-old in-game leader will be replaced by Pavle “maden” Bošković, on loan from FunPlus Phoenix. On Nov. 5, FPX disbanded their CS:GO team and transfer-listed all their players, including maden.

“Health always comes first and we’re wishing Marco a speedy recovery,” ENCE stated on Twitter.

ENCE come into IEM Winter as a serious underdog, going up against teams like the HLTV No. 2 rated Team Vitality, who placed second at the recent BLAST Premier: Fall Final. At present, ENCE are rated No. 13 in the world, behind most of their competition at IEM Winter. The team, led by Snappi, surprised many by their run in the lead-up to the PGL Major, where they were eliminated in the New Legends Stage.

Unfortunately, @SnappiCSGO has tested COVID-19 positive and won't be able to join the rest of the team at IEM Winter 🇸🇪

Thankfully @FPX_Esports has agreed to allow @madennCS to step in as a replacement for the event 👊 #EZ4ENCE #IEM pic.twitter.com/fnfyDnkYet

— ENCE (@ENCE) November 30, 2021

IEM Winter is set to run from Dec. 2-12; one of the last major events in the 2021 calendar year. Teams will be competing for $250,000 in prize money and the chance to claim ESL Pro Tour points for qualification at the upcoming IEM Katowice 2022 event. ENCE’s first match will be a best-of-one against Virtus.pro at 8:20 a.m. ET on Dec. 2.

ENCE’s roster for IEM Winter will be:

Joonas “doto” Forss
Lotan “Spinx” Giladi
Paweł “dycha” Dycha
Aleksander “hades” Miskiewicz
Pavle “maden” Bošković