It was Cloud9’s second tournament win this year and secured $133,000 in cash prize in the process, with another $200,000 shared between the losing teams.

Cloud9 and Astralis faced off in a three-map series, which the Russian lineup won 2-1. After losing Overpass (5-16), Cloud9 levelled up on Vertigo (16-7) before securing their series win on Inferno (16-12).

The series kicked off on Overpass, which Astralis has a 89% win rate in the last three months, and they soon reached a 5-0 lead on the T side.

Cloud9 attempted to keep up with their opponents in round six via a triple kill by Abay “?HObbit?” Khassenov but ultimately failed to close the gap. Astralis, led by Benjamin “?blameF?” Bremer’s 17-kill performance, widened the gap by five rounds before the side swap.

The Danish line-up were able to win their second pistol round on Overpass via the efforts of Nicolai “?device?” Reedtz, and it was downhill for Cloud9 from there. The squad won the map 16-5, even successfully carrying out a 3vs5 in the 20th round.

Cloud9’s map pick, Vertigo, was an entirely different situation, with the Russians lineup moving up to a 4-1 lead early in the map. Astralis did not let up despite the early lead and managed to reach a 5-4 score over Cloud9.

Dmitry “?sh1ro?” Sokolov eventually pushed Cloud9 to win five out of the last six rounds on the T-side and reached the halfway point with a 9-6 scoreboard. The next half of Vertigo saw Astralis win only one round, while Cloud9 closed the map with a 16-7 score, pushing an Inferno decider.

Cloud9 started Inferno in top form, winning round three after losing the first two to Astralis. The squad won five more rounds, reaching a 6-2 head start during their T-side campaign. Astralis tried to keep up with Cloud9 via the efforts of device, who recorded 17 kills; however, the Russian team ended the map half at 9-6.

The Danish esports lineup seemed to get back in the game on the T-side, tying with Cloud9 after adding three round wins to their score. The Russian squad, however, rushed ahead to secure six rounds to reach the map and series point. The map ended with a 16-12 scoreboard while the series and tournament came to a close with Cloud9 as the winner.

Prior to their win, Cloud9 failed to secure a chance to compete in the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major after being eliminated from the RMR qualifier. The win will help in stabilizing the team and hopefully build up their confidence.

The team are set to participate in the IEM Dallas, which will kick off on May 29 until June 4. Cloud9 were the winner of the 2022 iteration of the tournament, which will make this event if they win, their second consecutive victory.

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?Astralis reached new lows two weeks ago when they finished BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B in 12th-14th place and missed their chance to qualify for the final CS:GO Major. At the RMR, Astralis lost against Team Vitality (14-16), Eternal Fire (7-16) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (0-2), while their only victory came against Team Spirit (2-1).

Shortly after the abysmal run at the RMR, Astralis announced a lineup change in the addition of academy player Alexander “Altekz” Givskov, who took over for Andreas “Xyp9x” H?jsleth. Although a long-overdue roster change, it remains to be seen how the 19-year-old will perform at the top level.

GamerLegion were far more successful in RMR A, which they finished in fifth place with wins against OG, 1WIN, and Team Falcons and one loss against Apeks. Even though those are not particularly strong teams, GamerLegion are at least winning games – which we can’t say about Astralis.

On paper, Astralis still look like the better team, and they’re 9-3 across their last 12 outings, yet their recent slump and questionable morale make it look like this match won’t be as straightforward as it may seem.

9INE achieved the unthinkable just under two weeks ago and won BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B. And not only did they conclude the RMR with a perfect record (3-0), 9INE did it by beating G2 Esports, BIG, and Team Vitality.

9INE overperformed at the RMR, and that became clear during their run at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, where the Poles could only muster up one win against MOUZ (2-1). This is still a very decent team, but we wouldn’t overreact to them beating G2, BIG, and Team Vitality.

Their next opponents, Imperial Esports, are 1-4 from their last five series. That includes one win against LOS + oNe (2-0) and four losses against Evil Geniuses (12-16), Complexity (0-2), Ninjas in Pyjamas (5-16), and The MongolZ (1-2).

Before that stretch of concerning results, Imperial won three straight against Complexity (2-0), Evil Geniuses Black (2-0), and paiN Gaming (2-0). Still, if we look at Imperial’s results this season, there isn’t much to feel excited about.

As much as we don’t believe 9INE are as good as their results from RMR suggest, it’s very tough to find a reason to back Imperial.

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Eternal Fire have recently finished their BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B campaign in 14th place, thus missed out on qualifying for the Paris Major. Their sole victory in the event came against the struggling Astralis (16-4); however, despite losing the remaining three bouts, it’s not fair to criticise the Turkish CS:GO squad too much.

At the RMR, EF had to face Ninjas in Pyjamas (11-16), Cloud9 (16-19), and Aurora Gaming (1-2), which are all solid teams. So even though Eternal Fire went 1-3, those losses aren’t that concerning.

Apeks got back on their feet after a poor stretch of results in March with a runner-up finish at CCT West Europe Series #2; however, they’ve since failed to achieve much. The international roster performed well at RMR A, where they placed sixth with a 3-2 record; however, Apeks only had to defeat GamerLegion, Sprout, and B8.

So as much as we can praise Apeks for qualifying for the Major, they haven’t shown much more than EF. Regardless of Eternal Fire’s lack of success at recent tournaments, they’re just as strong as Apeks and have a realistic chance to win or, at the very least, force a close series.

PaiN Gaming and Into the Breach have never clashed before, but according to the latest CS:GO betting odds, the Brazilian should have a better chance of winning their debut meeting.

Since the start of April, paiN Gaming have placed second at BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2023 and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: American RMR, to which they added a semifinal run at ESEA Cash Cup Circuit 2023: North American Cup #4. In contrast, ITB’s only notable achievement of the year was finishing European RMR A in third place.

Yet, ITB finishing third at the RMR with wins against Sprout (16-7), Virtus.pro (16-13), and B8 (2-1) means more than paiN Gaming placing second at their regional RMR, where they won only against Paqueta Gaming, Complexity, and Fluxo.

Talent-wise paiN Gaming and ITB look evenly matched, and there isn’t much to separate them based on their recent showings. This looks like a coin-flip match, so we have to take Into the Breach at plus money.

OG have been struggling to find traction this season, and while they have had some moments of greatness, the international squad have yet to win a tournament. Last week, OG attended Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, when they reached the final round of Group B lower bracket and lost against the eventual champions, Team Vitality (1-2).

So even though their placement (seventh-eighth) doesn’t look good on paper, OG played well but once again found themselves in a position where they got close to achieving great things only to slip at the final hurdle.

Now, OG will face GODSENT, who they last met three weeks ago at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023: European Qualifier and won (14-16, 16-4, 16-11). That match should be a good indication of what will happen on Wednesday, but we don’t expect GODSENT to collect a single map this time.

OG would’ve won 2-0 at the start of April had they not made a few misplays on Inferno. At the offered CS:GO betting odds, we like OG to win in two maps.

BIG came two series away from qualifying for the Paris Major but lost the European RMR Decider against Cloud9 (12-16, 13-16) after finishing RMR B in 10th place. But despite their underwhelming performance at the RMR, BIG found traction at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, where they defeated MOUZ (16-6), and Heroic (2-1), before getting eliminated from the quarterfinals by the eventual champions, Team Vitality (0-2).

Their next opponent, 00 Nation, recently placed second at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023: South American Qualifier, marking their most notable result of 2023. But that doesn’t detract from their underwhelming performances at ESL Pro League Season 17 and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: American RMR, where they placed 13th-16th.

On a more positive note, 00 Nation had their moment at ESL Pro League, where they defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1) and stole a map from Natus Vincere (1-2).

BIG dropped the ball at the RMR and IEM Rio, but they had to play some of the world’s top teams and still performed relatively well. However, the morale can’t be high in the German camp, so we prefer 00 Nation with a map advantage.

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The Rainbow Six Siege Copenhagen BLAST Major will kick off on April 24, with 24 of the world’s best teams making their way to Copenhagen, Denmark to compete for the US$750,000 prize pool.

Most esports betting sites have G2 Esports has the $5.00 favourite to take out the R6 BLAST Copenhagen Major, with the likes of M80 and Team Liquid both at $5.50 heavily supported by bettors.

Some of the key leagues and tournaments taking place in the esports world this week include:

• Rainbow Six Siege BLAST Copenhagen Major

  The Rainbow Six Siege BLAST Copenhagen Major will kick off this Monday, with the top 24 teams in Rainbow Six competing for the US$750,000 prize pool. Check out our extensive Rainbow Six Siege BLAST Copenhagen Major 2023 betting guide to get the latest odds and tournament information.

• CS:GO Brazy Party

  The inaugural edition of the Brazy Party will kick off on Wednesday, with 16 of the best CS:GO teams competing in the Online event in Europe competing for the US$333,000 prize pool. The winner of the event will take home US$133,000, with most esports betting sites installing Cloud9 as the $3.00 favourites, followed by ENCE ($4.50) and OG ($5.00).

• PUBG – PUBG Global Series (PGS) Phase 1

  Phase 1 of the PUBG Global Series will begin this Thursday, with 24 of the top PUBG teams making their way to Malaysia to compete for the US$500,000 prize pool. The winner of Phase 1 will qualify for the PUBG Global Championship later in the year. Most esports betting sites have New Happy installed as their favourite at $7.50, closely followed by Twisted Minds ($8.00) and 17 Gaming ($8.50).

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Brazy Party is set to take place from April 26 to May 6 and will divide 16 top squads across four groups, where they will face off in a best-of-three GSL-style group stage. Following this, the two top squads in each group will play against each other in a single-elimination BO3 playoff bracket.

The announced team list to compete in Brazy Party includes:

Out of the listed participating squads, Russian esports organization Cloud9 ranks the highest and will likely be the favorite to win with the top betting sites. Although the team failed to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris Major their track record shows that they are certainly qualified to meet up to expectation.

ENCE are another top team set to participate in the Brazy Party. Since signing Guy “?NertZ?” Iluz in February this year, the squad have been in top form and will likely give other competing teams a run for their money in the CS:GO event.

Relog Media also announced its broadcast talent that will occupy the analyst desk in the tournament organizer’s Belgrade-based studio. These include Janko “?YNk?” Paunovi?, Tres “?stunna?” Saranthus, and Aleksandar “?kassad?” Trifunovi?.

There will also be three pairs of casters that will narrate the events of the tournament. The first pair is Jason “?moses?” O’Toole and Adam “?Dinko?” Hawthorne, after which Henry “?HenryG?” Greer and Anders “?Anders?” Blume will take over the commentary. Popular Counter-Strike casters Sudhen “?Bleh?” Wahengbam and Vince “?Vince?” Hill will bring the event to a close.

The Brazy Party will feature a prize pool of $333,000, where the winner will go home with $133,000 while the runner-up squad receives $70,000. The teams that place third and fourth will be given $35,000, and $15,000 will be shared with teams fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

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