The announcement came via a short video, where manager Bj?rn “THREAT” Pers and head coach Richard “Xizt” Landstr?m talked about the team’s plans.

Xizt explained that NiP decided to keep jocab in the side because of the ongoing health issues with Max “maxster” Jansson.

“The good news is that he’s [maxster] doing better and better every day, but we felt that he’s not going to be ready to practice, boot camp, and get some officials in before heading to the RMRs,” he said.

Jocab joined Ninjas in Pyjamas at the start of October and has since played six series for the main lineup.

Over that stretch, he has averaged a 0.88 performance rating, with just one positive game (1.06) against HEROIC at Thunderpick World Championship 2024.

At that tournament, however, the 19-year-old showed some improvement, averaging a 0.99 rating across seven maps played.

Joacb will play his next match for Ninjas in Pyjamas on Friday at Svenska Cupen 2024.

As one of two teams with direct byes to the semifinals of the Swedish tournament, NiP will face off with the winner of Thursday’s Alliance vs EYEBALLERS fixture.

After that event, Ninjas in Pyjamas will have just under two weeks to prepare for Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 European RMR B, where they will face off against G2 Esports in the opening round.

Top Counter-Strike betting sites have Ninjas in Pyjamas priced at $5.00 to place top seven at the RMR B and qualify for the Major.

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The first reports of NiKo getting ready to leave the European Counter-Strike squad started in August, linking the 27-year-old with Team Falcons.

While NiKo’s departure has yet to be officially announced peca’s recent post on X suggests the roster changes are all but confirmed.

“See you soon in Shanghai for the last dance,” he said, hinting that the Shanghai Major will indeed be the last time this roster plays together.

The X post surfaced less than a week after G2 Esports CEO Alban Dechelotte revealed in an interview that the team might be planning for a future without NiKo after the signing of Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa.

“But the fact that we signed malbsMd in July when he’s playing the same positions as NiKo, maybe it’s a bit of an anticipation of what’s to come, and maybe we’re already working on who will replace malbs in his anchor position, and he could move into the positions that NiKo will be leaving at the end of December,” he said.

This is the second time Team Falcons have chased NiKo, who they first approached in 2023 amid an ambitious roster rebuild.

Initially, it was reported he would join the Saudi squad, but NiKo decided to stay with G2 Esports in a surprising twist.

New reports, however, suggest a deal has been finalised and NiKo will leave G2 after four years upon the conclusion of Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.

The tournament is set to kick off on November 30, featuring 24 Counter-Strike teams who will vie for the lion’s share of the US$1.25 million prize pool.

The top esports betting sites have yet to release outright markets for the Major; however, punters can find odds for the upcoming Regional Major Rankings (RMR) events in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

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OG have struggled a lot this season. However, they have found momentum since the benching of Bram “Nexius” Campana, with wins against BIG and Virtus.pro.

HEROIC have also had issues this year, but they turned it around earlier this month with a run to the final four at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 and a silver medal from Elisa Masters Espoo 2024.

With six wins from their last seven outings, HEROIC are in excellent form. They are still a bit shaky, however, having dropped a best-of-five series against ENCE, a map against Legacy, and 10 rounds against Rebels Esports.

Considering HEROIC’s run to the semifinals in Rio, it is not shocking to see the top Counter-Strike betting sites pricing them as favourites. Their odds are far too short, however, and OG should be good enough to pocket at least one map.

These teams will face off for the fourth time since July and the first time since The MongolZ eliminated 3DMax from ESL Pro League Season 20 at the start of September.

Both teams enter the series after topping their respective Thunderpick World Championship 2024 groups and dropping a map against an inferior opponent in the quarterfinals. Looking further back, 3DMAX and The MongolZ share the same 7-3 record over their last 10 series; however, the Asian squad have beaten more formidable opponents over that stretch.

The MongolZ have been competing exclusively in A- and S-Tier tournaments since July, so they are more battle-tested. But considering their recent losses against ENCE and Virtus.pro, it is hard to justify taking their side at the offered odds.

With a better win rate on four maps in the rotation, the French outfit should not be priced so generously.

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In a post on X on Tuesday, the 30-year-old stated he is immediately available to trial with any team, serve as a stand-in, or join a new project, expressing his motivation to give his all and continue his esports career.

Restricted Free Agent and ready to play anytime.
Thanks for sharing pic.twitter.com/qKKs2Tbxtw

— Nathan Schmitt (@NBK) October 29, 2024

The two-time Major champion, who has not been too active in the top tier since the release of Counter-Strike 2, has spent nearly five months as an in-game leader of Revenant Esports, who he joined in June as a part of a major roster rebuild.

However, his stint with the team has not led to any notable accomplishments, as they have been attending mostly lower-division competitions — including the Champion of Champions Tour.

With the recent departure of Adelin “adeX” Nica and NBK- entering free agency, Revenant Esports are now down to three players.

Regardless of his lack of accomplishments over the last year, NBK- stated he is ready to join any Counter-Strike team which intends to be competitive.

In the announcement, he explained that many factors outside the game have prevented him from focusing purely on Counter-Strike, but now he feels ready to compete at the top level.

NBK- has not played for a top-tier team since late 2023, when Team Falcon released their entire lineup and started a rebuild with Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, Pavle “maden” Bo?kovi?, Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia, and Emil “Magisk” Reif.

The French in-game leader has previously played for some of the top European Counter-Strike esports teams, including G2 Esports, Team Vitality, OG, and MOUZ.

Most of his accomplishments came in the earlier years of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, when he won DreamHack Winter 2014 with Team LDLC and DreamHack Open Cluj?-?Napoca 2015 with Team Envy.

NBK- won his last S-Tier title in June 2019, when he led Team Vitality to victory in the Esports Championship Series Season 7 Finals.

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Sitting 17th in the global Counter-Strike world rankings, Astralis are the lowest-rated squad attending BLAST Premier World Final 2024. Their campaign will start with a tough fixture against the world’s No.1 team, Natus Vincere, who have strung together four consecutive finals appearances in S-Tier events.

Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and co. won Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 two weeks ago, dropping just three maps in the process. They were just as convincing on their title run at ESL Pro League Season 20 in September, and it is hard to criticise them for placing second at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 at the end of last month.

Astralis enter this match with just one win from their last five, which includes losses against Team Vitality, Team Spirit, HEROIC, and Virtus.pro. So even at this number, Astralis are not a very appealing choice.

Although historically known for cold starts in tournaments, Natus Vincere haven’t had many issues running hot early this season, and we do not expect that to change in Singapore.

FaZe Clan last met with MOUZ during Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 earlier this month, when they lost 1-2. It was not the best showing, but FaZe won the previous two meetings in April and February, both 2-0.

Finn “karrigan” Andersen and co. have not been too convincing in their recent tournament adventures, as their best two placements since winning IEM Chengdu 2024 in April have been a victory at BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2024 and a top-four finish at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024.

MOUZ reached the grand final in Rio, which explains why they are priced as favourites for this match with the best Counter-Strike betting sites. However, MOUZ have hardly shown more over the last month than last year’s BLAST Premier World Final runners-up, and they have a worse map pool, with a better win rate on just Vertigo and Nuke.

At plus money, FaZe Clan are an easy choice.

G2 Esports defeated Team Liquid 2-1 in September, adding to their reverse sweep from Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 in May and improving the head-to-head record to 3-1. But that is a poor reason to have Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and co. priced as $1.45 favourites for this match.

Team Liquid have not come close to reaching the podium in their last three tournaments, and they did not look too convincing in Rio. In their defence, Liquid have played a few close games over that stretch, so they have shown a pulse.

G2 Esports can win BLAST Premier World Final 2024, but they are not to be trusted as favourites. They are also very vulnerable on Anubis and Ancient — which are Liquid’s best maps — so even though this is G2’s game to lose, it is unlikely to be a one-sided affair.

Team Spirit eliminated Team Vitality from BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024 in June; however, they enter this clash as slight outsiders after some mixed results over the last three months.

Since winning BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2, Team Spirit have exited ESL Pro League Season 20 in fifth-eighth and BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 in fifth-sixth place. They are 2-3 from their last five outings, and although they have not played a match in a month, a long break cannot help them much either.

Team Vitality have not looked too dangerous over the last month either, and they exited Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 in fifth-sixth after a rough run through the group stage. Not only is their form questionable, but the Bees also travel to Singapore without their in-game leader, William “mezii” Merriman, with Audric “JACKZ” Jug standing in.

Even though Team Spirit have a lot more to prove after struggling to make much noise of late, they are an obvious pick over the weakened Team Vitality.

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While not officially confirmed by either party, reliable sources, including Richard Lewis, confirmed that the 22-year-old has been playing with ENCE.

The news surfaced just days after Astralis signed Casper “cadiaN” M?ller as br0’s replacement, a week before the start of BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 and after the roster lock deadline.

By the way, I don't usually bother with roster shit these days but given the circumstances, why not? I'm reliably informed that br0 is trialling with ENCE at the moment. So Astralis are saying he's too ill to compete but he's well enough to trial for people. What an org.

— Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) September 24, 2024

The controversy arose from the fact that Astralis claimed br0 was unfit to play and were granted a roster change on the basis of a medical emergency from BLAST.

This was, however, disproved by br0’s agent, who stated that the Danish player is “fully fine” and fit to play.

Despite the protests from teams and players, BLAST doubled down on the decision, stating that they had been given no reason to question Astralis’ statement.

The story has now reached a new depth after it was revealed that br0 is trialling with ENCE, confirming his agent’s statement that the 22-year-old can play.

ENCE have not officially confirmed they are trialling br0, however, ENCE co-founded Joona “natu” Lepp?nen stated that they have been testing multiple players over the last week in search of a replacement for Goofy.

Astralis debut br0’s replacement

Despite the ongoing controversy, Astralis were allowed to showcase their new lineup for the opening series of BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 against Team Vitality.

It marked cadiaN’s first official fixture since May 30, when he lost to G2 Esports in the Group A lower-bracket final of Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 while playing with Team Liquid.

Unfortunately, his debut did not end as planned.

Heavy loss today and not the debut we hoped for.
Not much to be said except that we're back again tomorrow to turn the tide pic.twitter.com/RvQmB5zXzN

— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) September 25, 2024

The series ended in a comprehensive 0-2 loss for Astralis, who went 0-13 on Inferno and 4-13 on Dust2.

The Danish in-game leader posted a 0.31 performance rating on Inferno — his lowest mark since the transition to Counter-Strike 2.

CadiaN will have a chance to bounce back on Thursday when Astralis clash with Team Spirit in a Group B elimination match.

Top Counter-Strike bookmakers have the Danish lineup priced at $3.81, giving them a 26.1% implied probability of winning the series.

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FaZe Clan have terrorised the Counter-Strike esports scene since October 2023, but they’ve recently lost some of their potency. After a streak of placing top three in nine of 10 consecutive tournaments, FaZe finished ESL Pro League Season 19 and Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 in fifth-eighth and fifth-sixth place, respectively.

In both events, FaZe were eliminated by the eventual finalists, so things aren’t that bad. And considering they are still 14-6 from their last 20 series, there’s no reason for panic.

SAW haven’t been attending many top-rated events since late last year, and even in the tournaments SAW have participated in, they’ve rarely made it further than the first stage. The Portuguese CS squad are also 2-5 from their last seven series, which include defeats against Sangal Esports, RUSH B, SINNERS Esports and Zero Tenacity.

FaZe Clan might not be as dangerous as they were a few months back, but they should crush SAW without any issues.

Natus Vincere haven’t shown much since their victory at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, with two early exits from ESL Pro League Season 19 and Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024.

NaVi’s form seems to be deteriorating, and their recent performances against Complexity, FaZe Clan, Team Spirit, and HEROIC make it very hard to believe they have a realistic chance to win in London.

Astralis found momentum after missing out on the Copenhagen Major, with three semifinal appearances at IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19, and CCT Season 1 Global Finals. But they did not look nearly as good at the recent YaLLa Compass 2024.

Astralis are priced as favourites with the best esports betting sites, which makes sense after what they’ve shown in recent tournaments. But the Danes overperformed in April and May, and they’re not that much better than Natus Vincere.

Team Vitality have emerged as one of the more consistent Counter-Strike teams in Europe. Since their semifinal run at the Major, Vitality have added two silver medals from ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, proving they belong among the elite squads.

Virtus.pro have shown some improvement since April with promising runs at IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19, and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade. But in Dallas, they crumbled and headed home early.

Virtus.pro have had their moments over the last couple of months, but it’s tough to believe they’ll stand a chance against Team Vitality, who rarely struggle against lesser opponents.

G2 Esports accomplished the impossible and won Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 despite playing with a stand-in. They are now in a similar position for BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024, as they’re without Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.

Team Spirit have also found some success since March. They reached the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 playoffs, finished second at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024, and made it all the way to the semifinals in Dallas.

Form-wise, Team Spirit and G2 Esports look fairly equal, and even though G2 will travel to London without their star AWPer, it’s absurd to see a team with so much firepower priced as $4.50 underdogs. Even without m0NESY, G2 Esports should be priced closer to $3.00.

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The MongolZ left a statement at ESL Pro League Season 19, where they finished Group A in second place and came just a few rounds short of reaching the quarterfinals. In Malta, they beat Team Falcons and G2 Esports and nearly made it past Virtus.pro, which is nothing to sneeze at, but it could also be nothing more than a momentary flash of greatness.

HEROIC have also done well for themselves recently, with a semifinal run at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 and a top-six finish at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024. However, over that stretch, HEROIC have also proven to be inconsistent.

Even though HEROIC should win on Thursday, they’re up against a capable squad in a best-of-one clash. That is reason enough to consider backing The MongolZ at outsider odds.

Fnatic enter YaLLa Compass 2024 with a lot to prove but also the potential to do well. Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, who joined Fnatic from Astralis last month, is a massive addition, and he has already left a positive mark in his first few appearances under a new flag.

However, this will also be Fnatic’s toughest challenge since the roster change and one that should show where they stand.

Complexity have done well over the last month, with a semifinal run at ESL Pro League Season 19 and an unfortunate early exit from IEM Dallas 2024. Over that stretch, Complexity had to play some tough teams and looked competitive, but we’re still talking about a small sample size.

Fnatic can surprise Complexity, but we haven’t seen enough from them yet to justify taking their side.

Ninjas in Pyjamas hit a new low last month when they exited RES European Series #4 in the group stage, continuing their streak of worrying results. Astralis are on the complete opposite trajectory.

Even though Astralis are still far from their former glory, the Danes have managed three consecutive semifinal appearances across IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19, and the CCT Season 1 Global Finals, where they competed against some of the top teams in the world and often came out ahead.

Astralis are not untouchable, and they’ve had some close games against weaker opponents lately. But you have to have a very good reason to back Ninjas in Pyjamas, who have, even against second-division teams, looked powerless.

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The opening round of YaLLa Compass 2024 Group A will feature the Danish derby between Astralis and HEROIC. These two last met during PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 European RMR B, when Astralis won 13-7. It was their third consecutive head-to-head victory, which explains the odds.

Still, HEROIC have looked much improved over the last month. They reached the BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 semifinals and placed top six at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 last week. Meanwhile, Astralis reached the semifinals at IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19, and the CCT Season 1 Global Finals.

Results-wise, HEROIC and Astralis look even, and the eye test suggests there is not much to set them apart. Since this is a best-of-one match, taking HEROIC at outsider odds is a very inviting choice.

Complexity made a huge splash at the start of May by reaching the semifinal of ESL Pro League Season 19, then crashed out of Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 in 13th-16th place. In both events, Complexity were eliminated by MOUZ — the top Counter-Strike team in the world.

Eternal Fire, like Complexity, enjoyed a bit of a resurgence last month by winning the CCT Season 1 Global Finals — their first title since June 2023. But that success comes with an asterisk, as the Turkish side didn’t have to face any great teams.

Complexity are priced as slight underdogs with esports betting sites, which doesn’t make much sense. They’ve shown promising performances over the last month and have beaten teams stronger than Eternal Fire.

Despite parting ways with their long-time head coach Fatih “gob b” Dayik, BIG haven’t lost any traction. In fact, they produced their best tournament run of the season last week, placing top eight at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024.

It could be that it was just a honeymoon phase under a new coach, but BIG have shown better performances under a new strategist. FURIA Esports, on the other side, continue to struggle.

The Brazilians have not won a tournament this season, and their most notable accomplishment of 2024 was finishing second at a B-Tier event — CCT Season 2 European Series #4. Something is not clicking in this team, and YaLLa Compass 2024 might be their last chance to show something before the inevitable roster revamp.

BIG are rightly priced as favourites, but even at $1.71 with GG Bet, they’re a bit underrated.

Following a long streak of disappointing results, Fnatic decided on a change and brought in Benjamin “blameF” Bremer from Astralis to help stabilise the roster. Since joining Fnatic, BlameF has played in two tournaments and posted promising numbers, with a 1.27 rating across 13 maps played.

Fnatic still have a long way to go, but they have found a lot more success with the Danish CS veteran. BetBoom Team are also on an upwards trajectory, recently reaching no.17 spot on the global CS ladder.

They have not won a tournament since April but secured top-eight placements at both the CCT Season 1 Global Finals and Season 2 European Series #3. Despite the promising results, BetBoom have not beaten any great teams over the last few weeks, which explains the offered esports betting odds.

This looks like a 50-50 match between two teams slowly getting back on their feet. Expect a close series.

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Sashi Esports put together a new all-Danish Counter-Strike roster last month and have since won ComeOn Nordic Showdown, YaLLa Compass Spring 2024, and HellCup #9. They carried that form into the Elisa Invitational 2024 Spring main stage, beating ENTERPRISE (2-1), ex-Preasy Esports (2-1), and Gaimin Gladiators (2-0).

ENDPOINT haven’t been nearly as successful so far this tournament. They barely made it through the Contenders stage and were just as shaky in the previous stage, ending it with a 3-2 record. However, since the final match of the main stage, ENDPOINT have won three of six games played, beating MOUZ NXT, Sampi, and PARIVISION.

Sashi Esports’ explosive form explains why they’re expected to win on Wednesday, but it’s tough to argue they’re that much stronger than ENDPOINT. At $3.00 with esports betting sites, ENDPOINT are the obvious choice.

BLEED Esports added Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad and Tim “nawwk” Jonasson to their Counter-Strike roster last weekend, marking a significant upgrade on Vladan “VLDN” Radevi? and Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov. While there is still a question of synergy, BLEED Esports look far better with the new additions.

Gaimin Gladiators are in decent form, having won six of their last eight series, yet most of those victories came against lesser teams. It is an improvement for the Gladiators, who had a rough start after the roster came together in April, but they still have a lot to work on.

BLEED Esports are a bit of an enigma with two new members, but they boast far more quality than Gaimin Gladiators, and it should show on Wednesday.

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