RENEGADES vs ORDER CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

RENEGADES vs ORDER ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – OCEANIA BETTING PREVIEW

The betting is rather lopsided for Wednesday’s clash between Renegades and ORDER in the opening round of ESL One: Road to Rio Oceanic qualifiers.

Renegades have a stand-in coach in Torbj?rn “mithR” Nyborg, who left North at the start of February. Since then, the Danish-Norwegian pro has appeared in a couple of CS:GO tournaments as a player and also coached Apeks at the Europe Minor Championship – Rio 2020: Closed Qualifier. Besides mithR replacing Oliver “DickStacy” Tierney at the helm, the Renegades roster has remained unchanged since they signed Jordan “Hatz” Bejic in January 2020.

Renegades have seen a fair amount of success already in 2020. They placed first at the Intel Extreme Masters XIV World Championship: Oceanic Qualifier, where they lost only one map throughout the whole tournament. Chris “dexter” Nong and co. failed to make much noise in Katowice, however, as they finished last following a pair of 0-2 defeats against Fnatic and FaZe Clan. Renegades also placed second at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020 and in March made it through Asia Minor Championship – Rio 2020: Oceanic Closed Qualifier while dropping only two maps.

Although the current version of Renegades can hardly compare to the squad that was acquired by 100 Thieves back in October, this roster still holds a lot of potential for growth. They are now the second-best Australian CS:GO team, behind only 100T, and sit 29th in the global rankings.

ORDER are ranked 65th in the world and fourth in Australia, behind AVANT and above Chiefs Esports Club. Unlike Renegades, who have kept their roster intact since January, they have made a few changes in recent months with the arrival of Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland, Jireh “J1rah” Youakim and coach Tyler “tucks” Reilly.

ORDER have looked solid with those new additions on board, as they picked up a silver medal at the Asia Minor Championship – Rio 2020: Oceanic Closed Qualifier and gold at ESEA Season 33: Premier Division – Australia. They also made it to the finals of ESL ANZ Champs Season 10, where they ended up losing 0-3 to AVANT.

Much of ORDER’s recent success is due to the performances of AWPer Alistair “aliStair” Johnston, who is averaging a 1.20 overall, 73.3% KAST and 1.26 impact ratings across the last three months. It’s worth noting, however, that in ORDER’s matches against Chiefs and Bantz at ESEA MDL Season 34 Australia, it was Karlo “USTILO” Pivac who starred with a 1.53 rating across both fixtures.

RENEGADES vs ORDER ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – OCEANIA BETTING PREDICTIONS

If this was a LAN tournament, we would back Renegades without a second thought. Since this bout will be played online, however, siding with the favourites becomes much less appealing.

These two sides last met at the Asia Minor Championship – Rio 2020: Oceanic Closed Qualifier at the start of March. ORDER started well in that clash and won the first map 16-14, but they fell apart on Nuke (9-16) and Dust II (7-16) to go down in a reverse sweep.

The biggest factor that we need to consider here is that Renegades have not played a single competitive match since then. Rhythm and momentum are huge factors in online play, so it’s difficult to side with a team that have not played in two months. What’s more, ORDER hold a better record on four out of the six maps these two sides usually play on.

There is a lot to be said for backing to outsiders to win outright, but we will play it safe and settle for the +1.5 map handicap at decent odds. Since ORDER look to be in great shape, they should have no issues stealing a map from the favourites.

GAMBIT YOUNGSTERS VS TEAM SPIRIT CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

GAMBIT YOUNGSTERS VS TEAM SPIRIT ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – CIS BETTING PREVIEW

Gambit Youngsters and Team Spirit will clash for the fourth time this year when they meet this Thursday in the opening fixture of Group A at the ESL One: Road to Rio CIS tournament.

Youngsters have lost all of their previous three meetings with Team Spirit, so the outlook is rather bleak. The most recent of those fixtures came in February at the FLASHPOINT Season 1: European Qualifier, where Spirit secured a clean sweep.

Gambit Youngsters have looked solid at LOOT.BET/CS Season 6, where they secured a third-place finish and a spot in the playoffs with strong performances against SMASH (2-1), Endpoint (2-0) and Nordavind (2-0). They also took a swing at #HomeSweetHome: Week 2 but without much success, as they lost their opening two fixtures against Copenhagen Flames (6-16) and SKADE (1-2) to wind up in last place.

While Youngsters were scrapping for wins here and there, Spirit were putting together a very good start to the year. They claimed the SECTOR: MOSTBET Season 1 title in January, followed up with a gold medal at WESG 2019 Russia at the end of February, ran second at #HomeSweetHome Week 1 earlier this month, and enjoyed successful qualifying runs for FLASHPOINT Season 1, ESL Rio 2020 and DreamHack Spring Masters 2020.

The only flat spot for Team Spirit so far this year was their disappointing 13th-15th finish at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe. They look to be in great shape overall and well on track to break into the top 20 in the CS:GO esports world rankings.

GAMBIT YOUNGSTERS VS TEAM SPIRIT ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – CIS BETTING PREDICTIONS

Team Spirit enter this bout as firm favourites due to their 3-0 head-to-head record, superior form and higher ranking. That advantage is even greater when you compare the map pools.

Gambit Youngsters will look to ban Nuke, while Spirit will almost certainly ban Vertigo. That leaves us with Mirage and Dust2 as the two most likely maps, and Spirit hold a significantly higher win rate (72%-55% and 75%-57% respectively) on both. Spirit also have the edge on Inferno (65%-64%) and Train (67%-56%), whereas Gambit’s 78% win rate on Overpass is inflated due to their meetings with some weaker sides.

All things point in Team Spirit’s favour. While Gambit Youngsters are not a team anyone should ignore, we have to side with Spirit to start their Road to Rio campaign with a clean sweep.

NINJAS IN PYJAMAS vs ENCE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

NINJAS IN PYJAMAS vs ENCE ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREVIEW

ENCE and Ninjas in Pyjamas will meet in the opening fixture of Week 2 at ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe in what promises to be a thrilling bout between two Nordic rivals.

It’s been a while since ENCE were considered a major threat in the CS:GO esports scene. The Finns were one of the top five teams in the world rankings for most of 2019, they have endured a steady decline since replacing Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen with Mikka “suNny” Kemppi as in-game leader back in September.

Some of ENCE’s best results since the that roster switch include top-six finishes at ESL One: New York 2019 and Intel Extreme Masters XIV – Beijing and a silver medal at CS:GO Asia Championships 2019. Outside of that, they have left a lot to be desired.

ENCE’s decay has become even more obvious since the turn of the year. They failed to qualify for IEM Katowice, finished last at both ICE Challenge 2020 and DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020, and ended their ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe venture in the group stage with a 1-4 record.

Despite all their struggles, however, ENCE kicked off their ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe campaign with an upset win over Fnatic. Although both maps went down to the wire (16-14, 16-13), it was a huge achievement for a team that had not beaten a top-10 side since their win over mousesports at last year’s CS:GO Asia Championships.

While ENCE deserve plenty of praise for taking down the ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe champions, they needed to back it up with a strong display against Team Heretics in their second fixture of the group stage. But sunNy and company managed to win only 11 rounds against France’s third-ranked side, so it is hard to gauge their form leading up to Tuesday’s clash.

Ninjas in Pyjamas started their Road to Rio with a 2-1 reverse-sweep against Team Vitality, who edged a win on Overpass (16-14) but deteriorated on Nuke (12-16) and Inferno (4-16). Besides the first map, it was a very one-sided fixture.

Although NiP are some way off the top teams, it’s hard not to be excited about this young roster. They are playing great CS:GO and although they might lack the firepower of the big boys in the scene, their strategy is on point. With Bj?rn “THREATH” Pers at the helm, this squad is bound to develop and contest titles at some of the biggest CS:GO esports tournaments.

NINJAS IN PYJAMAS vs ENCE ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREDICTIONS

Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE last met in late March at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe. The Finns came out ahead (2-1) with a 36-34 aggregate round score on that occasion, which suggests these two sides match up nicely.

This bout can go either way. While ENCE managed to edge out Fnatic last week, Ninjas in Pyjamas have looked the more impressive side. They might need some more time to develop before they can make a dint in the big events, but their approach to games is very tactical and clean.

ENCE’s loss to Heretics showed they cannot be trusted, so we are backing Ninjas in Pyjamas to come out ahead.

COPENHAGEN FLAMES vs C0NTACT GAMING CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

COPENHAGEN FLAMES vs C0NTACT GAMING ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREVIEW

The second day of Week 1 matches at ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe will see Copenhagen Flames take on c0ntact Gaming in their second meeting since March.

Currently 46th in the CS:GO esports world rankings, Copenhagen Flames have climbed 15 spots since mid-April. That resurgence comes after they plummeted out of the top 30 in the first quarter of the year due to their poor record at ESEA Season 33: Advanced Division – Europe: Regular Season, where they had to forfeit all their matches in order to prepare for FLASHPOINT Season 1.

Despite that sacrifice, Copenhagen’s venture into FLASHPOINT failed to bear any fruits. They lost all four matches played, while their only map win of the series came in a 1-2 defeat to the eventual champions, MAD Lions.

Shortly after their appearance at FLASHPOINT, Copenhagen Flames lost their star player in René “TeSeS” Madsen. His move to Heroic left a huge void in the Flames roster, which they filled with rookie player Jonas “Queenix” Dideriksen.

Copenhagen have won three matches and lost two since that change. At #HomeSweetHome: Week 2, they picked up a 16-6 win against Gambit Youngsters, lost to Endpoint (0-2), defeated SKADE (2-0) and Team Spirit (2-1), then fell flat against eventual champions BIG (0-2) in the semi-finals.

The new-look c0ntact Gaming’s only competitive appearance since buying the ex-CR4ZY roster came at FLASHPOINT. There, the European mix defeated Copenhagen Flames (2-0) and lost to both HAVU (1-2) and MAD Lions (0-2) to finish the first phase in third place in Group A.

In the second phase of the tournament, c0ntact bounced back with a win against FunPlus Phoenix (2-1) but dropped the ball against MAD Lions (0-2) and later suffered a 1-2 loss to FunPlus Phoenix. Thus, they ended their FLASHPOINT venture in ninth place, five points short of reaching the playoffs.

COPENHAGEN FLAMES vs C0NTACT GAMING ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREDICTIONS

The betting odds suggest c0ntact should have this one in the bag. However, their form of late is none too inspiring.

In their most recent clash with MAD Lions, four of c0ntact’s members played well. The exception was Luka “emi” Vukovi?, who ended the series with a 0.78 rating. That is not an isolated case, as emi is averaging a disastrous 0.83 rating, 0.7 DPR and only 0.51 KPR across his last 15 maps played.

No matter which way you slice it, emi is holding his team back. He might still be a solid in-game leader, but he needs to do more with a gun in his hands if c0ntact are to achieve anything of note.

Although the odds favour c0ntact, it is hard to trust them. The online format tends to suit the underdogs, so there could be real value in backing Copenhagen to avenge their recent defeat at FLASHPOINT.

GEN.G vs 100 THIEVES CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

GEN.G vs 100 THIEVES ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – NORTH AMERICA BETTING PREVIEW

The North American section of ESL One: Road to Rio will kick off this Wednesday as Gen.G and 100 Thieves lock horns in the opening fixture of Group A.

Gen.G are hoping to make up for a disappointing exit at FLASHPOINT, where they secured a spot in the playoffs but failed to make it far. While Damian “daps” Steele and co. bounced back from their 0-2 loss against Cloud9 in the upper bracket quarter-finals with a clean sweep of FunPlus Phoenix, they went down to 1-2 against an in-form HAVU outfit in the second round of the lower bracket.

While Gen.G would be annoyed to have missed the top four at FLASHPOINT, this young squad has already shown flashes of greatness since coming together in December. They won the DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 title in February, so they should fancy their chances at ESL One: Road to Rio – North America. What’s more, the recent CS:GO update that nerfed Krieg should, in theory, work in favour of Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand, who can return to using his beloved M4A4 gun, but it’s hard to say whether this team really need more firepower to succeed.

100 Thieves enter Wednesday’s bout with somewhat questionable form. They failed to make much noise at ESL Pro League Season 11: North America, where Aaron “AZR” Ward and his crew edged past Swole Patrol (2-1) and Evil Genuises (2-1) but lost to Team Liquid (0-2), MiBR (0-2) and FURIA (1-2) to finish the tournament in fifth place.

Although 100 Thieves are ninth in the CS:GO esports world rankings, their recent showings are less than inspiring. This will be their first match in over three weeks, while their 41.7% win rate over the past three months is a big concern.

Perhaps those numbers won’t mean much here, as this tournament will be played online. It’s also worth noting that 100 Thieves boast one of the best coaches in the scene in Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunovi?, who should do a fine job in preparing his squad to face Gen.G.

GEN.G vs 100 THIEVES ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – NORTH AMERICA BETTING PREDICTIONS

100 Thieves are heavy favourites, as expected, but we would not underestimate Gen.G. While daps and his crew looked shaky at FLASHPOINT, there are not a lot of positives we can take from 100T’s ESL Pro League venture either.

What’s more, these two sides match up nicely due to their similar map pools. We can expect bans on Vertigo and Overpass, which leaves Mirage, Dust II, Nuke, Train and Inferno open. Gen.G boast with a higher win percentage on all five of those maps, meaning this match could be much closer than the odds suggest.

While 100 Thieves should come out ahead due to their superior quality and stronger synergy, we don’t expect to see a clean sweep in this online bout. Esports bookmakers are offering generous odds on a three-map contest, and we recommend taking them.