?F4Q and G2 Esports already met on Friday, September 10, when G2 won (2-1), albeit they did drop the ball on Bind (9-13). Still, the European side secured a fairly commanding victory, dropping no more than eight rounds across the remaining two maps – Ascent (13-5) and Haven (13-8).

Since F4Q stole one map off G2 just a few days back, it would be fair to assume that they’ll be just as convincing on Tuesday; however, we would have to disagree. The opening rounds of any esports tournament usually present a higher possibility of an upset win, mainly because those games are underdogs’ best chance to surprise the favourites.

G2 weren’t ready for F4Q on Friday, but now they should have a better idea of how to approach this bout. Individual quality is on the side of G2 Esports, and we expect that to show on Tuesday.

For a higher payout, G2 Esports to win both maps with at least six rounds to spare (-5.5 round handicap) at $1.84 is worth a look.

?Crazy Raccoon got humiliated by Gambit Esports on Saturday when the Russians came extremely close to a perfect game. Gambit won the match with 2-0, dropping only one round per map on Bind (13-1) and Icebox (13-1).

As crazy as that result might seem, it wasn’t that surprising, considering Gambit Esports are one of the main favourites to win the whole thing, while Crazy Raccoon barely made it to Berlin as Japan’s second seed. Havan Liberty suffered a similar fate in their opening match when they lost against 100 Thieves (3-13, 6-13) and while they held on better than Crazy Raccoon, Havan Liberty also faced a weaker team.

Based on those results, it’s hard to say which team is stronger; still, we have to give Crazy Raccoon the benefit of the doubt and trust them to bounce back.

Although not a particularly strong team, Crazy Raccoon came back from 0-2 down to steal two maps off ZETA DIVISION in the VCT Stage 3 Challengers finals (2-3), which is nothing to sneeze at. Their round one result is not too inspiring, but we have more faith in the Japanese side to win one map than Havan Liberty winning it 2-0.

The post VCT 2021 Stage 3 Masters predictions – Tuesday, September 14 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?The second day of action at VALORANT Champions Tour 2021 Stage 3 Masters Berlin will serve us with three one-sided affairs, starting with a clash between Korea’s top seed, Vision Strikers, and the Southeast Asia Challengers runners-up, Paper Rex.

Esports betting sites are pricing the teams based on the perceived strength of their respective regions, which explains why Paper Rex are heavy outsiders. Still, the last time we saw Southeast Asian teams play was in Reykjavik, where X10 Esports showed that while SEA teams lack talent, they can use interesting tactics and innovative team compositions.

Like their League of Legends rosters, SEA Valorant squads also like to play with a very fast tempo, which can catch some slower teams off guard. While all that should work in Paper Rex’s favour, it’s hard to find a solid reason to side with them over Vision Strikers, who are one of the tournament’s dark horses.

?Group C looks very cut and dried, with 100 Thieves and Gambit Esports the two clear favourites to advance to the playoffs. Therefore it makes a lot of sense for esports bookmakers to price Gambit as short favourites for their meeting with Crazy Raccoon.

The Japanese squad placed ninth-10th in Reykjavik in May and have since moved to a seven-man roster to introduce more flexibility. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve improved. The firepower is there, but Racoon lack in execution, particularly in attack.

Gambit Esports are one of the top three teams at the tournament, and they shouldn’t be losing games like this one. The quality gap is large enough to say that the Russians won’t drop more than a few rounds across both maps.

?Team Envy are rightly the bookies’ favourite to qualify from Group B. However, while Envy tower above KRU Esports, ZETA DIVISION, and Keyd Stars as the most stacked roster, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re untouchable.

As the Valorant betting odds suggest, Envy should stomp Keyd Stars, but the latter have a win condition with Olavo “heat” Marcelo, who is the type of player that can win you games. Envy should have a solid response to heat with Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker as their star duelist, but it’s up to debate who of the two is a better player.

Everything points to an easy win for Envy, but a lot will come down to which team shows up on the day. While Envy to win in straight sets at $1.59 seems like the best choice, there is more value on Keyd Stars with a map handicap.

The post VCT 2021 Stage 3 Masters Berlin predictions – Saturday, September 11 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?SuperMassive Blaze and Acend have been powerhouses in their respective regions. Although you could argue that this tag doesn’t necessarily stick to Acend, it certainly does for SuperMassive, who have blitzed through the Turkish Challengers.

What’s more, the Turks nearly won the EMEA tournament in August, where they haven’t lost a single map until the upper bracket finals (2-1 against Acend). Unfortunately, they had to admit defeat to the current second-favourites to win Masters Berlin, Gambit Esports (1-3), in the grand finals.
SuperMassive Blaze have proven their worth, and while most of their success has come online, there is nothing that would suggest they can’t be as dominant on LAN.

The esports bookmakers have made SuperMassive Blaze $2.62 underdogs for this bout, which makes no sense, and it seems like it mostly has to do with the narrative that Melih “pAura” Karaduran and his crew won’t do well offline. We don’t believe that will be the case and would even argue that SuperMassive can start their quest for the title with a 2-0 sweep ($4.50 at GG Bet).

?G2 Esports have done enough on the year to be considered as a solid team, but they’re not one of Europe’s top representatives in Berlin. G2 haven’t won a single A-Tier tournament since September 2020, and have only recently started making noise with a runner-up finish at VCT 2021 Europe Stage 3 Challengers 1 and a fourth-place finish at the Challengers Playoffs.

Much of G2 Esports’s success of late is thanks to ?ygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas and Auni “AvovA” Chahade, who can carry their team to victory. However, while we can agree that G2 are stronger than F4Q – largely because they hail from a stronger region – we don’t quite agree with the offered betting odds.

At $5.58, F4Q’s implied probability of winning is at only 17.9%, which is way too low. G2 Esports have the talent, but they aren’t very consistent and have underperformed against much weaker opponents before, so there is a chance we might see an upset on Friday. A smaller position on F4Q isn’t a terrible choice, but we will play it safe and take the Koreans with a map handicap.

?As the latest VALORANT betting odds suggest, 100 Thieves shouldn’t struggle against Havan Liberty, and we must agree. Even though 100 Thieves are down on the fourth line of title betting at $5.50, they’re still one of the top North American teams and a strong candidate for a top-three finish.

Domestically, 100 Thieves have achieved a lot recently, with a bronze from Stage 3 Challengers 1 and a runner-up finish at the finals in Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs, but on both occasions they fell short against Sentinels, who 100T have been playing second fiddle to throughout the entire season. Similarly, Havan Liberty are one of the top teams in their region, but we have to keep in mind that the competition in NA is much stronger than in Brazil.

Havan Liberty have done well domestically, but they’re not at the level of 100T, who should secure an effortless 2-0 sweep. If your bookmaker offers a kill handicap, we would recommend a bet on -4.5 kills on 100 Thieves on both maps.

The post VCT 2021 Stage 3 Masters Berlin betting picks – Friday, September 10 appeared first on Esport Bet.