IEM Katowice 2025 Play-In betting picks – Wednesday, January 29

Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025 begins on Wednesday, January 29, with the first eight Play-In fixtures, where 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams will vie for eight group stage tickets. Here are our Counter-Strike 2 betting picks for the opening games, with esports odds courtesy of the top bookmakers in South Korea.

3DMAX had a solid run at the end of 2024 with a third-place finish at Thunderpick World Championship 2024, but they failed to perform at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and, more recently, BLAST Bounty Spring 2025.

FlyQuest have had a very similar experience. They won ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta 2024 in October but suffered early eliminations from the Shanghai Major and BLAST Bounty Spring.

Based on recent results, there is very little to separate 3DMAX and FlyQuest; however, the Australian outfit have looked much cleaner since the arrival of Iulian “regali” Harj?u, who could be the difference-maker in this match.

At best, this match should be priced at even money. Take FlyQuest at outsider odds.

PaiN Gaming had an incredible run at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025. They made it through the qualifiers with wins against GamerLegion and FaZe Clan and nearly defeated Natus Vincere in the quarterfinals. The Brazilians have been on the rise for a while now, but it appears the arrival of David “dav1deuS” Tapia has helped them reach new heights.

Virtus.pro did not have as good of a run at BLAST Bounty, where they exited in the first round with a 0-2 loss against Vitality. On a more positive note, the newest signing, Timur “FL4MUS” Maryev, has quickly adapted to his new home, posting a 1.11 performance rating in Denmark.

PaiN Gaming are in better shape than Virtus.pro, but the Russian squad should not be underestimated with the newly acquired firepower. This should be a close game.

The return of Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz did not help Astralis make a splash at BLAST Bounty earlier this month, as they were eliminated in the round of 16. In their defence, Astralis had to play a strong Natus Vincere side, so the Danes deserve more time to prove just how good they can be.

MIBR exited the BLAST event in the first round, marking another early tournament elimination for the Brazilian outfit. They had a good run at the Shanghai Major and, in September, placed top four in ESL Pro League Season 20. But if we zoom out, MIBR have been very volatile.

Astralis have a lot to prove, but they are lucky to catch MIBR in bad form, which should help them bounce back after a tough start to the year.

SAW finished 2024 with a gold medal from ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 and a 9th-11th finish at the Perfect World Shanghai Major. But the departure of Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing and Michel “ewjerkz” Magalh?es was noticeable when SAW did not make it past the first round at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025.

GamerLegion, like SAW, exited the BLAST event in the first round, but they put up a solid fight against the surging paiN Gaming.

The top Counter-Strike 2 betting sites have GamerLegion priced as slight favourites, which sounds fair. SAW do not look as good since the departure of two players and should not pose a threat to GamerLegion.

Besides their miracle run at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 American RMR and a few regional tournament titles, Wildcard did not accomplish much in 2024. This did not change at the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 Closed Qualifier, where they lost to Astralis in the first round.

BIG, like Wildcard, shocked the world with their perfect run at the RMR, but they did not win a single tournament in 2024. Despite their lack of success, BIG are priced as favourites for this match.

The German squad have potential, but until they start performing, that means nothing. Wildcard are an obvious choice at outsider odds with William Hill

Compexity have not looked the same since the departure of Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and Ricky “floppy” Kemery. Now lacking firepower, Complexity are as toothless as ever, and their performance against Virtus.pro at BLAST Bounty Spring proved as much.

Eternal Fire had a Cinderella run at the BLAST tournament, largely thanks to their superior firepower, which was enough to best the world’s elite teams. While they overperformed, the Turkish outfit should not struggle against Complexity.

The final match of the day at the IEM Katowice 2025 Play-In stage is a rematch from the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 Closed Qualifier, where HEROIC bested Liquid in three maps. HEROIC completed the reverse sweep largely thanks to álvaro “SunPayus” García, who posted a 1.32 performance rating.

Unfortunately, HEROIC did not make it past the first round of the LAN finals, where they had to play without Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich. The Belarusian player is expected to feature in Poland, however, bringing HEROIC back to full strength.

Despite beating Liquid last time out, HEROIC are underdogs for the rematch. While HEROIC have arguably overperformed, Liquid are not good enough to be priced at this number.

Esports betting tips