G2 Esports is one of a handful of teams that should expect to make the playoffs, and in doing so, the world number five should get their campaign off to a good start with a comprehensive win over 9z.

Team Liquid and Heroic will be one of the best matches of the opening round of the group stage, as Casper “cadiaN” Moller will take on his old side for the first time since making the move to Liquid. Expect a tight contest here.

Lynn Vision got the better of FURIA in the opening stage of PGL Major Copenhagen in a best-of-one series and it is very hard to tip against the Chinese team here, who will be playing in their home country.

There are 126 rankings between MOUZ and TYLOO going into this clash and that is why MOUZ is so short with Counter-Strike 2 betting sites. MOUZ should be kicking off their IEM Chengdu campaign with a good win.

Although FlyQuest puts their eight-game win streak on the line at Cloud9 in their opening match of IEM Chengdu, the level of competition has been much easier than the challenge that Cloud9 presents. FlyQuest will be up against it here and are predicted to struggle.

Virtus.pro will be looking for some redemption at IEM Chengdu after suffering a controversial exit from the Copenhagen Major. Wildcard will have their work cut out for them against the methodical game plan of VP.

Monte have been replaced by Steel Helmet on the eve of the tournament and will face Astralis in the opening round. Astralis should be winning this best-of-one series comfortably.

FaZe Clan may start this match against Nemiga as heavy favourites with esports betting sites, but the world number one is known for being slow starters. FaZe Clan should be winning but don’t be surprised if it is closer than expected.

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Endpoint and MiBR will clash on Saturday in the ThunderPick World Championship 2023 EU Series #2 quarterfinal, marking the first meeting between the two squads since July 2021. According to the latest CS:GO betting odds, MiBR are expected to win, which isn’t surprising.

MiBR have not accomplished much outside of a few regional tournaments this season, but the Brazilians looked solid at ESL Pro League Season 18 last week when they defeated MOUZ (2-1), Monte (2-1) and Evil Geniuses (2-1). Their run ended with a loss against Monte in the Group B lower bracket final; however, MiBR still outperformed the expectations and left a good impression.

Endpoint have not attended the ESL Pro League Season 18 or appeared in a single S-Tier tournament this season. But that wouldn’t mean much had Endpoint at least accomplished something in the few lesser events they competed in. They have not.

Despite being 7-2 from their last nine outings, Endpoint have struggled against lesser opponents (1-2 vs Raptors, 17-19 vs Into the Breach).
MiBR are known to disappoint, but they’ve found some traction recently, which suggests that they should do just fine against the struggling Endpoint.

In June and July, Team Spirit parted ways with Pavel “s1ren” Ogloblin, Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov, and Robert “Patsi” Isyanov. Still, despite losing some of their top players, Spirit have looked solid in recent games.

At the end of August, Spirit won Dunav Party LAN a week later made it through RES Eastern European Masters: Fall 2023 – Open Qualifier #2. Ahead of their clash with 9z, Spirit are 11-1 with just one loss against Zero Tenacity (0-2) from the first RES Eastern European Masters: Fall 2023 open qualifiers.

9z Team looked great before the summer break, but they’ve not shown much since August, with two early exits from TG Masters Fall 2023 (seventh-eighth) and CCT North Europe Series #7 (ninth-16th). They have won the opening three games at Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #2, but 9z Team have only beaten MASONIC, Preasy, and Bad News Eagles, which is hardly something to write home about.

As the latest CS:GO betting odds suggest, Team Spirit should win, and it’s hard to argue with that. The teams have similar map pool, and Spirit have a better win rate on every map 9z Team like to play, except Anubis (57% v 67%). Considering Team Spirit had to play stronger opponents, those figures are far more impressive.

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They managed to outperform Meta, BESTIA, and 00NATION in the final rounds of the qualifier to clinch a spot in the esteemed Counter-Strike event.

ESL Pro League Season 18 commences on August 30, featuring 32 teams vying to win the lion’s share of the $850,000 prize pool.

The South American qualifier was a single elimination event that featured teams such as 00NATION, Fluxo, O PLANO, Age, Meta, and BESTIA. 9z recorded victories over Age, Meta, and BESTIA before advancing to the finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Fluxo ascended the ranks by defeating O PLANO in the round of 16, securing Ancient with a score of 16-12. Fluxo then faced off against 00NATION in the semi-finals, where they lost 0-2. This defeat set the stage for a grand final face-off against 9z.

The Argentinean lineup exhibited top form in their competition against 00NATION, achieving a swift 16-7 win on 00NATION’s map pick, Anubis. The team known as 9INE solidified their victory on Ancient, where they secured a 16-11 win by the end of the match after standing at 6-9 at map half.

9INE’s triumph in the qualifier guaranteed them a place in ESL Pro League Season 18. Only 30 teams have qualified so far, meaning the final two spots are reserved for the top performers in the NC Europe qualifier, scheduled for July 14.

The ESL Pro League Season 18 will take place in Malta, from August 30 to October 1. The current list of teams for the CS:GO event includes:

Group A

• Vitality
• Grayhound
• Movistar Riders
• GamerLegion
• FURIA
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Astralis
• Another Qualified team

Group B

• BIG
• MOUZ
• Heroic
• Monte
• ENCE
• Evil Geniuses
• MIBR
• Another Qualified team

Group C

• ATK
• FaZe
• Apeks
• Natus Vincere
• fnatic
• Rate Atom
• Imperial
• Another Qualified team

Group D

• Virtus.pro
• G2
• Complexity
• Liquid
• 9INE
• Cloud9
• Lynn Vision
• Another Qualified team

Teams that have qualified via the qualifiers

• 9z
• Rooster
• NC Europe Qualifier
• NC Europe Qualifier

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The first series at IEM Rio will feature world no.22 Ninjas in Pyjamas and world no.28 Imperial, both of whom had underwhelming performances at their respective regional BLAST.tv Paris Major RMRs. Over the last two weeks, NiP have won four of their last nine series, with two of those losses coming in best-of-one series. While Imperial have won four of their last six series, including first place at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Americas, they recently failed to qualify for the Paris Major. With both teams similarly placed in the ESL world rankings, we anticipate a close contest.

The second series will pit world no.27 TheMongolz against world no.4 Natus Vincere, who are expected to win with relative ease as overwhelming favourites with CS:GO betting sites. Over the last month, the all-Mongolian roster has dominated the Asian region, qualifying for the Paris Major last weekend. While NaVi qualified for the Paris Major after a strong performance at ESL Pro League Season 17, they were knocked out in the semifinals by FaZe Clan to finish third-fourth. TheMongolz lack the firepower to compete with a powerhouse like NaVi, and we expect the world no.4 to win easily.

The third series of the day will pit world no.19 BIG against world no.10 MOUZ. These two teams met at the IEM Rio Major late last year, with BIG winning 16-7. BIG finished second in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe, losing 1-2 to Cloud9 in the grand final. MOUZ’s international roster finished fifth-eighth at ESL Pro League 17 in late March, qualifying for the Paris Major Challengers Stage last week. BIG have a strong recent record in best-of-one series, whereas MOUZ do not, so we’ll take the underdog at the round handicap.

Heroic and 9INE will compete in the first round of IEM Rio after being the first two teams to qualify for the Paris Major out of the Europe RMR B earlier this week. The Danish squad will be heavy favourites. Heroic, the world no.3, will be the second-ranked roster in Rio, with only FaZe Clan ranked higher. 9INE enter this event as the world no.35, but they are in excellent form, having defeated G2 Esports, BIG, and Team Vitality at the Paris Major RMR. This could be one of the better series of the first round.

Team Vitality and OG enter their first-round matches with recent meetings going either way, with Vitality winning 2-0 at ESL Pro League 17 and OG winning 2-0 at the 2022 BLAST Premier World Final. As no.6 in the world, it’s easy to see why Team Vitality are heavy favourites in this match. They dominated their last two matches, winning 16-5 and 16-9. We’re going with Vitality to win this series with a round handicap of -4.5.

MIBR will open their home tournament in Rio with a big match against world no.5 Cloud9, with the Russian-based organisation coming into IEM Rio on the back of some strong performances in their last four events. Cloud9 won the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe and the BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic, as well as the ESL Pro League 17 and the IEM Dallas Europe Closed Qualifier. Many Brazilian fans will be hoping that MIBR or FURIA can go far in this event, but we don’t expect MIBR to win the first round.

World no.11 FURIA will open their IEM Rio campaign against world no.12 Fnatic, with this best-of-one series expected to be one of the closest on day one. In the first round of the ESL Pro League playoffs, FURIA defeated Fnatic 2-0 (16-13, 16-13) in their only meeting of the tournament. Both teams have qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major in the last week and will enter this match full of confidence.

The final match of the day will pit the highest-ranked team, FaZe Clan, against the lowest-ranked team, 9z, with the world no.2 starting as the day’s shortest favourite with Counter-Strike betting sites. We have no doubt that FaZe will win this series – the only question is by how many rounds.

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According to a report by Dust2 Brasil, the deal between the two CS:GO teams is nearly complete. If all goes as planned, 00Nation will be acquiring 9z’s top AWPer, Lucas “nqz” Soares, while 00 Nation’s star AWPer Santino “try” Rigal will be returning to his previous team 9z. The swap is set to shake up the competitive landscape in the world of esports, as both Karma and Apollo are well-known and highly skilled players.

Nqz has been a key member of 9z’s lineup in the past few months since joining the team in June 2022 from B4 Esports, consistently putting up impressive performances and helping the team achieve numerous victories. He is known for his precise and aggressive playstyle, making him a valuable asset to any team.

Try, on the other hand, has been a staple of 00Nation’s lineup for nearly a year, having joined the team in January 2022, and has been instrumental in the team’s success. He is known for his impeccable aim and strategic thinking, making him a formidable opponent for any team.

The potential move has received mixed reactions from fans and analysts. Some believe that the swap will benefit both teams, with nqz bringing his aggressive playstyle to 00Nation and try bringing his strategic thinking to 9z. Others are skeptical, pointing out that the teams will have to adjust to their new players and may take time to find their footing.

If it occurs, this would mean that nqz has chosen to join 00 Nation instead of Fluxo, who were reported to have also attempted to acquire the player.

After voicing his desire to return to 9z, try reportedly negotiated a move that would also see 00 Nation acquiring nqz. This news comes after 00 Nation had disappointing results at the IEM CS:GO Rio Major, where they suffered three defeats in the Challengers Stage against FURIA, IHC, and Bad News Eagles. In response to these disappointing results, 00 Nation reportedly began discussing potential roster changes.

Although 9z had a decent run in tournaments in Brazil, they were only able to secure two wins during the Challengers Stage, defeating Imperial Esports and Evil Geniuses. However, they lost to GamerLegion, BIG, and Fnatic and were unable to qualify for the next stage of the event.

00 Nation will commence their 2023 season campaign with an appearance at the ESL Pro League Season 17: South American Conference Stage on January 18th. It is expected that the team will make any official announcements prior to the start of the competition.

Overall, the alleged player swap between 00Nation and 9z is a major move that has the potential to shake up the competitive scene in esports. Only time will tell if the swap will pan out, but fans and analysts alike are sure to be closely following the developments as the new season begins.

?For Imperial, the result marks their second defeat in the Challengers Stage, having been dealt a blow by Team Vitality in their first outing. The Brazilian esports team are on the brink of elimination owing to both losses.?

?Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Imperial’s in-game leader who was once known for ending opposition campaigns, is now on the receiving end. The 31-year-old, who has two major titles under his belt, might not advance past the Challengers Stage despite the tournament being held in his home country for the first time. ?

The high chants for the Brazilian franchise at the Riocentro venue soon flamed out as their Argentine counterparts repetitively shut down the local favorites. ?The Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez-led 9z started the game strong and dictated the pace of the Mirage map. Their early-on dominance was attributed to their incredible play on the CT side, where they rode on Imperial’s lapses and ended the first half of the map with a 13-2 record.?

?The second half of the map saw FalleN secure his first ever ace on the B bombsite at a Major with Dual Berettas. This got Imperial some sort of momentum as they drew some blood on 9z in multiple consecutive rounds, which also got the Brazilian fans excited as they cheered on loudly.? ?However, it was already too late as Imperial tried to make a comeback. 9z added three more wins on the map to claim victory with a 16-11 record on Mirage.

9z followed up that performance with a victory over Evil Geniuses in the third round, setting up a clash with BIG on Wednesday. Imperial, however, bowed out of the tournament with a 0-2 defeat to Cloud9.

They earned their Major qualification after bagging a 2-0 victory against ATK during the 2-2 pool of the Americas Regional Major Ranking (RMR).

9z trounced ATK in both Inferno and Dust 2, with particular emphasis on the first map, which was the North American team’s map pick. As a result of the team’s strong defensive setup, 9z only lost two rounds to ATK. The defense enabled every player on the squad to record an impressive number of frags.

By the first half of the Inferno map, the South American team were ahead by an incredible 13-2 score. ATK had no way to recover from the daunting lead, and 9z went on to close the map 16-2.

ATK recorded more kills on Dust 2, but they did not fare much better than on Inferno. The first half of the map saw the South American team win 10 rounds.

9z then displayed a dominant CT side performance and lost only two rounds to their opponents. 9z ended Dust 2 with an impressive 16-7 win and qualified for the Valve-sponsored CS:GO event.

9z’s players, which are a mix of Uruguayan, Chilean, Brazilian, and Argentinian players, gave an amazing performance and notably reached a positive rating across the two maps. However, Franco “dgt” Garcia made the most impact.

The Uruguayan rifler recorded an outstanding 1.93 rating as well as a 45/10 K-D and 101.9 ADR. Dgt also notably won the final clutch that brought the Counter-strike: Global Offensive series to an end.

Lucas “?nqz?” Soares was also a crucial part of 9z’s win and reached a 1.66 rating across the two maps.

ATK’s players, on the other hand, had a significantly low performance rating, with the highest going just past the positive threshold. Ian “motm” Hardy was the most notable player in the squad, with a 1.01 rating.

The 2022 IEM Rio Major will be 9z’s second Challengers stage attendance in a row after qualifying for the PGL Major Antwerp six months ago. Since the tournament, 9z have continued with the same core players, although they previously signed on Nicolás “?buda?” Kramer and nqz to beef up their numbers.

Besides his commendable performance in 9z’s match with ATK, nqz has been an integral part of the team’s previous wins in the Americas RMR. He was responsible for two significant comebacks by the team this week, helping them out of their 7-14 deficit in the match against 00NATION.

The 17-year-old also aided the team in their match against Imperial, where they scored a second victory despite a daunting 2-13 start on Nuke. The team were able to take home the map after pushing Nuke to double overtime.

9z were eventually moved to the 2-1 pool after facing off against Evil Geniuses, but their win against ATK made up for the loss and enabled them to earn their IEM Rio Major spot.

While they lost the match, ATK is not out of the running yet and will have to win their remaining games in the Americas RMR in order to secure a spot in the 2022 IEM Rio Major.

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In the match between both teams, 9z took down the Epitacio “?TACO?” de Melo-led team in the tournament’s first round with a 19-16 score. Early in the match, 00NATION seemed on the way to securing a seamless victory with a 14-7 score on Overpass’ Terrorist side.

9z stepped up in a major way and won eight consecutive rounds on the back of the team’s Brazilian AWPer, Lucas “?nqz?” Soares. The player fired on all cylinders on the map and placed his team in the lead. Nqz ended the match with a total of 30 frags.

00NATION’s TACO and Marcelo “coldzera” David attempted to delay 9z’s win in Overpass’ first match by pushing the game into overtime. Their efforts, however, were not enough to stop the franchise from powering through and finishing the squad off.

Besides 00NATION’s previously large gap, the match between both teams would not be considered an upset. 9z’s recent victory is especially important to the team, mainly because 00NATION were their direct opposition in the team’s struggle to secure a spot among the six IEM Rio Major slots available in the 16-team Americas RMR.

Due to the minimal number of tickets to the IEM Rio Major, 00NATION’s defeat on the first day of the Americas RMR placed them in a tough spot. No 00NATION player qualified for the first Valve-sponsored event this year, the PGL Antwerp Major. As a result, the lineup missing out on the IEM Rio Major would deal a crucial blow to the players, particularly TACO and coldzera, who previously won Majors.

In order to bounce back from the 9z loss and earn a position to participate in the IEM Rio Major, the team will need to win three consecutive matches. 00NATION could also qualify by reaching a 3-2 score and participating in the sixth-place decider.

The Americas RMR is currently being held in Stockholm, Sweden, and is on its first day of competition. Several crowd favorites like Imperial, Complexity, FURIA, Evil Geniuses and paiN recorded wins on the first day of the tournament.

The teams are currently in the 1-0 pool, with MIBR in a lead after they faced off against O PLANO. Team Spirit will also play against TeamOne in the last round 1 match. The next round will reportedly take place shortly after.

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In a TwitLonger tweet, the player stated that he is open to new opportunities/collaborations and wants to remain competing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Presently, he is hoping to secure a team in which he can join and serve in a number of roles, including lurker, in-game leader, and AWP. He also mentioned that he can function in any region, including Europe and North America without any limitations. This is primarily because he speaks three languages: Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

Taking to his social media, the 25 years old Argentinian player did not reveal much about his departure from the team. Although, he expressed his profound gratitude to his team members, and wished them well in all their endeavors. He also stated that he would share more details about his exit subsequently in a stream.

“I will surely explain more on my stream about my exit and what I am looking for in my future since it is much easier for me to express myself and tell you things in words and not in writing.”

He added that:

“It is important that you know that it was a mutual agreement not to continue playing in 9z, I am very grateful to the guys on the team, they are all great people, great teammates, and good players and I wish them the best in everything they personally propose, that I want so much.”

In January 2022, Luken returned to CS:GO after a two-year absence to join the South American team, 9z as a substitute for the exiting teenage star Santino “try” Rigal. Despite some obvious great performances and successes, he will not be staying with the team.

Regardless of his brief time with the team, Luken qualified for the PGL Antwerp Major Challengers Stage. While in 9z he majorly played AWP and has earned an average of 1.11 rating, with 1.04 impact and 0.58 deaths per round, as the team’s AWPer in 2022, according to HLTV.

Luken is almost certain to find a new team shortly. Several teams, particularly those from South America, reshuffle after each Major Championship in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

9z Team – Argentina’s top-tier esports organization

The Argentinian top-tier esports team, 9z was founded by Francisco ‘Frankkaster’ Postiglione, one of the nation’s most well-known content creators.

Hence, using experience and catering to the demands of players, they have created one of the best player communities in a short amount of time. The squad has over ten years of esports expertise. The ultimate purpose of the 9z Team is to help esports players advance to the next level, through grooming and professional coaching.

Due to its team accomplishments as well as reasonably high-quality production, the 9z Team takes the lead in Argentinian esports. The 9z Tean is most likely going to continue to grow and develop.
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Astralis vs IHV CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

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The no.9 ranked team in the world, Astralis, will take on the lowest ranked team in the Challengers Stage being the no.52 ranked team in the world, IHC.

Astralis will be heavy favourites to win this best-of-one and there is no reason for them not to be. Their most recent form coming out of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown where they finished 2nd to ENCE, going down 2-1 in the grand final. Astralis have had some good series results without really converting them into good event results, so the Danes will be hoping that they can get through the Challengers Stage and perform at the Main Event.

IHC will be the lowest ranked team in the Challengers Stage and it’s quite difficult finding any team in this event that they will be able to get a victory over. The Mongolian roster breezed through the Asian RM winning both of their series 2-0 to make this event, but the teams they beat were both ranked 51 and 58 in the world rankings. This is a massive step up for the Asian qualifiers and we expect them to struggle against a team like Astralis.

We suggest taking the favourites in the rounds line market, with Astralis currently at $1.90 with GG Bet at the -6.5 in the rounds line handicap.

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The no.23 ranked team in the world, MiBR, will take on the no.10 ranked team in the world, Outsiders, in what sets up to be one of the more intriguing match ups of the round one matches.

MiBR finished second in the Americas RMR losing to their Brazilian counterparts FURIA 0-2 in the final after going 3-0 through the Swiss rounds beforehand. Since qualifying for this event they also finished 3rd-4th in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown where they were beaten 0-2 by paiN Gaming who eventually won the event. MiBR will be one of the most dangerous team in the PGL Major that sits outside of the top 20.

Outsiders have been quite underwhelming over the past month. They barely scraped into the PGL Major finishing in the last qualifying spot in the Europe RMR and could only manage a 17th-20th place finish at ESL Pro League 15. Even though they are ranked in the top 10 in the world, there is reason to think that they could continue to struggle in the Challengers Stage with their form slump if it is to continue.

MiBR will be the underdog in this match, but we believe the bookmakers could have got this one wrong as there is not a whole lot between these two rosters. We will be taking the underdogs, MiBR, in the match betting market, currently at $2.75 to win with GG Bet.

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ENCE will begin the PGL Major in Antwerp as one of the hottest teams in Europe since finishing 2nd at ESL Pro League 15 and winning the most recent event in the Europe BLAST Premier Spring Showdown a week ago. They have rocketed up the rankings to no.4 in the world and with a win at the PGL Major they could very easily be the no.1 ranked team in the world, which would be very deserved considering their start to 2022.

9z is another team that is very much in-form coming into the PGL Major as they have won 10 of their last 14 series over the last month. They also won the South American Open Qualifier for IEM Dallas 2022 and then went on to finish 3rd in the Closed Qualifier. 9z is a team that no one should treat lightly because they have are a team in very good form.

ENCE will be looking to get through the Challengers Stage relatively easy and to do that they will be looking for a statement win first up. We suggest taking ENCE at the rounds line handicap of -6.5, currently $2 with GG Bet.

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