By eliminating the Bees, G2 Esports are guaranteed their fourth top-two finish in an S-Tier tournament just a week after reaching the semifinals at ESL Pro League Season 20.

The fixture marked the first clash between G2 Esports and Team Vitality since BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, when G2 Esports still fielded Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi?.

Now, with a new lineup and largely thanks to the newest member Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, G2 got their revenge.

NiKo Leads G2 Esports to Victory

The BLAST Premier: Fall Final semifinal series kicked off on G2 Esports’ pick of Anubis, yet despite choosing the map, G2 failed to get over the finish line and lost 9-13.

That also marked Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov’s first map of a 29-map streak in which he failed to post a positive rating. Still, despite the slow start for the Russian AWPer, he managed to pick up the pace in the final two.

The series moved to Vitality’s map pick, Dust2, which started close, entering half-time with a narrow 7-5 lead for G2.

Vitality responded on CT-side, winning the first two rounds, but could not find a response for NiKo, m0NESY, and malbsMd, who carried their side to victory with seven straight rounds to close the map.

After a back-and-forth start, the series moved to the deciding map �C Mirage, which continued the theme of the semifinal.

Team Vitality started strong, and on the back of Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, took three of the first four rounds but quickly lost momentum and entered the half-time 5-7 down.

Not to repeat the situation from Dust2, Vitality put their foot on the gas and secured seven of the first nine rounds on CT-side, setting themselves up for success.

But even after reaching a comfortable 12-9 lead Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and co. failed to close out the series.

Despite their best attempts, Vitality could not get the final map which would take them to the grand final.

They were unable to stop NiKo, who put on a masterful display and dragged his side into overtime, where a closely contested six maps ended in a well-deserved 16-14 victory for G2.

The Bosnian Counter-Strike superstar ended the series with a 1.47 performance rating, closely followed by malbsMd at 1.43.

G2 Esports are set to face Natus Vincere on Sunday, September 29. Counter-Strike betting sites have NiKo and co. priced as $2.54 underdogs for the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 grand final.

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The new Copenhagen Wolves Counter-Strike division has slowly come together over the last week. But it wasn’t until Tuesday, January 2, that it got finalised with the signing of trace as a new head coach.

As one of the more experienced CS coaches, trace will be in charge of leading a lineup headlined by Hubert “szejn” ?wiat?y, and work closely with Copenhagen Wolves’ in-game leader Victor “vigg0” Bisgaard, whom trace will reunite with from his time at Astralis Talent.

Trace is a retired Counter-Strike player who started his esports career in 2007. Over the next 14 years, the Dane has played for several high-profile Counter-Strike squads, including SK Gaming and Fnatic, before transitioning to coaching with Team Singularity in 2021.

Following a short stint with Singularity, trace joined Lyngby Vikings and spent the last month of 2021 as a head coach of ECSTATIC before joining Astralis’ academy division. In March 2022, trace got promoted to the main lineup as a replacement for Alexander “ave” Holdt and, after a rough start, found some success at the top level.

With Astralis, trace claimed silver medals from BLAST Premier: Spring European Showdown 2022 and Pinnacle Cup Championship and made the semifinals of Roobet Cup 2022 and Intel Extreme Masters XVII �C Cologne. Unfortunately, internal turmoil and disappointing results in the second half of 2022 led to trace’s departure from Astralis.

The Danish coach found a new home with Into the Breach in August 2023 but left two months later by mutual agreement.

Trace joins the iconic Danish esports brand, which was revived by Jared “Outback” Habib in late December. While the team doesn’t have an official match on their schedule yet, the Copenhagen Wolves are expected to debut in the upcoming European Open Qualifiers for the Copenhagen Regional Major Rankings tournament, set to kick off on January 8.

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Featuring Hubert “szejn” ?wiat?y, Leo “Svedjehed” Svedjehed, Sebastian “Basso” Aagaard, Nicolaj “mupzG” Djurhus, and in-game leader Victor “vigg0” Bisgaard, the Copenhagen Wolves formed a new English-speaking roster that will fight under one of the most recognisable names from the earlier days of Counter-Strike.

Szejn is the most notable name on the new roster, having made a name for himself by winning four WePlay Academy League titles with MOUZ NXT in 2021�C22. Since then, the 21-year-old has served as a stand-in at Illuminar and was most recently seen competing with Project G.

He is surrounded by players from various backgrounds, including a Danish trio of mupzG, vigg0, basso, and ex-AGO and EYEBALLERS rifler Svedjehed.
Copenhagen’s revival started on December 20, when 23-year-old American entrepreneur Jared “Outback” Habib acquired the organisation. Along with a new owner came a different direction for assembling the roster, turning away from the Danish heritage.

Since Copenhagen Wolves’ inception in 2009, the team has fielded only Danish players. Some of the most notable ex-members include Counter-Strike superstars Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Casped “cadiaN” M?ller, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, and Nicolai “device” Reedtz.

While the new signings don’t carry as much prestige as the Copenhagen Wolves’ former members, the new international lineup holds some potential.

Vigg0 joins the Copenhagen Wolves after successful stints with Astralis Talent and Sashi Esports, while Basso made a name for himself during his stay at the Copenhagen Flames in 2019 and 2020. They will link up with MupzG, who found himself under the spotlight in September 2023 when he helped Victory Zigzag win Pelaajat.com Nordic Masters Fall 2023 and qualify for BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2023.

Unfortunately, the team never made it to the $67,000 tournament after Victory Zigzag got disqualified for their members being banned. Despite never winning a big event, MupzG is a highly experienced player, having been involved in the Counter-Strike scene since 2014.

The Copenhagen Flames have no official games on the schedule and have yet to announce a head coach.

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?Complexity last met with Evil Geniuses during Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023 at the end of May and won 2-0. Both teams have since made roster changes, but the balance of power hasn’t changed much.

Complexity are priced as firm favourites to win this match, and it’s very hard to argue with that. Even though Complexity aren’t a top-rated team, and they haven’t achieved much this season, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and co. have looked good over the last few weeks.

Following a rough start to their post-summer break campaign, Complexity found traction, won Thunderpick World Championship 2023: North American Series #2 at the end of August and added a top-12 finish at ESL Pro League Season 18.

In Malta, Complexity defeated 9INE and Cloud9 and took a map from G2 Esports (1-2) in the Group D final before getting eliminated by Monte in Round 12. On the other side, Evil Geniuses exited ESL Pro League Season 18 in 21st-28th place and have only looked decent in a couple of B-Tier events.

Legacy (formerly Fake Natty) and FURIA Esports have yet to meet this season, although the core of the two squads met in October 2022 during Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022, when FURIA won 16-6. According to the offered CS:GO betting odds, FURIA are expected to come out on top again.

FURIA Esports have not accomplished anything noteworthy since the turn of the year but have found some success over the last few weeks. They finished runner-up at Pinnacle Cup V at the end of August and made playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 18 at the end of September. Still, FURIA haven’t beaten any notable teams during that stretch.

Before splitting from 00Nation, Legacy have looked very good, but the Brazilian lineup hasn’t made much noise since August. Two 9th-16th finishes at CCT East Europe Series #1 and CCT North Europe Series #7, followed by a top-six finish at CCT Online Finals #3, doesn’t inspire much confidence. And their record (2-6) doesn’t help make a strong case for the outsiders.

But this is a clash between two Brazilian rosters who know each other well, making a close game more believable. FURIA should win, but we expect to see the series go the distance.

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Cloud9��s project to build the next CIS super team has not yielded notable results. Over the four tournaments Cloud9 have attended with the new squad, they��ve managed one trophy – at RES Eastern European Masters Fall 2023 – but have not placed higher than the top six in the three S-Tier events.

Cloud9 reached new lows at the end of September, when they exited ESL Pro League Season 18 in 21st-28th place after losing the Group D lower-bracket semifinal against Eternal Fire (0-2). Despite that defeat, Cloud9 are expected to get their revenge at BLAST Premier Fall European Showdown 2023.

Eternal Fire made it to the ESL Pro League quarterfinals, marking their first final-eight appearance in a top-tier tournament since they won the CCT Central Europe Malta Finals in February. But one good tournament run doesn��t change the fact that Eternal Fire haven��t looked impressive over the last month, even when competing against lesser teams.

Cloud9 are objectively stronger than Eternal Fire, but their lack of consistency makes it tough to justify backing them at the offered CS:GO betting odds. Eternal Fire to win at $3.75 is an excellent bet.

G2 Esports looked like they would go all the way in ESL Pro League Season 18, but they were stopped in their tracks by the surging MOUZ, who defeated them 2-1 in a highly competitive series en route to winning the last CS:GO LAN event in history.

Despite finishing in fifth-eighth place in Malta, G2 Esports should not be underestimated, and their performances at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 (1st) and Gamers8 2023 (3rd-4th) prove that this is an elite team.

OG used to belong to the top group of squads, but not since the summer break roster reconstruction, which left the European team lacking firepower. The dip in quality is also noticeable in OG��s past tournament runs, with the most notable being a top-six finish at CCT Online Finals #2.

G2 Esports can be highly inconsistent, but even on their worst day, they should make short work of OG through their superior firepower alone.

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These teams last met at the end of May, when 9INE won 2-0, just three weeks before BIG revamped their roster by signing David “prosus” Hesse, Elias “s1n” Stein, and Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski. With the new lineup, BIG initially struggled to accomplish much, but they’ve recently found some traction and won CCT North Europe Series #7 and reached the final 12 at ESL Pro League Season 18.

In Malta, BIG defeated Monte (2-1) and Heroic (2-0) and played a close 1-2 series against ENCE before they were eliminated by Eternal Fire (0-2). So even though BIG didn’t make it very far, they have produced decent games over the last couple of weeks.

READ: What��s on in esports from October 2-8

9INE also attended ESL Pro League Season 18, but they exited the tournament in the group stage with defeats against Complexity (1-2), Eternal Fire (0-2), and Lynn Vision (1-2). Before the ESL Pro League, 9INE also struggled in Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #2, which suggests that the Poles lost the momentum they had gained at the start of the month when they won RES Western European Masters Fall 2023.

Talent-wise, there’s not much to separate these teams, but considering how shaky 9INE have looked recently, backing BIG to come out ahead is too good to pass on at $1.80 with top CS:GO betting sites.

Alliance are set to make their Counter-Strike debut on Wednesday when they clash with ENCE in what is expected to be a very one-sided game. ENCE are one of the world’s top CS squads and recently reached new heights with silver medals from Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023, Gamers 8 2023, and a semifinal appearance at ESL Pro League Season 18.

But while we know a lot about ENCE, Alliance are a bit of an enigma. They looked solid at XL Games 2023 over the weekend but didn’t have to face any top-tier teams.

This game should end in a comfortable victory for ENCE; however, they must feel fatigued as they had to play three big tournaments over one month. Additionally, they started showing cracks in the latter stages of the ESL Pro League when they dropped maps against MiBR and BIG.

At the offered CS betting odds, it’s worth taking a shot on Alliance with a map advantage. Alternatively, backing the outsiders to keep the score within seven rounds is also a solid choice.

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Bad News Eagles enter the CCT East Europe Series #2 playoffs following a semifinal run at RES Eastern European Masters Fall 2023 and a top-four finish in CCT North Europe Series #7. However, those are BNE’s only strong runs since June, so while they seem to be ramping up, they still have a lot to prove.

Los kogutos lost in-game leader Wojciech “darchevile” Kl?ba last week after finishing CCT East Europe Series #2 in sixth place with a 3-2 record. The Poles have since made the playoffs in CCT North Europe Series #8, beating 500 (2-1), Sampi (2-0), and Zero Tenacity (2-0) while playing with Konrad “EXUS” Je��cze�� as a stand-in.

Los kogutos are in good form, but they’ve only faced weaker teams. On the other side, Bad News Eagles recently won against Aurora (2-0) and Cloud9 (16-6), which suggests they have a higher ceiling, but they’ve not shown enough against lesser teams to be priced at $1.44.

Los kogutos should be good for one map, so we’ll gladly take the overs.

Looking4Org (former HEET) reached the semifinals of RES Western European Masters Fall 2023 at the start of the month, but they’ve since failed to replicate that success at Thunderpick World Championship 2023 European Series #2 (9th-16th) and CCT Online Finals #3 (7th-8th). They’re 2-4 from their last six outings, which doesn’t inspire much confidence.

BetBoom Team have not accomplished much more, but they’re in better form, with just two defeats – against SAW (0-2) and Sprout (0-2) – from their last eight games. And while most of those wins came against weaker teams, BB Team have also beaten 9INE (2-1) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-0) in that run.

Since the BetBoom Team squad is relatively new, it’s fair to be sceptical about how high they can fly. But based on what they’ve shown lately, BB should be able to take care of Looking4Org fairly easily.

According to the latest CS:GO betting odds, the clash between 00 Nation and Sprout should be a close one. That is largely down to the recent improvement of Sprout.

Rasmus “raalz” Steensborg and his crew are 20-7 since the start of the month and have looked good in their recent endeavours. They made the semifinals of RES Western European Masters Fall 2023 and added a gold medal from European Pro League Season 10 earlier this month.

00 Nation had an explosive start with their new international roster and won Pinnacle Cup V at the end of August. Since then, they’ve played four games and lost all but one, which was a 2-0 win over Singularity.

Sprout have only recently started posting good results, and even though 00 Nation looked incredible in August, their recent form makes it very tough to back them at the odds on offer with the top esports betting sites.

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Over the three tournaments Team Liquid have attended since July, they’ve not placed higher than the top nine, and they’re 1-5 from their last five ahead of ESL Pro League Season 18. Over that stretch, Team Liquid have only beaten BIG (2-1) and lost against Astralis (twice), FaZe Clan, 9INE, and ENCE.

Virtus.pro are 4-2 over the same period; however, they’ve had the luxury of playing weaker teams, and still they slipped against Team Spirit (1-2) and dropped maps against Aurora (2-1) and 1win (2-1).

It’s fair to feel concerned about Team Liquid, but it’s not like Virtus.pro have shown much more. Virtus.pro will probably win, but if the series includes Ancient or Vertigo, Liquid should be good for at least one map.

Eternal Fire have fallen off since April, but they enjoyed some success last month when they finished Pinnacle Cup V, CCT Central Europe Series #7, and Dunav Party LAN inside the top eight. However, even that doesn’t count for much since Eternal Fire haven’t played against a single notable team.

This will mark a rematch between Cloud9 and Eternal Fire from Sunday’s RES Eastern European Masters Fall 2023 semifinal clash, where Cloud9 won 16-8, 8-16, 16-13. We can expect another C9 victory on Wednesday; however, considering Eternal Fire are much more efficient on four of seven maps in the rotation, it seems highly likely that we’ll see another three-map series.

Cloud9 are still a bit shaky on their feet, so an upset is not entirely out of the question, but we’ll tame our expectations and take the underdogs with a map advantage.

Complexity have not accomplished anything on the international stage this season and looked very disappointing at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 (10th-12th) and Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 (21st-24th) in July.

Since then, Complexity have won the Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023: North American Qualifier and Thunderpick World Championship 2023: North American Series #2. But that’s hardly something to write home about, given the quality of the opponents they faced.

9INE aren’t in a great spot either, but they won RES Western European Masters Fall 2023 last week and are 3-1 from their last four. The Poles also had their moments at IEM Cologne 2023, where they played close games against some of Europe’s elite teams.

9INE should win, but they’re not the most consistent team, and considering they don’t perform well on Anubis, Nuke, and Inferno, we like our chances with over 2.5 maps.

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Into the Breach have not produced much over the last month, except for a runner-up finish at RES Western European Masters: Fall 2023. It was also their first tournament with Aexey “Qikert” Golubev and K��vin “misutaaa” Rabier, who averaged 1.03 and 1.08 ratings respectively.

Aurora have not made any roster changes since June, but perhaps they should’ve. The Russian squad has not won a tournament since March (CCT South Europe Series #3) and haven’t looked good across the last few weeks, with just three wins across the last eight outings �C against AiMMERS (16-10) and bsmpeeek (16-10, 16-10).

Aurora look stronger on paper, but considering their poor form, this looks like a 50-50 match, making ITB a better choice at outsider odds.

Last week, 00 Nation suffered a huge upset loss against Endpoint at Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #2. It was a bad defeat, but also 00 Nation’s first since July 23.

Since the complete roster revamp midway through August 00 Nation have won the Pinnacle Cup V and are 7-1 across their last eight outings. So even though their defeat against Endpoint is concerning, 00 Nation are in good form and have previously beaten much stronger teams.

Sprout parted ways with Daniil “alpha” Demin at the end of August and have yet to announce a replacement, which isn’t optimal. On a more positive note, Sprout are 5-2 across their last seven, but that number is a bit misleading as it includes mostly wins against lesser teams.

00 Nation are in much better form than Sprout, have won against more formidable opponents, and don’t have to deal with finding a stand-in. We don’t expect a clean sweep, but 00 Nation shouldn’t struggle to beat Sprout.

OG’s roster revamp during the summer break has not led to any notable results for Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi? and his crew. Even though OG weren’t particularly great before July, their recent results are very concerning.

Over their last six games, OG have only beaten TSM (2-1), EYEBALLERS (2-0), and KnasigT (2-0) but lost against SAW (0-2), BetBoom Team (0-2), and Ninjas in Pyjamas (1-2). Still, it’s fair to assume that OG should do fine against Fake Natty.

The Brazilians looked great while playing under 00 Nation when Marcelo “coldzera” David and co. won TH Masters Fall 2023. Since they went solo, Fake Natty haven’t placed higher than the top 16 across three tournaments.

Considering Fake Natty’s poor form, OG will likely win; however, at the offered esports betting odds, backing the outsiders to win at least one map is a wiser choice.

HAVU have fallen off hard since the start of 2023, going from top 30 in the global CS:GO rankings to no.79 ahead of their opening match at CCT Online Finals #3. MiBR are in a similar boat as a former high-ranked team that fell off, but unlike HAVU, MiBR have been playing well recently.

MiBR haven’t placed higher than fifth-sixth across the last four tournaments, but we have to consider that they have attended CCT Online Finals #2 (5th-6th), Gamers8 2023 (9th-16th), and ESL Pro League Season 18 (17th-20th).

At ESL Pro League, MiBR did well for their standards, with wins against Evil Geniuses (2-1), MOUZ (2-1), and Monte (2-1), and they even stole a map from ENCE (1-2). Their win rate since the start of August (53.85%) isn’t great, but MiBR have accomplished it while facing relatively strong CS:GO esports teams.

This is a match between two second-division teams, but there’s no hiding that MiBR are in a much better spot than HAVU.

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Imperial Esports haven’t played an official Counter-Strike match since their 17th-20th result at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023, where they lost against Monte (9-16), won against Grayhound (2-1), and were eliminated from the tournament by Ninjas in Pyjamas (1-2). It wasn’t the most inspiring showing from the Brazilians, although they did force NiP to a third map and lost in overtime

Fnatic produced a few good games back in July, when they defeated Complexity, 9INE, and Cloud9, but then crashed out of IEM Cologne 2023 with two defeats against ENCE (0-2) and GamerLegion (1-2). Since then, Fnatic have played three games and lost them all, going down to Cloud9 (0-2), Sprout (14-16), and ALTERNATE aTTaX (14-16).

This looks like a 50-50 game, so we don’t have to think twice before siding with Imperial to hand Fnatic their fourth-straight loss.

Apeks haven’t shown much over the last couple of weeks, yet the top esports betting sites are taking a lot of money for them in this matchup. They’re 3-6 since the start of August but 3-1 across their last four, with wins against knasigT (2-0), BetBoom Team (2-1) and 9INE (2-0).

M80 have looked decent for their standards over the last month, with just one loss from their last 11 outings. But as good as this looks, M80 have only beaten lesser North American teams and a couple of more prominent names in Evil Geniuses (2-1) and Bad News Bears (16-7).

As a North American squad, M80 will always be a bit underrated when facing a European squad. However, Apeks haven’t looked too good recently, and the recent departure of coach Jakub “kuben” Gurczy��ski can’t have helped. M80 to keep it close is the right play.

The offered CS:GO betting odds on this match make it seem like Natus Vincere should breeze past 5yclone. However, with their form, NaVi shouldn’t be priced as $1.05 favourites against anyone.

They’ve not accomplished anything noteworthy since transitioning to an international roster. In July, NaVi exited BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 in fourth-sixth place, and they have since added two early exits from Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 (7th-8th) and Gamers8 2023 (5th-8th). Reaching the top eight at any big event still counts for something, but the big issue with NaVi is their lack of consistency.

5yclone are the third-ranked team from Asia, and they’ve placed second in all three events Liang “advent” Zhuo has competed in, including Perfect World Arena Premier League Season 5: Professional Division. Although they’re still a class below NaVi talent-wise, 5yclone are a solid longshot bet.

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