?BIG and Complexity last met at the end of April, when BIG swept Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and co. with 19-16 on Dust II and 19-16 on Mirage. As the score would suggest, the bout was extremely close and could have ended either way.

Since then, the Germans have played 10 matches and won six, including their last two against BLINK (2-1) and Apeks (2-1). Complexity have been slightly less active with eight fixtures played during that stretch and a 5-3 record.

Even though Complexity’s record isn’t exactly promising, you can’t really defend BIG for losing maps against Tier-2 opponents either. Complexity might have not been looking too sharp lately, but they’re still the better team overall.

?Fnatic have been struggling for a good portion of the year and haven’t won anything since ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe in April 2020. It’s very clear that Fnatic aren’t as good as they once were, and it doesn’t seem like they will improve anytime soon unless they make some roster changes.

Mousesports have been dealing with their own issues, but unlike Fnatic, they’re slowly showing signs of improvement. The departure of Finn “karrigan” Andersen has left mouz without one of the best in-game leaders in the scene, but they still manage to scrape by and look somewhat competitive thanks to their firepower.

Mouz won this bout 2-1 with a reverse-sweep just over a month ago. It was a relatively tight affair, but mouz slightly underperformed that day, so it��s fair to expect that they will do better this time out.

?This is a match that many expect to end with a clean victory from Gambit Esports, but we have our reasons to doubt that. Even though Gambit are stronger and much more successful than Team Fiend, the underdogs have a legitimate chance to cause some damage.

Looking at the map records, the bout will likely play out on either Inferno or Mirage, where both sides perform well. The second thing that works in Fiend’s favour is that Gambit usually do well against top teams because they are very good at analysing their opponents’ demos �C of which Team Fiend have very few.

Last, but not least, this is an online best-of-one (Bo1) match, which are notorious for upset wins. While we don’t think Fiend will win, the +6.5 rounds handicap at $1.92 is just too good to pass on.

?Team Spirit and G2 Esports last met just over a week ago at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021, where G2 won 2-1. Before that, these sides clashed at IEM Katowice back in February, when Spirit won 2-1 having lost their previous meeting 0-2 in December.

Spirit are arguably the more consistent team, but on a good day G2 can be stronger. The question is whether it’s worth risking our money on G2 and hoping they show up on Thursday.

Since this is a Bo1 bout, the answer is yes. The general rule of thumb in Bo1 series is to take the better odds if the underdogs have a chance to win, and with the quality of players G2 possess, they can definitely come away with a win.

Natus Vincere tend to underperform in tournament openers, so backing mousesports would appear to make sense. That said, we don’t believe mouz are good enough to upset the Ukrainian side.

Mouz might have the occasional flash of greatness, but they aren’t playing well. That is mainly because they lack a proper in-game leader, which they lost with the departure of Finn “karrigan” Andersen to FaZe Clan in February.

NaVi are not a perfect team either. Their inability to execute strategies points to IGL problems, so in that aspect, these sides are similar. Regardless, NaVi still boast better players, which should tip the scale in their favour. Mouz shouldn’t win more than 12 rounds.

?FaZe Clan��s roster is arguably good enough to compete for a Major Championship title, but from the looks of it, they have yet to find the needed synergy to take the step up in class. FaZe have won only 37.5% of their matches since January and have shown only marginal progress since signing karrigan.

Virtus.pro are 4-6 in their last five and have lost all of their last three fixtures, going down to Complexity (1-2), forZe (0-2), and HAVU (1-2). We have talked about this team overperforming at IEM Katowice, and those results suggest we might be right.

On paper, Virtus.pro seem like the stronger team, but that doesn’t explain the short odds. The value is with FaZe Clan.

?Misfits Premier enter the European Masters Spring playoffs as the winners of Group B, having won all but one of six fixtures. BT Excel, on the other side, finished the group stage with a respectable 3-3 record.

We weren’t too excited about BT Excel heading into this tournament, but after their win against Schalke 04 Evolution, you have to show them some respect. That said, they haven’t really shown anything outside of that, with their other two wins coming against the lowly Cream Real Betis.

Misfits Premier have been very successful at the European Masters since its inception, and it doesn’t seem like that will change this year. While we trust Misfits to advance here, we wouldn��t bet on them in the head-to-head market.

BT Excel have been performing well enough for us to believe they can do some damage. They have experienced players who know how to perform under pressure, which should make what seems an otherwise fairly lopsided affair a bit closer.

?It doesn’t happen too often, but every once in a while, the European Masters serves us with a clash between two regional rivals. And that’s exactly what we’re getting on Wednesday when Prime League (PL) Spring 2021 champions BIG take on PL runners-up mousesports.

Since February 2021, BIG and mousesports have clashed three times. The first two bouts ended in favour of mouz, but they underperformed when it mattered and lost 1-3 in the PL Spring grand finals.

Regardless of that loss, mouz have proven time and time again that they can defeat BIG, so it doesn’t make much sense to have them priced as $2.42 underdogs. Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov and co. had a few shaky showings in the previous stage of the tournament, but they weren’t exactly in the easiest group.

We expect a close affair that could swing either way. Over 2.5 maps is the best option in our book, but we wouldn’t shy away from placing a few bucks on mouz to win 2-1 at $4.55 as well.

?Stylistically these teams are very similar, as they both boast a fairly high average kill count and like to prioritise early drakes – each averaging over two per game. They’re both also relatively strong in the early-game, but it’s AGO Rogue who are more efficient in snowballing their leads into the mid/late-game.

Like AGO Rogue, Misfits Premier rely on their mid laner and ADC to do most of the heavy lifting. Since both of their key players are some of the best in their respective role, this match should prove to be a proper quality check for both sides. Misfits look slightly stronger since they field three players with previous LoL European Championship (LEC) experience, but we can’t ignore AGO Rogue’s ability to develop world-class talent.

AGO seem a bit overpriced in the head-to-head market, especially with the way they’ve been playing of late. Although they have lost a few key players during the offseason, the Rogue academy side still has the tools to defeat anyone and defend its European Masters title.

?Comparing teams from different regions is a difficult task since it is not fair to value equally each side’s results in their respective domestic competitions. Statistically, ?AIM SE SuppUp are the more efficient team in almost all metrics, and by a large margin, but they’re one of the weakest teams at the tournament in terms of individual talent.

SSU are very aggressive in the early-game with the highest first-X rates for six out of seven objectives: Turret (85.1%), Rift Herald (76.1%), Dragon (66.6%), Dragon Soul (87.50%), Baron (78.95%), and Elder Drake (100%). They are also extremely effective in gaining pre-15 gold leads (80.95%), which increase four-fold by the 20-minute mark.

With those stats, SSU should prove to be a tough stylistic opponent for G2 Arctic, who aren’t very efficient in gaining gold advantages; however, that’s where the individual quality tips the scale. We don��t expect SSU to win, but there is good value in the first blood market.

SSU claim first blood in 61.8% of their games, whereas G2 manage the same in only 37.93% of their bouts. G2 might have the stronger squad, but that won’t save them from SSU’s early aggression.

?Mousesports are the strongest team of Group C, whereas Illuminar Gaming are not even expected to finish inside the top two. The gap between these two sides is clear as mouz field some of the best players in the tournament, including Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov, who is widely regarded as one of the best European mid laners that have yet to get their chance in the LEC.

What makes this match very one-sided is not only the quality gap, but also Illuminar’s weak early game. While mousesports average the highest GD@10 (+929.54) and GD@10 (+1685.46) numbers in Group C, Illuminar’s marks (-36.78 GD@10, +381.42 GD@15) are some of the lowest.

Illuminar have done well enough to secure their spot at the European Masters, but they’re clearly not cut out to challenge mousesports. Look for mousesports to cover the kill line with ease.

?G2 Esports enter this match with a very confusing 2-1 record. The French-Balkan squad claimed a shaky win against Ninjas in Pyjamas on day one, added a commanding 2-0 victory against Team Vitality on Sunday, and suffered a devastating 1-2 loss against ENCE on Monday.

FaZe Clan have had their fair share of struggles this tournament as well, with losses against Vitality (1-2) and NiP (0-2). However, you should never underestimate a squad led by Finn “karrigan” Andersen.

This should be an exciting match with Nikola “NiKo” Kova? facing his former teammates and FaZe looking to prove they have assembled a championship-calibre team. There is a world where FaZe defeat the shaky G2, but over 2.5 maps looks like a safer bet at decent odds.

?Mousesports are no longer the same team since the departure of karrigan, who was one of the main reasons why they were at least somewhat competitive in the European CS:GO scene. Even though mouz still have a lot of firepower, they lack a proper strategist to help them win crucial rounds.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are still in a developmental phase, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are weak. They held on well against G2 Esports (0-2) on Saturday, beat ENCE 2-1 on Sunday, and stomped FaZe Clan (2-0) on Monday, which is quite an impressive record.

Although it is not wise to overreact to a couple of results, we are not driven by NiP’s strong performances as much as mouz’s struggles. The betting odds at esports bookmakers imply this match can go either way, but we would argue this bout is 60/40 in favour of the Swedes.

?Team Vitality should win games like this more times than not, but they have not been doing too well of late, which makes us doubt whether they can cover the map handicap against the high-flying ENCE.

ENCE are not the same team from 2018-2019, but that does not mean they can��t compete with the best. So far, they have won against mousesports (2-1), stolen a map off NiP (1-2), and beaten G2 (2-1), which is a solid run in anyone’s language.

If they can continue playing this way, ENCE may well do enough to take a map in this bout. Since we are confident Vitality will come out ahead, the 2-1 correct score bet is the way to go.

?Mousesports and ENCE last met back in September 2020 when mousesports won 2-1, but we shouldn��t put too much weight on that result since both sides now field almost entirely different rosters.

The biggest roster moves happened at ENCE. Pawe? “dycha” Dycha, Lotan “Spinx” Giladi and Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer are the newest arrivals, leaving Aleksi “allu” Jalli as the only player on the team that faced mousesports last time.

Like many other CS:GO esports teams, mousesports did not sit idle in January. With Finn “karrigan” Andersen and Chris “chrisJ” de Jong departing, in came Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand and Christopher “dexter” Nong as replacements.

On paper, mousesports seem like the stronger team; however, we don’t quite agree with the latest odds at CS:GO betting sites, which give them a 68.5% implied probability to win this match. Mouz’s results of late have been iffy and suggest they will need a bit more time to adapt to life without karrigan, which should leave them vulnerable to drop at least a map here.

With Kenny “kennyS” Schrub out of the team, Audric “JaCkz” Jug will step in to help G2 make some noise at ESL Pro League Season 13; however, we are very concerned with not only what that roster swap means for G2’s overall quality, but also the atmosphere in the team. Seeing kennyS benched suggests there might be some internal turmoil, which would explain the team’s poor performances of late.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are understandably priced as underdogs for this match, but they are far more stable than G2 and don��t have any known internal issues to deal with. On that basis, this looks like a 50/50 match.

While there is a world where G2 look better with JaCkz, we don��t believe that will be the case this weekend. Put your money on the outsiders.

The news comes on the heels of mousesports’ premature exodus from the ESL One Cologne tournament, where the European squad lost their opening two fixtures against Natus Vincere (1-2) and MAD Lions (0-2).

At the time of writing, mousesports have yet to confirm woxic?’s benching, but it is expected they will confirm ex-FaZe Clan member Aurimas “?Bymas?” Pipiras as his replacement in the coming days.

While woxic’s benching has caused quite a stir, mouz don’t need to fear about their roster stability as they field a six-man roster since they acquired Bymas? from FaZe last Monday. Since Bymas is not an AWP player, however, the team will likely give Chris “?chrisJ?” de Jong a chance to return to his old role after some mixed results as an entry fragger.

It remains to be seen how this roster change will work out for mouz, but it should at least come as a breath of fresh air for an organisation who have not made any changes to their active lineup since they acquired David “?frozen?” ?er��ansky, Finn “?karrigan?” Andersen and woxic in March 2019.

After their last roster reshuffle, mousesports went on to become one of the best CS:GO esports teams in Europe. By December, mouz had reached their peak no.2 world ranking, where they stayed for three consecutive months thanks to an impressive run which saw them win gold at CS:GO Asia Championships 2019, ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals, cs_summit 5 and ICE Challenge 2020, as well as silver from EPICENTER 2019.

Since their runner-up finish at ESL Pro League Season 11 in April, mousesports’ form has nosedived. They finished in fifth-sixth at the BLAST Premier Spring 2020 European Showdown and followed that up with two last-place finishes at cs_summit 6 and ESL One Cologne 2020.

Mousesports’ new-look roster is set to make its debut during ESL Pro League Season 12, which is slated to kick off on Tuesday, September 1. The tournament will feature 16 of the best European CS:GO teams and US $450,000 in the prize pool, making it one of the biggest CS:GO events of the year.

FAZE VS MOUSESPORTS CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

FAZE VS MOUSESPORTS ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 11 BETTING PREVIEW

FaZe Clan and mousesports are slated to clash this Monday in the second stage of ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe in what will be their second meeting of the tournament.

FaZe started their campaign with a commanding 2-0 win over the struggling TYLOO. A pair of 1-2 losses to mousesports and G2 followed, but they rallied to close out the group stage with a brace of 2-0 wins over Virtus.pro and OG.

Finishing second in Group C with a 3-2 record, FaZe then had to play ForZe in a tiebreaker for the right to progress to the second stage. Nikola “NiKo” Kova? and his crew proved far too strong for their Russian adversaries, winning 16-4 on Inferno and 16-10 on Nuke to book a spot in the last six.

While FaZe have not looked particularly strong in the last few months, they’ve shown moments of greatness. One of those occurred at Intel Extreme Masters XIV Beijing, where they reached the semi-finals. Another was in the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Regular Season, where FaZe secured the top seed by dominating their group with a 2-0 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas and consecutive sweeps against Team Liquid.

Even their run at IEM Katowice was not as bad as it may seem at first glance. Although FaZe finished in seventh-eighth place, their only two defeats came against the eventual champions, Natus Vincere, in round one (1-2) and in the final match of the lower bracket (1-2).

Mousesports rose to fame at the end of 2019 when they won the CS:GO Asia Championships, ESL Pro League Season 10 – Finals, cs_summit 5 and made it to the finals of EPICENTER 2019. It did not stop there, as Finn “karrigan” Andersen and co. carried their momentum into 2020 and won the ICE Challenge at the start of February.

Their impeccable run left the CS:GO esports community in disbelief, but it all came crashing down in March when mouz failed to impress at IEM Katowice. Although the European mix started their journey with a commanding win over TYLOO, they were stopped in their tracks in round two when they suffered a humiliating reverse sweep at the hands of G2. Later on, mouz made easy work of MAD Lions (2-0) but fell flat against 100 Thieves, who handed them reverse sweep in the lower bracket finals.

Mouz have looked solid throughout the ESL Pro League. They picked up a 2-1 win over FaZe and 2-0 wins over TYLOO, G2 and Virtus.pro, while their only defeat so far came against OG (1-2). Still, karrigan and his crew are not looking quite as sharp as they did in latter months of 2019.

FAZE VS MOUSESPORTS ESL PRO LEAGUE SEASON 11 BETTING PREDICTIONS

This is an online tournament, so most of the results these two sides produced before the COVID-19 outbreak can be thrown out of the window. Having said that, we can’t ignore the fact that mouz have been on a downwards trajectory while FaZe have been steadily improving.

Although FaZe are not as solid as they were in 2018, they have consistently ranked among the top-10 teams in the world since November 2019. What’s more, they have been performing well throughout their online endeavours. That suggests they should do just fine against mouz this Monday, despite the fact they lost to karrigan and co. only last weekend.

An outright bet on FaZe is something to ponder, but mouz are not a team to underestimate. Backing a three-map series is a much safer option and still offers decent odds.

Recognised as the pinnacle of Counter-Strike esports, IEM Katowice is set to start on Monday, February 24, with the grand finals slated to be played on Sunday, March 1. The participating teams will compete for the largest slice of a US $500,000 prize pool, with the champions taking home a quarter of a million dollars.

The tournament is also part of the Intel Grand Slam, which is now in its third season. The first team to win four IGS-affiliated titles during a window of 10 consecutive events will pocket a cool $1 million. Astralis, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, mousesports and Team Liquid all have one win apiece this season.

Here, we will look at the latest odds and best bets for the IEM Katowice 2020 CS:GO World Championship.

IEM Katowice 2020 outright odds

$3.00 – Astralis
$7.00 – FaZe Clan, mousesports
$8.00 – Team Vitality
$9.00 – Team Liquid
$11.00 – Natus Vincere
$13.00 – Evil Geniuses
$19.00 – Fnatic, G2 Esports
$21.00 – 100 Thieves, MAD Lions
$26.00 – Ninjas in Pyjamas
$34.00 – Cloud9
$51.00 – Renegades
$67.00 – Virtus.pro
$151.00 – TYLOO

Market courtesy of GG Bet

IEM Katowice 2020 underdogs

Of the 16 teams taking part, eight cannot be compared to the favourites because they lack either quality or form. Belonging to that category are TYLOO, Cloud9, Renegades, Virtus.pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, MAD Lions, G2 Esports and 100 Thieves.

TYLOO are the weakest team in the field, having earned their spot at Katowice only because ViCi Gaming failed to secure their visas. What’s more, TYLOO will also travel to Poland without their head coach, LiKan “KingZ” Luo, who is in quarantine because of the coronavirus outbreak.

None of the other seven underdogs have impressed with their recent showings. Cloud9, Renegades, 100 Thieves and MAD Lions all field relatively new rosters that have failed to produce any notable success in recent months. G2 Esports are still underperforming, while Ninjas in Pyjamas just recently signed a new coach and lost Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg to Dignitas.

IEM Katowice 2020 dark horses

Sitting in the middle of the rankings are Fnatic, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere and Evil Geniuses. All four teams are significantly stronger than the eight underdogs, yet all have issues that prevent them from entering the tournament as favourites.

Fnatic had their moment of glory back in October when they won DreamHack Masters Malm? 2019, yet it soon became clear that title run was a flash in the pan. Also, this will be their first major tournament of the year, which suggests they will be a bit rusty travelling to Katowice.

Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid both possess immense individual quality, yet they fail to inspire much optimism following their shaky displays at the BLAST tournament earlier this month.

While far from tournament favourites, Natus Vincere have improved significantly since they replaced Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kov��cs. Although a lot will have to go right for Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and company to hoist the trophy in Poland, they offer some value at long odds.

IEM Katowice 2020 favourites

Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, mousesports and Astralis are the top four contenders according to the outright odds at esports bookmakers, but FaZe look out of their depth in such esteemed company. Nikola “NiKo” Kova?’s squad had a solid run at the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 regular season, where they defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid, but it was clear that they overperformed.

FaZe might win a couple of matches in Poland, but going the distance will be out of their reach. Team Vitality are in complete contrast to their North American counterparts, as they severely underperformed at the BLAST tournament but should feature prominently in Katowice.

Mousesports are a solid team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, but no team can compare to Astralis. When they are playing to their full strength, the Danes are a class above everyone. They might let things slip on occasion at some lesser tournaments, but that won’t be the case at IEM Katowice.

If there are no massive upsets, Astralis should secure their second title of the Intel Gram Slam season without any major issues.

IEM Katowice 2020 predictions

It was a final nobody expected but everyone wanted to see, featuring two underdogs who paved their way through the tournament one game at the time. That’s not to say it was an easy road for either of them, as they both hit their fare share of potholes along the way.

SEE ALSO: COUNTER-STRIKE BETTING SITES

ENCE and mousesports started their road to the finals in Group B, where the Finns edging past mouz in a closely contested winners’ match to reach the semi-finals. That left the losing side to take the longer route through the lower bracket.

That did not stop mouz, who produced a massive upset to beat Evil Geniuses 2-0 and then delivered a reverse sweep against TYLOO in the semi-finals. ENCE, meanwhile, claimed a comfortable 2-1 win over MiBR to set up a tantalising bout in the decider.

Mousesports decided to veto Mirage, which forced ENCE to pick Train as the map to start the series. That proved pivotal, as ENCE were unable to dictate the tempo like they did when the two teams met in the group stage. The first nine rounds went back and forth until mouz picked up the tempo, won five in a row and took a 9-6 lead into the break.

The second half continued in a similar fashion. While ENCE managed to close the gap in the opening three rounds, mouz responded with a dominant 7-1 run to close out the first map of the series in only 26 rounds played.

The next map on the schedule was the mouz-picked Inferno. Despite having a very poor 12.5% win rate there, ENCE impressed with a dominant 5-0 run to start the second map of the series. Mouz hit back with force, however, winning eight consecutive maps to steal the lead. ENCE dusted themselves off and won the last two rounds of the first half to the leave the score at 7-8 at the interval.

The second half was almost a complete recreation of the first. ENCE once again started strong and won the opening four rounds but went on to lose all the remaining eight as Finn “karrigan” Andersen and co. clinched a 2-0 series win.

Mousesports’ AWP-er ?zg��r “woxic” Eker also clinched his career-first MVP award. He was an instrumental factor for his team and finished the tournament as the fifth-ranked player with a +1.00 HLTV rating average.