CHAMPIONS OF ROOBET CUP 2023! We've earned our first trophy in CS2 and $150,000 for the first place!

However, we have no time to relax, as the first match of the playoff stage at the Thunderpick World Championship is already tomorrow. We'll play against Heroic at 13:00 CET. pic.twitter.com/PvD9kuf83g

— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) November 2, 2023

The series kicked off with Virtus.pro taking a 13-10 win on Overpass, their map pick.

However, their journey to victory hit a bump on Anubis, where Monte rallied back from an early deficit to secure a 13-10 victory of their own.

The fate of the tournament hinged on Mirage, where Virtus.pro managed to assert their dominance and clinch a decisive win.

Dzhami “Jame” Ali and his squad displayed remarkable prowess throughout the tournament.

They notably defeated four top-30 ranked teams, a feat that marked their first title victory since the return of David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan in August and first since the Counter-Strike 2 era began.

Their Mirage performance, in particular, was a stark contrast to the start of the series, as Monte found it challenging to gain momentum after the initial stages of the map.

The opening rounds of Overpass were fiercely contested, with a pistol round win for Monte failing to secure an early lead as force-buy skirmishes unfolded.

However, n0rb3r7’s exceptional triple kill in round four marked a turning point, allowing Virtus.pro to establish a 7-5 lead on their T side, thanks in part to Evgenii “FL1T” Lebedev’s contributions.

Virtus.pro extended their lead after halftime, although they couldn’t close out the map immediately.

Monte fought back, narrowing the deficit, but Virtus.pro ultimately secured the victory with a 13-10 score.

Monte responded with a strong performance on Anubis, even though they faced adversity at the beginning of the map.

They managed to equalize the score at 6-6 after a shaky start, with players like Alexander “br0” Bro and Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev making crucial contributions.

Monte dominated on their attacking side, losing only four rounds before closing out their pick with a 13-10 score.

However, Mirage saw Monte’s performance falter, with Virtus.pro taking control early and securing a comfortable lead.

Despite Monte initially going up 4-1, Virtus.pro’s FL1T and Jame were pivotal in shutting down Monte’s T-side efforts.

Virtus.pro went on to win all the remaining rounds in the first half, leading 8-4.

A standout 1v4 clutch from Nikolay “mir” Bityukov in the second pistol round sealed Monte’s fate, allowing Virtus.pro to swiftly close out the game with a 13-4 score.

Virtus.pro is not resting on their laurels, as they have the opportunity to add another title to their tally.

They are also in the playoffs of the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, where they are set to face off against Heroic in the quarter-finals.

A potential rematch of the Roobet Cup 2023 grand final could be on the horizon if Monte advances past Spirit in their own quarter-final.

In such a scenario, Monte would need to improve their performance, particularly in the realm of opening duels, where they struggled in the Roobet Cup series on both Overpass and Mirage.

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9INE defeated Astralis 2-0 in the opening round of Group C at Roobet Cup 2023, but they are expected to struggle against BIG. The Germans kicked off their Roobet Cup 2023 campaign with a 2-0 sweep of Apeks, although they needed overtime on Anubis (16-13) to come out ahead.

While BIG’s first match was close, the whole team played well, especially Karim “Krimbo” Moussa and Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz, who posted 1.40 and 1.31 performance ratings, respectively.

9INE and BIG have yet to meet on the Counter-Strike 2 server, but they’ve both played a good number of matches on the game’s newest version. BIG are 5-3 on the new game, while 9INE are 7-2.

This looks like a 50-50 match, so at the offered Counter-Strike betting odds, 9INE are a better choice. They played great against Astralis, and if the Poles can show the same form on Saturday, they should win.

Astralis entered Roobet Cup 2023 as one of the top dogs, but their lack of experience playing on Counter-Strike 2 showed on Thursday when the Danes lost (0-2) against 9INE. One loss doesn’t mean much, but it’s clear that Astralis are very rusty and not playing at 100%.

Apeks might be able to take advantage of the situation, but like Astralis, they’ve yet to show much on CS2. Even though Apeks have played nine games on Counter-Strike 2 and even attended Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023, Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski and co. have yet to beat a good team, and their most notable result was a 2-0 sweep of Aurora at ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023 European Qualifier.

Astralis have a long way to go to be competitive, and the recent Counter-Strike roster drama, which has linked Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard and Martin “stavn” Lund with a move to Astralis, must have affected the team’s morale. This doesn’t mean Astralis will collapse, but Apeks, even in their current shape, are a solid bet on the map handicap market.

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The team announced that Martin “?stavn?” Lund and Jakob “?jabbi?” Nygaard have been temporarily benched.

roster update. pic.twitter.com/EEiU0xQXYe

— HEROIC (@heroicgg) October 25, 2023

This move comes on the heels of the removal of Casper “?cadiaN?” M?ller from the roster in early October.

Heroic claims that stavn and jabbi initiated this change with an ultimatum after their performance at ESL Pro League.

According to Heroic, they agreed to stavn and jabbi’s ultimatum, which led to cadiaN’s benching.

The expectation was that in return, stavn and jabbi would extend their contracts with Heroic, which were set to expire in approximately 10 months.

However, no contracts were signed, and rumors surfaced about potential interest from Astralis in acquiring the services of stavn and jabbi.

Heroic has expressed a willingness to engage in discussions with organizations that appreciate the market value of their players.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty, Heroic’s primary ambition is to reinstate stavn and jabbi into the starting lineup.

The team’s performance staff has devised a plan to support their potential return to the organization.

In their official statement, Heroic highlighted the events leading up to these roster changes.

Stavn and jabbi had pushed for cadiaN’s removal after ESL Pro League, a move that took both cadiaN and Heroic’s management by surprise.

Mediation attempts were made, but the situation escalated to an ultimatum, forcing Heroic to make a choice between cadiaN and the rest of the team.

Stavn and jabbi agreed to extend their contracts if cadiaN was let go, and Heroic agreed to this condition.

However, on the same day that Heroic presented new contracts to stavn and jabbi, the players communicated their plans with Astralis.

These developments unfolded while Heroic still had almost 10 months left on their existing contracts.

Despite this, Heroic remains committed to the idea of bringing stavn and jabbi back into the fold.

To address the immediate gaps in their roster, Heroic has enlisted Peter “?dupreeh?” Rasmussen as a temporary replacement for cadiaN until the end of 2023.

For their upcoming matches in the Roobet Cup and Thunderpick World Championship, they will utilize the MOUZ NXT duo of William “?sirah?” Kj?rsgaard and Christoffer “?Chr1zN?” Storgaard.

However, the situation took an intriguing twist when stavn posted a cryptic tweet just hours after Heroic’s announcement, which some interpreted as a veiled criticism of the organization.

The tweet read, “Gotta love the world we live in. What is the saying? Truth always prevails.”

Gotta love the world we live in
What is the saying? Truth always prevails.

— Martin Lund (@stavnCS) October 25, 2023

This saga has left fans uncertain about Heroic’s future in the Counter-Strike scene.

With cadiaN’s departure and the uncertainty surrounding stavn and jabbi, the team’s ability to remain competitive has been cast into doubt.

Heroic did debut with their revamped roster against Aurora in the Roobet Cup 2023’s Group A opener, securing a 2-1 victory despite fielding MOUZ NXT’s players.

However, their prospects for success appear uncertain given the turmoil within the organization.

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We haven��t heard much about Astralis over the last month because the Danes haven��t played an official match since their 13th-16th exit from ESL Pro League Season 18. So not only have Astralis been inactive for a month, but they��ve also yet to play an official match on CS2.

9INE have attended two events since ESL Pro League Season 18, including the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023 European Open Qualifier and BLAST Premier Fall European Showdown 2023, but they haven��t looked good in either, with 17th-32nd and fifth-eighth finishes, respectively.

Individually, Astralis are much stronger than 9INE; however, they��re known to be inconsistent, and it doesn��t help that Astralis have yet to play an official CS2 tournament.

Monte left quite an impression with their semifinal run at ESL Pro League Season 18 in September, but they didn’t show as much at Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023, where they placed seventh-eighth. In their defence, Monte��s only two defeats of the tournament came against Complexity (9-13, 0-2), but they only beat Grayhound (2-0) and Fnatic (2-1).

OG have not looked good ever since the lineup change in the summer and haven��t placed higher than the top six across five events. And while they might turn it around on CS2, even that seems highly unlikely. OG lack top-tier talent and need to start exploring options to bring in more firepower.

Monte might be a bit overrated, and they haven��t looked great on CS2, but at least they have played the newest version of the game and have been active over the last few weeks. OG, on the other side, have played just one game in the last 31 days.

BIG and Apeks have both found some success at different points of the season. Apeks reached the semifinals of BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 in May and have since won Elisa Invitational Spring 2023 and added another top-four finish at CCT East Europe Series #2 in September.

BIG have not placed inside the top four in a single S-Tier tournament, but they won CCT North Europe Series #7 at the end of August and reached the finals of BLAST Premier Fall European Showdown 2023 a couple of weeks ago.

Apeks and BIG attended the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023 European Qualifier at the start of October and finished the event in fifth-sixth and seventh-eighth, respectively. Apeks also appeared at Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023, where they finished 9th-12th.

Talent-wise, Apeks and BIG look even, but we must also consider that BIG have looked terrible in the two CS2 matches they played in the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023 European Qualifier. We��re taking Apeks to sweep.

The opening round of the Roobet Cup 2023 group stage concludes with a Swedish derby between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic, who last clashed during BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Legends Stage in May, when Fnatic won 16-11.

Neither team is in good form. Since their upset win at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, NiP have not come close to winning a single event, whereas Fnatic have not placed higher than the top eight across the last five tournaments.

Both teams are struggling; however, unlike Ninjas in Pyjamas, who��ve been out of action since early September, Fnatic have attended Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023 (9th-12th) and have some experience playing on CS2.

Lack of practice on the game��s newer version and ring rust are two reasons why fading NiP at the offered CS2 betting odds is the right play.

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This move comes on the heels of Heroic’s decision to bench their long-time AWPer and in-game leader, Casper “cadiaN” M?ller, at the beginning of October.

We are excited to unmask five time Major Champion Dupreeh

Peter initially joins Heroic until the end of 2023! pic.twitter.com/bgH3SvJRlz

— HEROIC (@heroicgg) October 23, 2023

Heroic’s acquisition of dupreeh is aimed at injecting some much-needed experience and winning mentality into their squad.

Dupreeh, a serial winner with 27 LAN titles and the highest prize earnings in CS:GO history, is seen as a formidable addition to a team that has narrowly missed out on major event victories.

Dupreeh had been benched since June when Team Vitality replaced him with Shahar “flameZ” Shushan as part of their strategy to future-proof the roster following their BLAST.tv Paris Major win.

However, dupreeh was eager to make a competitive comeback, stating, “I don’t feel like I am finished.

“Honestly, I am super addicted to the whole process of working with a team, continuing to get better, lifting trophies, and competing to be the best.

“A lot of people seem to think that once you turn 30 and you have a kid, there is no room to play Counter-Strike, and that is definitely not the case.”

Rumors had linked dupreeh to TSM and Danny “zonic” S?rensen’s new Falcons project, but it’s with Heroic that he has made his return.

Dupreeh’s addition to Heroic is expected to bring leadership and experience to the young Danish squad.

Dupreeh’s humorous self-assessment on HLTV Confirmed, where he quipped about being “too dumb to in-game lead,” suggests that the captain’s role may be filled internally within the team.

The prime contender for this leadership position is Martin “stavn” Lund, who previously served as the secondary caller and AWPer on the team.

Stavn’s potential transition to the AWP role opens up an entry-fragging position for dupreeh, a role he excels in and prefers.

Dupreeh stands as one of the most decorated players in CS history.

Having been a consistent presence since the early days of CS:GO, he is the only player to have participated in every Major tournament and holds the record for five Major championship victories.

Dupreeh’s first appearance for Heroic is scheduled for the Roobet Cup, where the Danish team will face off against Aurora in their opening match.

Heroic’s new roster

• Martin “?stavn?” Lund
• Ren�� “?TeSeS?” Madsen
• Rasmus “?sjuush?” Beck
• Jakob “?jabbi?” Nygaard
• Peter “?dupreeh?” Rasmussen

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Movistar Riders won RTRP Arena Cup 2023 at the start of October and have since managed a solid fifth-eighth finish at ESL Pro League Season 18. Unfortunately, Movistar failed to impress at BLAST Premier Fall European Showdown 2023 or the DreamHack Winter 2023 European Qualifier.

9z Team are in a rough spot ahead of Roobet Cup 2023. The South American squad lost David “dav1deuS” Tapia at the start of October and Santino “try” Rigal, who stepped down from the active lineup last week. To fill in the gap, 9z played with coach Gustavo “tge” Motta as a stand-in, and since 9z have yet to announce a replacement, they’ll likely field tge for the Roobet Cup.

Movistar Riders are beatable, but it’s tough justifying a bet on a team that plays with an academy player (Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibanez) and a coach in the lineup.

Eternal Fire seem to be in a solid spot. Even though the Turks haven’t won a tournament since ESL T��rkiye ?ampiyonas? Winter 2023 in June, EF managed a top-eight finish at ESL Pro League Season 18.

That result doesn’t mean much since Eternal Fire haven’t appeared in a tournament since then and have yet to play an official match on Counter-Strike 2, so we don’t know how well they’ll do on the game’s newest version.

FURIA Esports have produced mixed results over the last two months. They placed second at Pinnacle Cup V, 13th-16th in the ESL Pro League, top four at BLAST Premier Fall American Showdown 2023, and won BGS Esports 2023 a week ago. Like Eternal Fire, FURIA have yet to play a game on Counter-Strike 2.

FURIA Esports look stronger than Eternal Fire, but since neither team has played an official CS2 match, it’s tough to say who’ll come out on top. Expect a close game.

Virtus.pro and Team Spirit last met during Dunav Party LAN in August, when Team Spirit won 2-1, and according to the latest Counter-Strike 2 betting odds, Spirit are expected to win again.

Virtus.pro have shown some good performances over the last two months, with a top-eight finish at Gamers8 2023 and a silver medal from Dunav Party LAN. However, they fell apart at ESL Pro League Season 18 (13th-16th) and haven’t played an official match since.

Team Spirit won Dunab Party LAN and have since collected a silver medal from RES Eastern European Masters Fall 2023 and won Thunderpick World Championship 2023 European Series #2. More importantly, Spirit have been active this month and are 5-1 since the start of October.

Virtus.pro have enough talent to do well against Team Spirit, but they’re shaky, have not played a match in a month, and have yet to play on CS2. At the odds on offer with top esports betting sites, Team Spirit are an easy choice.

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BIG, last year’s champions who triumphed over FaZe Clan, are returning to defend the Roobet Cup title between October 25 and November 2.

With the proposed competition dates, there is speculation that the Roobet Cup 2023 might be one of the first tournaments to feature the highly anticipated Counter-Strike 2.

The initial teams to compete include esports heavyweights like Astralis, who have been turning heads recently with their revamped lineup. Ninjas in Pyjamas, FURIA, BIG, Virtus.pro, 9INE, Fnatic, and 9z Team round out the initial eight.

Of particular note is Virtus.pro, a team that, despite being somewhat low-key in recent major tournaments, continues to showcase a strong performance, largely attributed to Jame’s distinct play-style.

The current Roobet Cup lineup boasts a balanced combination of Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams, ensuring a competitive landscape for the tournament. The esports community eagerly anticipates the announcement of the remaining eight teams, with many hoping to see top-tier teams like Vitality, Heroic, or ENCE joining the fray. Such an addition would solidify Roobet Cup 2023’s status as a must-watch event in the esports calendar.

Regarding the competition’s structure, the Roobet Cup 2023 will stick to its tried-and-tested format from the previous year. The 16 participating teams will be divided into four groups, each comprising four teams.

In this round-robin setup, a 2:0 win will advance a team, while a 0:2 result will send a team packing. Teams with a 1:1 score will face off in a decider, with two teams from each group advancing to the next stage.

With the Roobet Cup line-up half-revealed and the competition format set, fans are eagerly awaiting further announcements.

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?ENCE are priced as heavy favourites for their opening 2022 Roobet Cup group stage match against Eternal Fire, and that’s hardly surprising. Not only are ENCE one of the world’s top three CS:GO teams, but we must also acknowledge that Eternal Fire not exactly a top-tier squad.

The Turkish roster can have their moments, and they had taken some big scalps in the past, but there’s a good reason why they’re ranked 25th on the global CS:GO ladder. One thing going for Eternal Fire is their strong map record on Inferno (67%) and Overpass (85%), but that’s hardly enough for us to believe Eternal Fire will be competitive.

They’ve struggled against much weaker teams over the last month, including ex-MAD Lions (0-2 and 1-2) and Team Finest. Meanwhile, ENCE’s only recent defeats came against Team Vitality, OG, Cloud9, and Natus Vincere. At the offered CS:GO betting odds, ENCE to win 2-0 is an easy choice.

?Outsiders have made very impactful roster changes in May, replacing their star players Mareks “YEKINDAR” Ga?inskis and Timur “buster” Tulepov with David “n0rb3r7” Daniyelyan and Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev. Outsiders have downgraded their roster with the changes, but they’re not necessarily weak.

On the contrary, Outsiders looked good in their first two fixtures with the new players, beating Illuminar Gaming and Falcons Esports without dropping more than ten rounds across the four maps. So clearly, Outsiders are still a quality team.

ForZe have not been active on the transfer market since November 2021, which explains why they haven’t improved much over the last 10 months. They’re currently ranked 23rd in the world, which perfectly illustrates that forZe are a good mid-tier team but not contenders for a big title.

Esports betting sites offer the same price on forZe and Outsiders, which underestimates Outsiders a bit. They might look weaker on paper and have yet to be properly tested, but there is no reason to believe that forZe are equally as strong.

?
Imperial had their moment at the recent Major, where they came one victory short of qualifying for the Champions Stage. They had only beaten Bad News Eagles (2-0) and the struggling Cloud9 (2-1), but Imperial lost only against BIG, G2, and Copenhagen Flames.

Since then, the Brazilian lineup have not achieved much. They failed to make it through the DreamHack Valencia open qualifiers; they finished last at IEM Dallas at the end of May and couldn’t make it through the group stage at Pinnacle Cup Championship a couple of weeks back. So perhaps the honeymoon phase has ended, but whatever is the case, Imperial don’t look too dangerous.

It’s been a while since we could last consider MOUZ a top-tier team, but the international roster has achieved some success. First, they qualified for IEM Dallas, where they got eliminated by vastly superior ENCE and Vitality, and then made the finals of Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022 over a week back, only to get reverse-swept by Ninjas in Pyjamas.

MOUZ should win, but Imperial are tough to beat if they can get their wheels spinning early, and we’re not confident enough in MOUZ’s ability to shut down Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his crew. So expect a fairly close affair, with at least 28 rounds per map.

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?Astralis have yet to (and likely never will) reach the same heights they did in 2018-2019, but they have started showing some improvement. After a four-month-long dry streak, the Danish squad took silver from BLAST Premier Spring European Showdown 2022 and made another final earlier this month in the Pinnacle Cup Championship.

Even though Astralis have yet to win a tournament this season, they have looked better this month, and we expect them to continue improving – especially if the rumours of Valdemar “valde” Vangs? and Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz joining the team are true.

Movistar Riders have achieved nearly nothing since their surprising run to PGL Major Stockholm 2021. Even though they placed top-four at Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022 a couple of weeks back, they only had to defeat TYLOO (2-1), which is hardly worth celebrating.

Astralis are priced as the favourites for this match, and rightly so as they’re much stronger than Movistar Riders, who are likely one of the weakest teams at this tournament. Anything less than a 2-0 sweep for Astralis would be disappointing.

?FaZe Clan sit atop the global CS:GO rankings table, and they’ll likely remain there for a while longer. But they have slowed down a bit since winning PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

With two fifth/sixth-place finishes from Intel Extreme Masters XVII Dallas and the BLAST Premier Spring Final, FaZe have shown that they’re not unbeatable. However, it takes a solid team to push FaZe onto their back foot.

OG have yet to win a CS:GO tournament since BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 in February. Most recently, OG attended Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022, but they couldn’t make it past Ninjas in Pyjamas in the semi-finals, which is not good enough.

OG have the potential to be competitive against the world’s top CS:GO teams, but their form isn’t good enough for us to believe they can defeat FaZe. There’s a 50/50 chance OG will win one map; therefore, we have to side with FaZe to cover the map line at plus money.

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