Last week, we trusted R!IOT Gaming to win a map against Paradox Gaming, which did not go the way we planned, with Paradox securing a 2-0 sweep with 16-11 on Nuke and 16-8 on Overpass. While we can’t criticise R!OT too much for losing against a stronger opponent, we should point out that James “Jimmy” Brooke (1.14 rating) was the only player on the team who played well.

All of Jimmy’s teammates ended the series with ratings of 0.90 or lower, some of whom posted 0.45 and 0.61 ratings on each of the two maps. R!OT were facing a tough challenger, but it’s very difficult to be optimistic about a squad where a stand-in player was their best performer.

Sylyx Esports enter this match off a 0-2 loss against Caught off Guard, who bested them 16-3 on Inferno and 25-23 on Mirage just under two weeks ago. Despite that slip-up, Sylyx are still holding a 60% win rate across the last three months, and are a team that can be dangerous if they don’t beat themselves. R!OT might be stronger on paper, but they’re not invincible.

These rosters last met way back in October 2020 during LPL Pro League Season 6, while still playing for Downfall and Orgless. Both maps ended in favour of Downfall — the core of which is now Bizzare Gaming — who won with 16-5 on Mirage and 16-10 on Train. That result, however, doesn’t mean much since Dynasty Esports Club now field a completely different squad.

Bizzare have done well so far this tournament, with a 2-0 sweep of Exsto Gaming and a very impressive three-map series against Dire Wolves, so it’s hard to understand why they are priced as $2.12 underdogs. Even though Dynasty EC are not a particularly bad team, they did not look good in their 0-2 loss against Animal Squad last month.

Dynasty EC seem stronger due to their success against teams stronger than Bizzare, but that doesn’t guarantee them success on Tuesday. This match seems like it can easily go both ways, so we have to take a shot with the underdogs. It’s worth shopping around for the best odds by checking multiple esports betting apps.

?Bizarre Gaming enter this match off a 2-0 sweep of Exsto Gaming, who they beat with 16-9 on Nuke and 19-16 on Overpass. Jordan “SkulL” Newland and co. have also not disappointed with their results at ESL ANZ Champs Season 12, where they picked up a 16-6 win over Memento Esports and put up a decent fight against R!OT Gaming (12-16).

It’s no surprise seeing CS:GO betting sites price Dire Wolves as heavy favourites for this match. They might not be the best team in the region, but they are looking near-unstoppable on current form.

Wolves are 4-1 since the start of March and have only really lost against the top teams such as Paradox, Renegades and ORDER across the last five months. While anything can happen in these online matches, the quality gap is far too large for us to side with the underdogs.

?Like the other fixture, this one seems like it can only end one way. That said, this could prove to be the best series of the day if R!OT Gaming can recreate what they showed when they took on Paradox Gaming just over three weeks back at ESEA Season 36: Premier Division – Australia.

That clash was billed as an extremely one-sided affair, yet it proved to be anything but. R!OT stood their ground against a significantly stronger opponent and managed to win on Vertigo (19-17), which was quite an achievement, although they ended up suffering a reverse sweep with 8-16 on Train and 10-16 on Dust II.

R!OT lack big-name players, but they’ve been playing very well of late, which is largely due to their firepower. Paradox are a more strategic team, which could prove beneficial on some maps, but we don’t expect them to see the same level of success on all map picks.

Paradox should win this match more times than not, but we have seen enough good things from R!OT to believe they can steal one map. Given the odds, we would even consider placing a smaller bet on R!OT to win the match outright.