Intel Extreme Masters Season XV Global Challenge

Heroic enter this match as the no.3 CS:GO team in the world, but recent results bely that high ranking. The Danes have appeared in only two official games this month, and while they had no real difficulties sweeping Spirit, they did not live up to the expectations in their 1-2 loss against GODSENT in the first week of December.

Team Liquid have not been too active this month either, with only one game against Astralis (0-2) on their record. They previously also lost against mousesports (0-2) and FURIA (1-2).

The CS:GO betting odds heavily favour Heroic for this match. However, due to the lack of playtime on both sides, we expect a scrappy match with all three maps played.

WCAA Winter Challenge Cup 2020

Phoenix Gaming left a lot to be desired in the first week of the competition when they dropped the ball against CDEC Gaming and iG.Vitality, but they’ve seemingly found their stride this week and bested Void (2-1) and Team MagMa (2-0). Access, meanwhile, have yet to play a single match at the WCAA Winter Challenge Cup outside of their perfect run through the qualifiers.

These two teams’ only previous meeting came in the Artisan Dota League group stage, where Access won 2-0. It was a fairly impressive performance from Pan “yChen” Shuaifang and his crew, but we still struggle to accept Access as such heavy favourites.

The odds for Phoenix to win at least one map are quite generous considering they possess a similar level of quality as Access.

In their second fixture of the day, Phoenix Gaming will clash with Team Sirius. It will mark their third meeting of the year and the first since last Friday, when Phoenix swept Sirius 2-0.

Sirius have since played three games, beating iG.Vitality (2-1) and Team Falcon (2-0) but losing to LBZS (1-2). Phoenix played out nine games during that time and won all but four, which were against Invictus Gaming (0-2), CDEC Gaming (0-2), INK ICE (0-2) and Team MagMa (1-1).

Even though Phoenix should win, we don’t believe this match will end in a 2-0 sweep. Sirius have the tools to make something happen and should be able to force a tight series.

BTS Pro Series Season 4: Europe/CIS

There is no real reason to have Live to Win priced as such big favourites over Spider Pigzs. Even though LtW won in their most recent head-to-head fixture three weeks ago, the match was very close and could have ended either way.

Since then, Spider Pigzs have won eight out of 13 outings, which is comparable to Live to Win’s 7-2 record given that SP had to face tough opponents. Even though LtW should win this match more times than not, Spider Pigzs are in good form and should steal at least one map.

Brame enter this match off a three-week hiatus from the Dota 2 esports scene, which won’t do them any favours when facing a Cascade Esports outfit who have been fairly active this month. Since this is also an online match between two sides that have never met before, it’s hard to justify backing the favourites.

We like Cascade at the outsider odds – not only because we expect Brame to be a bit ring rusty, but also due to Cascade’s solid form. They have won all of their last four fixtures, beating Imperial Pro Gaming, 5Comrades, ChillOut and EXTREMUM. If those results are any indication, Cascade have a solid shot at upsetting their Swiss opponents.

Esports multi bet tips for Wednesday, December 16

European Development Championship Season 1

?K23 and Copenhagen Flames will lock horns in the opening match of Group C at the European Development Championship. It will mark their third clash of the year and the first since Flames reverse-swept K23 (2-1) in November.

The Danes have since played 12 games and won six, whereas K23 have played out 10 games and lost only two. However, it’s important to note that five of K23’s wins came against much weaker sides in Project X, Cream Real Betis, Pompa Team and ex-Ethereal (twice).

K23 seem a bit overrated at these odds, which is likely due to their win against Dignitas (2-1) on Tuesday. Regardless of their recent success, we don’t believe they should be priced as such heavy favourites against a team they failed to defeat a month ago.

?Despite Natus Vincere Junior’s solid 4-1 run, we are leaning more towards ALTERNATE aTTaX for our prediction. The latest CS:GO betting odds offered on the German squad are not particularly high, but we expected them to be closer to $1.50.

Robin “ScrunK” R?pke and co. might be 1-2 in their last three outings, but it’s hard to look past their 2-0 sweep of Sprout en route to the Merkur Masters Season 2 grand finals, where they eventually lost to BIG. Esports bookmakers are offering $1.81 on ALTERNATE aTTaX to win the game with at least three rounds to spare, which is too good to pass on.

WCAA Winter Challenge Cup

?IG.Vitality enter this match with a 4-6 record from their last 10 outings, which includes losses against three semi-pro teams in Spade A, FTD.C.Club and team void. Phoenix Gaming hold a 3-5-2 record over the same stretch, but that includes matches against some much tougher teams than iG.V faced.

Even though iG.Vitality seem stronger, there is not a lot to separate the two sides. Phoenix have proven time and time again they can compete with A-Tier teams, so they should have a higher than 40% chance of causing an upset.

?Since the departure of their entire roster in September, CDEC Gaming have plunged into a downward spiral. What’s more, they have not played a single match since they lost to iG.Vitality (0-2) during the second season of the CDA-FDC Pro Championship on November 13.

That result marked IG.Vitality’s first win over CDEC since October 2019, and considering how things are looking for CDEC, there is no reason to believe iG.V can’t do it again. Anything above $1.60 is a good price.

BTS Pro Series Season 4: SEA

?Fnatic and Execration will clash on Friday for the first time since they drew 1-1 during the third season of the BTS Pro Series in September. The only previous fixture between the two teams in 2020 happened in June when Fnatic won 2-0.

Fnatic have only two games on record since September – against TNC Predator (1-2) and Motivate.Trust Gaming (1-1) – which is somewhat worrying since they will be facing a squad with 10 games under their belt in the past week alone. While that won’t do Fnatic any favours, it’s hard to side with Execration when they only seem to do well against much weaker sides.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility for Fnatic to win, but we like our chances with a draw.

Esports multi bet tips for Thursday, December 11