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BLAST Pro is back, this time in beautiful Copenhagen to give us what is essentially a two team race between Astralis and Liquid. While upsets are pretty prevalent at these events due to the format, I still think the Grand Finals are pretty much set already.
Still, there is plenty of opportunity for CS:GO betting fans to make some smart wagers here, especially with the number of games that they play at these events. NiP are a fun upset team, and teams like Na’Vi and FaZe could fall to anyone in attendance.
Date: 11/01/2019 – 11/02/2019
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Format: Round Robin Group Stage, Bo3 Finals
Teams attending:
- Astralis
- Cloud9
- FaZe Clan
- Team Liquid
- Natus Vincere
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis (+100)
Astralis are the favorites here, for obvious reasons. They’ve been one of the best teams in Counter Strike for the better part of two years, and since the Berlin Major they’ve dropped two series, to Evil Geniuses and Fnatic, two teams that have looked close to tier one.
Astralis’ all-time record against Team Liquid is 43-16, which is pretty absurd. It seems like no matter what form Astralis are in, they hold the edge in the match up. That likely has to do with device and his consistent MVP level performances.
While Liquid’s lack of a real AWPer doesn’t inhibit them against most teams, device is a whole other animal. The last time he had a Rating under one was BLAST Pro Series Miami, which was months ago. Since then he’s kept his Rating above 1.20 for the most part. At DreamHack Masters Malmo, he had a Rating of 1.42. 1.42. That’s one of the best marks you’ll see at a big tournament from anyone.
Liquid (+195)
Liquid have fallen on hard times. After their disappointment at the Berlin Major they’ve gone on to take a dump at both of the tournaments they’ve played in. Over the last three months the teams Ratings have been steadily declining, with EliGE the last player remaining with a Rating over 1.20. While everyone on the team remains positive on LAN, they’ve been dropping maps to teams like Grayhound, OpTic, and Singularity. Still, it would be silly to count them out. NAF, Twistzz, and EliGE are all still superstar level players, at least every once in a while.
I do like Liquid as a team to get upset here. I could see them dropping maps to just about everyone here, with the exception of Cloud9 probably. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a roster change sometime in the near future. This team hasn’t looked right in a long time, and unless they can turn things around soon I’d expect them to make a change, presumably for a full time AWPer.
Natus Vincere (+475)
I don’t get Na’Vi man. They drop games to everyone and their brother; Heroic, G2, forZe, AVANGAR, everybody. This new lineup was supposed to fix their problems, and yet, here we are. Na’Vi hasn’t won anything all year for the most part, aside from StarSeries in April.
The biggest disappointment for this team is GuardiaN, obviously. While s1mple and electronic both have Ratings above 1.15, GuardiaN is sitting at 0.96, which is abysmal, especially for a main AWPer. Giving a player performing that poorly an investment like the AWP, every buy round, will wreck a team’s economy.
Every time I talk about Na’Vi, I have to include the caveat that it’s always dangerous to bet against Na’Vi for as long as they have s1mple. S1mple and electronic are, on paper at least, maybe the most dangerous duos in Counter Strike. Unfortunately, they can’t seem to figure out how to capitalize on them.
FaZe (+1300)
You know how a minute ago, I said s1mple and electronic were maybe the most dangerous duo? FaZe has both coldzera, and NiKo. That’s pretty bonkers. Of course, the team still isn’t very good, even with the talent they have. Why that is, I can’t say. Well, I can actually. NiKo is in-game leading, which definitely isn’t a recipe for a tier one team. But still, they should be better than they are.
I feel confident betting against FaZe, pretty much all the time. I would favor pretty much everyone at this event over them, which seems crazy to say. NiKo, coldzera, Rain, and olofmeister should be enough firepower to go toe to toe with just about anyone in the scene, but they’ve been disappointing. Losses to OpTic, BIG, and Mousesports make up the bulk of their resume up to now.
Ninjas in Pyjamas (+2500)
NiP are starting to look a little frisky actually. Their team is full of fresh(ish) talent, and f0rest is still actually really good somehow. If just one or two of the young guys can get it together, they could be a legit contender in the next three months or so.
As for right now, I wouldn’t bet on NiP to make the finals. Could they upset Na’Vi, or FaZe? Absolutely. If I had to guess I’d say they’ll go 2-3 or so, with a win over C9 and one over Na’Vi or FaZe.
Cloud9 (+5000)
I really want to like this roster. Mixwell, autimatic and daps could be the core of a good team, in theory at least. However, the core of this team has gone 12-24 since their inception, which is obviously subpar. Perhaps the most unfortunate part about this experiment so far is autimatic’s Rating. He’s posted a 1.00 since the formation of the core, which is not what I would have expected. I’ve long thought that he had the potential to be a number one guy on a tournament winning team, but so far that hasn’t been the case.
Betting Pick to Win the BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen
I like Astralis for this tournament. They’re +100, which isn’t great value, but they’re the only team here I feel comfortable betting on due to too many best of ones, and too slim of a format. If I had to pick someone else, I would go with NiP. I could see them squeaking through the best of one group stage, and a prime f0rest performance could push them over the edge against someone like Liquid.
