This article is part of our DraftKings CS:GO series.
GAMES (EDT)
- 8:00 a.m. fnatic vs. Spirit
- 11:30 a.m. FaZe vs. GODSENT
- 3:10 p.m. Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses
fnatic vs. Spirit
fnatic had a rough go of things in ESL One: Road to Rio, finishing the tournament in 12th place after losses to the likes of Dignitas and Movistar Riders, which was surprising considering they had won ESL Pro League just weeks before that. Their opponents in this Group C matchup will be Spirit, who have looked excellent recently, winning ESL One: Road to Rio CIS in dominant fashion. The question is if they will be able to compete against one of the world's best. I would expect Spirit to pick a map like Mirage or Dust2, where their individuals can really shine, while fnatic will likely opt for Inferno or Overpass, two maps where their strong fundamentals should give them the upper hand. While Spirit are certainly underdogs in this one, they have proven with wins against teams like Vitality and ENCE that they can compete even against top competition, and it would not be surprising to see them make fnatic sweat a little bit. mir is the star of this team, and he is a solid play alongside somedieyoung and iDISBALANCE for those looking to target the Spirit upset. On fnatic, JW is particularly interesting at just $6,200, and I don't mind taking a chance on KRIMZ at $8,200 either due to the maps that we are likely to see. However, you can make a case for anyone
GAMES (EDT)
- 8:00 a.m. fnatic vs. Spirit
- 11:30 a.m. FaZe vs. GODSENT
- 3:10 p.m. Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses
fnatic vs. Spirit
fnatic had a rough go of things in ESL One: Road to Rio, finishing the tournament in 12th place after losses to the likes of Dignitas and Movistar Riders, which was surprising considering they had won ESL Pro League just weeks before that. Their opponents in this Group C matchup will be Spirit, who have looked excellent recently, winning ESL One: Road to Rio CIS in dominant fashion. The question is if they will be able to compete against one of the world's best. I would expect Spirit to pick a map like Mirage or Dust2, where their individuals can really shine, while fnatic will likely opt for Inferno or Overpass, two maps where their strong fundamentals should give them the upper hand. While Spirit are certainly underdogs in this one, they have proven with wins against teams like Vitality and ENCE that they can compete even against top competition, and it would not be surprising to see them make fnatic sweat a little bit. mir is the star of this team, and he is a solid play alongside somedieyoung and iDISBALANCE for those looking to target the Spirit upset. On fnatic, JW is particularly interesting at just $6,200, and I don't mind taking a chance on KRIMZ at $8,200 either due to the maps that we are likely to see. However, you can make a case for anyone but Golden, really, and it is going to come down to roster constraints.
- fnatic Players to Target: Brollan ($9,400) / KRIMZ ($8,200), JW ($6,400)
- Spirit Players to Target: mir ($7,600), iDISBALANCE ($6,200) / somedieyoung ($5,800)
FaZe vs. GODSENT
Both of these teams have just made roster changes. FaZe hit the jackpot when they picked up broky from free agency in September, and it seems like they are going to take a chance on youth once more with the addition of Bymas, a Lithuanian player with little experience at the highest level. However, as of the writing of this article, this has not yet been confirmed by FaZe, so I would highly recommend keeping an eye on their socials to find out who they will play with against GODSENT. Leaving the team is olofmeister, who has really struggled for FaZe in recent times. While FaZe should benefit from this change, it may take some time for their new teammate to settle in with this team, and I would recommend sticking to the big guns on FaZe until we see how they cope with life without olofmeister.
GODSENT have chosen to let go off Maikelele in favor of the former Copenhagen Flames player, Farlig, who really made a name for himself with his performance in ESL One: Road to Rio. Maikelele was never particularly impactful as the team's main AWPer, so this is a pretty big upgrade in firepower overall. Someone on GODSENT is likely going to have less room to shine after this change, and it would not surprise me if it ends up being STYKO, who has shown willingness to sacrifice himself for the team throughout his career. However, this is merely a guess and we will get a better idea about how this team will perform with Farlig at the end of the tournament. All in all, this is a great move for GODSENT, and it should increase their chances at an upset against FaZe.
- FaZe Players to Target: NiKo ($10,200), broky ($8,000)
- GODSENT Players to Target: Farlig ($8,400), zehN ($6,800) / Maden ($6,400)
Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses
These two teams faced off in ESL One: Road to Rio earlier in the year, and it was Cloud9 who came out on top in that match by a score of 2–1. However, this could easily have gone the other way, with Evil Geniuses falling in overtime on Cloud9's map pick, Dust2. Brehze had a great game for Evil Geniuses despite the loss, and he will be one to target once more against Cloud9 alongside CeRq. On Cloud9, floppy and oSee are going to be the safest bets, but a player like Sonic definitely has the potential to pop off, especially if Evil Geniuses' pick Inferno this time around.
