The Swedish round format has been completed in the CS:GO IEM Katowice Major and now just eight teams remain! The eight teams will battle it out in the quarter-finals starting this Thursday night/Friday morning Australian time and we give our betting tips for all four matchups below.
CS:GO IEM Katowice Major Quarterfinal Betting Tips
Natus Vincere vs FaZe Clan (Friday 2am AEDT)
Arguably the best matchup of the quaterfinals sees World No.3 ranked team NaVi facing off against No.5 ranked team FaZe Clan. NaVi breezed through to the quarterfinal stage, finishing the Swedish round format with a 3-1 record with wins over G2, Vitality and Avangar. Their one loss came at the hands of Liquid, in which they were convincingly defeated, however, they bounced back to beat Avangar 2-0 to book a place in the quarterfinals.
For FaZe, the road was much tougher. They needed all five matches to win three games and ensure their place in the quarterfinals. FaZe looked ominous in the opening match of the tournament, defeating HellRaisers 16-4, however, they went on to lose their next two matchups against Renegades and Avangar, both in tight contests. The No.5 ranked team in the world bounced back with wins over compLexity and Cloud9 to send them into the quarter-finals as the seventh seeded team.
NaVi looked a little shaky against the might of Liquid in the group stage but other than that, they didnt put a foot wrong. It seems obvious that FaZe are still getting used to their new teammate in Kazak, AdreN. The two teams have very different map pools with FaZe holding the slight advantage in Cache, Dust2 and Inferno while NaVi should be tough to beat on Mirage, Train and Overpass. Look for this match to go the full distance and NaVi to come out on top.
Total maps OVER 2.5
$1.90
MiBR vs Renegades (Saturday 2am AEDT)
Australian team 'Renegades' have been one of the surprise packets of the Major so far. They became the first Australian squad to advance to the quarterfinals of a major in history and will be looking to claim a big scalp as they face off against CS:GO juggernaught MiBR, formerly SK Gaming, in the quarterfinals. The Renegades finished in the fifth seed heading into the quarterfinals, finishing the round stage with a 3-1 record with big wins over FaZe and Vitality along the way. They were also impressive against No.1 ranked team in the world, Astralis, whom they claimed the first map off.
MiBR looked like bowing out of the major in glorious fashion after losing their first match to Cloud9 16-3, however, they went on to win their next four maps in a row to finish the round stage with a 3-1 record with wins over compLexity, G2 and NiP. Star fragger and former No.1 player in the world, coldzera, was the catalyst for MiBR, racking up a 1.48 K/D ratio and a 1.38 rating, the second highest in the tournamnet.
Renegades are extremely strong on Train, Inferno and Cache, having won at least 75% of their matches on all three of those maps over the last three months. The two teams have plaed six maps since SK Gaming morphed into MiBR back in July of last year, and all six of those have been played on Inferno, Train or Cache. Renegades hold wins in two of their last three against MiBR and with this match likely to be played on the same three maps, we think the Aussie underdogs can win at least one map.
Total maps OVER 2.5
$1.90
Other Quarter Final Tips
TIP: Astralis -1.5 maps vs NiP - $1.61 at Bet365
TIP: Liquid -1.5 maps vs ENCE - $2.20 at Bet365
