Michael Lee is back with his esports betting previews for three Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches at BLAST Premier. Fall Groups 2023 on Friday, July 14. Today he looks at Heroic vs BIG, Natus Vincere vs Astralis, and FaZe Clan vs OG.
Check out our expert previews and betting tips below, and make sure to head over to Picklebet – Australia’s #1 esports betting site.
Esports Betting Tips: Friday, July 14th 2023
Heroic vs BIG
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 is the first Counter-Strike tournament following the summer break, which is important to know since it means that all teams are rusty. Moreover, many teams have made roster changes during the summer break, adding to the unpredictability of how this event will go.
Heroic are one of the few teams that didn't make any roster changes, which will help, but it doesn't change the fact that they've been out of action for a month. So regardless of their success in June, when Heroic placed top four at the Major and won BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023, they likely won't lok as good early into this event.
BIG have made a few roster changes, adding three new players to the lineup, including Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski and two academy players, David "prosus" Hesse and Elias "s1n" Stein. This could be a good move down the line, but it's unclear how good the two rookies will be competing at the highest level.
Heroic should win this game, but considering both teams are a bit rusty, I prefer over 2.5 maps at 2.70.
Over 2.5 Maps
$2.70 (1 Unit)
Natus Vincere vs Astralis
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023
Despite all the success Natus Vincere have achieved before the summer break, the team decided to make a few roster changes, singing Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen, Justinas "jL" Lekavicius, and Ivan "iM" Mihai. The changes might work out, but I'm concerned about how good the communication in this team will be, knowing that NaVi have historically been a Ukrainian-Russian-speaking team and now have to switch to English.
Astralis haven't achieved much this year and, in a bid to bounce back following the summer break, added two new players in Victor "Staehr" Staehr and Johannes "b0RUP" Borup. But more notably, Astralis benched Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander.
Without gla1ve, this is a new team that should be competitive but not one of the top teams in the world. Perhaps they outperform the expectations, but realistically, Astralis had to make drastic changes following their disastrous run throughout the last year.
Natus Vincere are favourites for this match which doesn't seem too wrong, but it is also hard to say that NaVi are stronger than Astralis. They are rusty, and NaVi might need some time to adapt to communicating in a new language.
Astralis to win
$2 (1 Unit)
FaZe Clan vs OG
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023
FaZe Clan were the best team in the world at the start of the year, but then fell off towards the summer and didn't accomplish much at the Major (5th-8th) and BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 (5th-6th). They had a good run at IEM Dallas, where FaZe reached the semifinals, but besides that, FaZe haven't shown much since ESL Pro League S17 in March.
Still, FaZe decided to stick with the same roster, which isn't a wrong choice. This team was excellent and still has the potential to be great. The only issue was poor form, but form is irrelevant after the long summer break.
OG rebuilt its roster with Iulian "regali" Harjău, Nils "k1to" Gruhne, and Dion "FASHR" Derksen, which looks like a promising project. But it could also fail miserably, and it's hard to say which direction OG will go.
I'm not a big fan of betting on favourites after the summer break, so as much as FaZe are objectively better, OG, with a +11.5 total round handicap are the more appealing pick.
OG +11.5 rounds
$1.90 (1 Unit)
