Another big night of esports action coming up this Friday, the 22nd of May and into Saturday morning! As usual, we have a full preview and betting tips for some of our favourite matchups of the night, including games from the DOTA2 ESL One Birmingham and the CA:GO DreamHack Masters.
Esports Betting Tips: Friday, May 22nd
TNC Predator vs Team Adroit
DOTA2 ESL One Birmingham 2020
TNC Predator and Team Adroit will meet for the fifth time in 2020 this Thursday, in their second fixture of ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: Southeast Asia. Throughout their last four meetings, Adroit won three times, twice with a clean sweep (2-0) and once with a 2-1 score. Their most recent meetings took place during BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia in April, where Adroit won the first match 2-0 but lost 0-2 in the reverse fixture that was played in the playoffs.
TNC Predator were once regarded as one of the strongest SEA Dota2 teams, but have struggled to perform up to par ever since they won MDL Chengdu Major in November. Although they had occasional flashes of greatness, their overall performances through the past six months were very poor for their standards. Adroit, on the other side, are a tier-two team you wouldn't count to contest any major titles, however, since they have already defeated TNC three times in the past three months, they should not be completely ignored here.
TNC without a doubt field one of the most stacked rosters in the Dota2 scene, however, I find it hard to trust TNC they will show that here. Their struggles are very obvious, which is why it's hard to understand why they're priced as massive favourites here, especially since they already lost to Adroit more than a couple of times and even kneeled to BOOM (0-2) in the opening match of the tournament. These online matches can often be 50/50 and considering Adroit have shown before they match up nicely with TNC, siding with the underdogs at these odds is the only logical thing to do.
Fnatic vs Reality Rift
DOTA2 ESL One Birmingham 2020
Reality Rift are entering their second fixture of the tournament following a devastating 0-2 loss to Geek Fam, although we can't praise Fnatic too much for their 1-2 loss to Adroit either. Looking at Reality Rift's game against Geek Fam, RR had a legitimate chance to come out ahead or at least win the first map, but choked and let their lead slip through their fingers. Fnatic, on the other side, took an early series lead against Adroit, but got utterly stomped in game two and three. Shockingly enough, this was their first defeat in 14 games, however, it was more than just a fluke win, as Fnatic failed to show anything promising.
Reality Rift and Fnatic met only once before back in April during BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia, where Fnatic won 2-0. We could expect to see something similar here, but these online matches can be very unpredictable. Fnatic have shown some struggles on Thursday which suggests the next fixture won't be as straightforward as it should be. Judging Fnatic solely from one poor showing is not a smart idea but we have to consider that this will be their second match in almost a month, so Fnatic will likely need a couple of games to warm up before we see them playing with full strength.
That, however, is not enough for us to recommend any bet on Reality Rift, who have been struggling even against some significantly weaker sides in recent weeks. They also failed to win a single map against Geek Fam, so it’s easy to imagine they will struggle to achieve anything against Fnatic.
Endpoint vs SKADE
CS:GO Home Sweet Home Cup 5
Endpoint and SKADE last met only a couple of days ago, during the fourth season of Home Sweet Home. The bout took place in the Group C winner's match in what proved to be a very close affair, perhaps even closer than how it should be. Endpoint won the first map Dust2 with a convincing 16-10, but got completely stomped by SKADE on Inferno with 4-16. The game came down to Overpass, where SKADE entered the second half with a 10-5 lead, but failed to use the momentum to seal the series and ended up losing 15-19 in the overtime.
Since their most recent match took place not long ago, we can expect to see a similar performance here. In other words, we are in for another close match that, just like the first, can end either way. This makes siding with the underdogs SKADE a very attractive bet. Bet on SKADE to get their revenge against Endpoint!
MAD Lions vs BIG
CS:GO DreamHack Masters Spring 2020
MAD Lions will enter this match still reminiscing of their amazing run through FLASHPOINT where they lifted the trophy, losing only two games out of 11 played. Their only two losses came against HAVU on an opening day and MiBR, although MAD Lions got their revenge against both teams later down the line. In the finals, MAD Lions met with MiBR, and although they lost the first map on Mirage 13-16, they struck back with 16-13 on Inferno and produced a remarkable comeback on Train, where MiBR led 12-3 at the half time, only to drop the ball and lose the game 16-13. After taking home the $500,000 tournament winnings, MAD Lions took a well-deserved break from competitive scene and have not been active for the past month, which will likely bite them in the rear this Friday, when they face BIG.
The BIG Clan are coming into the match with a respectable 67.5% win rate across the past three months. They have established themselves as a dominant force at the Home Sweet Home Cup, where they managed to win season one and two and even took a map off Complexity in the finals of the third season. BIG were also active in the LOOT.BET Season 6, where they won the opening match against WInstrike, but suffered an upset loss against Gambit Youngsters, to finish the tournament at the third-fourth place.
If MAD Lions wouldn't have accumulated so much rust due to skipping matches for the past month, I would definitely put my money on them to win but since this will be their first competitive match in quite a while, a bet on BIG become much more appealing. BIG might not be as accomplished as MAD LIons, but they have at least played matches and won't be coming into this match cold. Bet on BIG to catch MAD Lions sleeping on their last trophy.
