The Six Charlotte Major 2022 kicks off on Monday, May 16, and Michael Lee is here to provide his best picks for the opening round of action. Today, he looks at three matches, including Elevate vs Oxygen Esports, DarkZero Esports vs G2 Esports, and Wolves vs Chiefs Esports Club.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, May 16th
Elevate vs Oxygen Esports
Six Charlotte Major 2022
The opening day of Six Charlotte Major 2022 kicks off with an interesting match between Oxygen Esports and Elevate. Oxygen Esports are priced as 1.41 favourites, and there are many good reasons for that.
They are one of the more experienced teams on LAN and are set to face off a team from the APAC region, which is largely considered one of the weakest regions in the Rainbow Six esport scene. Moreover, you could argue that Elevate shouldn't even qualify for the Major.
At the same time, I must also note that Oxygen are actually a very solid team. They placed top-eight at Six Invitational in February, and they finished NAL - Season 2022 - Stage 1 in second place. Over their last nine games, Oxygen won all but two (against Spacestation Gaming and DarkZero), so they seem to be in good form.
However, I wouldn't overreact to Oxygen's past achievements, knowing that the team replaced two players in March. They have since played well, but it could perhaps be due to the "honeymoon phase", which seems to slowly end.
While I would be careful not to be overly excited about Oxygen and their chances to win the Major or produce a deep run, I haven't seen enough from Elevate to bet on them at the offered betting odds. Oxygen Esports are a more established team, playing on home turf, so I have no reason to doubt them. Take Oxygen Esports with a -2.5 round handicap!
Oxygen Esports -2.5 Rounds
$2.10
DarkZero Esports vs G2 Esports
Six Charlotte Major 2022
DarkZero Esports and G2 Esports will meet in the first round of Group C, which is possibly one of the most exciting groups at the Major. Featuring the likes of G2, DZ, w7m, and Heroic, there is no telling which two teams will make it out alive, so every win counts.
G2 Esports might be the biggest talking point of the group, as a roster that mixed EU, APAC, and LATAM players to form a squad built to win major events. In the roster's debut, G2 finished as the fourth-best team in Europe; however, they ended up tied on 16 points with LFO.
When we talk about G2, it's also worth pointing out their biggest weakness – the inability to deliver on the offence, but I have seen some improvement in that department. This also led G2 to achieve solid results against Secret and NaVi, but their weak points did come up again when G2 got paired with top teams – most notably, they won just two of 12 attacking rounds against BDS and Heroic.
DarkZero Esports finished Six Invitational 2022 in seventh-eighth place, and they placed third in NAL - Season 2022 - Stage 1, which isn't that bad. But while DarkZero have managed to produce decent results, the team struggles with entry, seeing how Nick "njr" Rapier, Panbazou and Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski were two of the bottom six players in the NA league by entry record.
On a more positive note, Paul "Hyper" Kontopanagiotis is in excellent form and travels to Charlotte as the team's top-rated player at this stage. He is also the only player on DarkZero with positive entry figures.
Overall, DarkZero have some weaknesses, but I expect them to be competitive. However, whether that be enough to defeat G2 Esports is another question.
G2 have previously faced DarkZero three times, winning once at SI 2021, but then lost the next two during Six Mexico Major. Only five of 10 players were the same in the first game, but none included Canadian.
These are very solid teams, and even though you could say that G2 are stronger, I expected to see DarkZero priced much closer to 2.00. Therefore, I have to take a shot with the outsiders at 2.62!
Chiefs Esports Club vs Wolves
Six Charlotte Major 2022
Wolves enter the Charlotte Major as the second org-less squad to ever compete at a Six Major tournament. Formerly Team Vitality, the French squad did well at the Six Sweden Major 2021, where they placed ninth-12th, but we can be sure they'll look to improve upon that and compete for a podium finish.
Can they actually do it is another question. Still, the team has started making moves in the right direction to improve, mainly by signing Yanis "Mowwwgli" Dahmani, who made a name for himself in the Italian national league. His arrival also saw Nicolas "P4" Rimbaud move to a roaming role, which seems to suit him.
P4 was already the top-performing player on the team on Finka, but his numbers are now even better. This also enabled Mowwwgli to show off his talent, as he is averaging a 1.10 rating, just slightly behind P4, who is averaging 1.19.
Wolves have been quietly improving this season, and while they're not quite good enough for me to consider them a serious threat for the Major title. Nevertheless, they should do some damage.
Chiefs Esports Club made it back to their second Major in a row, hoping to help bring Australia back on the map and they seem to be in a good spot to do so, assuming Bouncinballz will continue with his strong form. He was the second-best fragger in APAC South, and he formed a strong partnership with Trent "Worthy" Mitchell-Roseon.
That said, I have not seen enough from Ethan "Ethan" Picard, who has been struggling with his form. Lately, his offensive average has been sitting at around 0.75, which is quite a drop from his 1.36 in stage three. Still, he has improved, so we will have to wait and see how he does at the Major.
Overall, Chiefs Esports Club are an interesting team with a unique team dynamic. But for them to achieve anything meaningful, Ethan will have to step up and deliver, or else the Australian squad might not even make it out of the group stage.
Until I see some improvement from Chiefs Esports Club, I would prefer to be on the side of Wolves. The French squad is in solid form and has shown a very high ceiling. Even though Chiefs can be just as strong – if not stronger – at their best, this is a match Wolves can't afford to lose.
