Big night of esports coming up this Thursday night and into Friday morning with a variety of different events on the card! Today we take a look at some of the key matchups from the DOTA2 BEYOND EPIC as well as the CS:GO BLAST Premier Spring.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, June 18th
Alliance vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
BEYOND EPIC: Europe/CIS
Neither team has managed to impress with what they have shown so far this tournament, which especially holds true for Alliance, who dropped a game against Empire (0-2) on an opening day. Ninjas in Pyjamas, on the other side, defeated Empire on Tuesday but struggled against FlyToMoon who defeated NiP 2-0 this Wednesday.
It seems like both NiP and Ninjas in Pyjamas are out of shape heading into this bout and based on their recent performances, I find it hard to set them apart. Since NiP won three out of their last five meetings with Alliance, they might seem like the most likely winners here, but we can't forget about Alliance's 2-0 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas at BLAST Bounty Hunt las week.
Despite their 2-0 win over NiP last week, Alliance have shown little to nothing on the opening day of BEYOND EPIC: Europe/CIS, which makes it hard to side with them. NiP looked disappointing in their loss against FlyToMoon as well, so we are highly likely in for a scrappy match that can extend into three maps.
Vitality vs FaZe
BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe Finals
The last time Vitality and FaZe played each other was back on LAN at the IEM Katowice 2020, where they produced a thriller of a match, yet it was FaZe who edged out a win.
Vitality opened the series with a close 16-14 win on Mirage and even looked like they would close out the series after picking up six rounds on T side of Nuke. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for the French, who saw FaZe win Nuke and force the third map. There FaZe continued with strong performances and closed out the series with a commanding 16-10 win on Inferno. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut was the best-performing player on the server with 72 frags and an impressive 1.44 HLTV rating. On the side of FaZe, Helvijs "broky" Saukants stepped up and produced 66 frags and 1.25 HLTV rating.
Both sides made roster changes since their last meeting. FaZe benched Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer and replaced him with rookie Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras, while Vitality lost their IGL Alex "ALEX" McMeekin and replaced him with Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier.
Vitality are coming into the match after an impressive performance against their French rivals G2, where we saw ZywOo carry Vitality to victory with 64 frags and an amazing 1.70 HLTV rating. If we can see the same level of play from the French CS:GO prodigy, Vitality will have an easy time defeating FaZe and seeing how FaZe are still working on integrating their newest addition into the roster, this gives us a perfect opportunity to bet on Vitality to come out ahead. Bet on Vitality to win.
Isurus vs DETONA
ESL Pro League Season 12 South America Qualifier
The final match of the ESL Pro League Qualifier will serve us with a clash between the Argentinian side Isurus and the Brazilian underdogs DETONA. The match will be played in a BO5 format, where the winners will earn a spot at the ESL Pro League Season 12.
Isurus and DETONA met just a couple of weeks ago in the upper bracket semi-final at the CLUTCH Redragon Challenge 2020. Isurus came away with an easy win, defeating DETONA 16-8 on Mirage and 16-14 on Train. Gabriel "1962" Sinopoli was the match MVP with a total of 46 frags and 1.31 HLTV rating. On the other side, Lucas "Lucaozy" Neves came away from the game as the only player of DETONA with a positive HLTV rating a total of 39 frags.
We rarely see a full BO5 match play out in the finals and but I expect to see the same result as we did a couple of days ago. Isurus are justifiably priced as favourites and should be well prepared for this bout. While they might lose a map due to the unpredictability of the Brazilian teams, they should easily cover the -1.50 map handicap, especially against a team that has only played a total of three matches with their new core. Bet on Isurus to make short work of DETONA!
