Our esport betting previews and predictions for Tuesday, December 21, take a look at two Dota 2 matches at DreamLeague Season 16 and an exciting Brazillian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fixture between MIBR and Sharks Esports, who will meet in the finals of CBCS Finals 2021.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, December 21st
OG vs Coolguys
DreamLeague Season 16
The final week of DreamLeague Season 16 regular season kicks off on Tuesday, December 21, with a clash between Coolguys and the new-look OG. Bet365 priced OG as massive betting favourites at 1.02 and Coolguys at 11.00, suggesting this should be a very one-sided affair.
The odds hardly surprise me since we have already seen what Coolguys are capable of, or better said, what they're not. They have yet to win a single series, nor did they collect a single map after three outings and seeing how they still need to face OG and Tundra Esports, Coolguys will likely end this season winless.
In fact, Coolguys need to win back-to-back games this week to save themselves from relegation, but I wouldn't count on that happening. And it's fair to say that players know that, so morale in the team remains questionable.
OG are not as scary as they were in 2018 and 2019, nor is this team as stacked as they were in 2020-2021. This is a new-look OG, fielding an entirely different roster of young talent. However, despite the major roster overhaul, OG are playing extremely well.
OG are 2-1, with wins against Team Secret and Nigma Galaxy. Meanwhile, their only defeat came against the only undefeated team of DPC Western Europe Tour 1 Division I, Team Liquid.
Even their win against Team Secret was a bit of a fluke, and we have to take OG's win against Nigma with a grain of salt since Nigma were missing their star player. But the eye test proves that OG is playing with a lot of discipline, and I wouldn't say they lack talent.
Without trying to sound biased, OG can only lose if they shoot themselves in the foot, and even if they don't play at 100%, they should still win. Coolguys have not produced anything that would make me excited about them. This is by far the weakest team of this division.
Team Liquid vs Team Secret
DreamLeague Season 16
The second match of the day will feature two of the strongest European Dota 2 teams, as they clash for the second time this season after Secret defeated Team Liquid in the first round of OGA Dota PIT S5 last week.
Secret were the better team on that day, but I don't believe they'll be as successful this time out. Not because they are worst, but because Liquid are much better than what they showed last week.
Liquid are the only undefeated team of DreamLeague Season 16, and while I expected them to do well with the roster Liquid assembled during the offseason, I did not expect them to be that strong. On the other side, Team Secret put together a new European Dota 2 superteam but you wouldn't be able to tell how stacked this team is by looking at Secret's performances.
Secret are only 2-2 at the DreamLeague Season 16, which doesn't seem that bad, but they dropped a game against Nigma Galaxy on Saturday, and they did not impress me during OGA Dota PIT either. They made it further than Liquid, but they only won against Liquid and Nigma Galaxy.
This seems like a 50/50 match. Team Secret are highly unpredictable, and while they're capable of winning 2-0, they're just as likely to lose without winning a map. Some bookmakers still have Liquid priced at 2.00 or over, which is a bet I would happily take, but for this prediction, we're going for under 2.5 maps.
Sharks Esports vs MIBR
CBCS Finals 2021
Shark and MIBR will meet in the finals of CBCS Finals 2021. Sharks enter the match with a 1-0 map advantage for qualifying from the Play-In upper bracket, which sets them up nicely to defeat MIBR and lift the trophy.
These two teams have already met once at this event when Sharks won 2-0 (16-11 on Inferno and 19-16 on Nuke). It was quite a close match thanks to MIBR's Raphael 'exit' Lacerda, who ended the series as the best player on the server with 49 frags and a 1.22 HLTV rating. On the side of Sharks, Antonio 'realziN' Oliveira shone the brightest with 39 frags and a 1.19 HLTV rating.
It might be worth mentioning that MIBR managed to win 3-0 against Sharks about three months ago, but I don't think that result matters since MIBR fielded a much different roster back then. They entered the series with a one map advantage, and the second map was incredibly close, but sadly Sharks collapsed on the third map, and they definitely had their chances to come out ahead.
All in all, I don't think there is a lot to separate Sharks and MIBR; if anything, I would even put the Sharks slightly ahead. This should be a close match, and the one map advantage could prove to be crucial for the Sharks to secure the win. Bet on Sharks to win!
