IEM Rio 2023 is turning hot as we turn to some of the bigger matches tonight. We are at the business end of Group A. With BIG facing NaVi and NIP going against Heroic, we have two top matchups of this tournament. With high stakes on the line, we take a look at the matches and come up with predictions for these two matchups in group A of IEM Rio 2023.
IEM Rio 2023: Group A
Group A of IEM Rio 2023 started off with some top world-class teams. The likes of Heroic, BIG, MOUZ, NIP and NaVi are all in group A. But now it’s time for the upper and lower bracket semifinals. BIG will be facing Natus Vincere in the upper bracket final first and then Heroic will be going against Ninjas In Pyjamas.
BIG vs. Natus Vincere
Rosters
BIG
Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz
Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann
Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa
Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne
Marcel ‘hyped‘ Köhn
NaVi
Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj
Our Prediction
NaVi vs BIG seems to be a bit of a straightforward matchup in our opinion. NaVi has won four of their last five competitive matches while BIG has won only two. The last time the two teams faced each other was at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where NaVi won 2-0. The NaVi team looks stronger on paper and has a better recent form heading into this match. So, we predict a win for NaVi tonight and they’ll be moving forward to the next stage of the tournament.
NIP vs Heroic is a bit of a tricky matchup in our opinion. NIP has a better form going into this match winning three of their last five matches. Heroic has a decent form as well winning four of their last six matches. The last time the two teams have faced each other was at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022. Heroic won that matchup 2-1. But it’s NIP that won 3/3 series before that. While this matchup can go any way, we predict a win for Heroic.
Both NIP and NaVi would look forward to making it into the next round of IEM Rio 2023 as they had done so in their first matches. Let’s see what the night has in store for them!
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IEM-Rio-2023-Group-A-Predictions.png321845Laurahttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngLaura2023-04-19 16:31:462023-04-19 16:31:53IEM Rio 2023: Group A Upper & Lower Bracket Finals
We have finally stepped into the Champions Stage of IEM Rio Major 2022. With only 8 teams remaining, the quarterfinals will commence from tomorrow. Let’s check out the top 8 teams and present our predictions of the IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals!
IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals
Top 8 Teams
Here are the top 8 teams of IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals:
Cloud9
MOUZ
Fnatic
Outsiders
Heroic
Team Spirit
Natus Vincere
FURIA Esports
IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals Predictions
As we can already see, there are an abundance of big names among the top teams this season. It’s gonna be tough to pick up the victors in all of the matchups but here we go with our IEM Rio quarterfinals predictions:
Fnatic vs Outsiders
We have Fnatic vs Outsiders as the first series of the quarterfinals. And this should be a good one! Both the teams have had a similar form throughout this tournament so far. However, Outsiders picked up a two-map win over Fnatic last week. Fnatic would definitely want to take revenge for their earlier loss but it’ll be tough. It seems like Outsiders will be picking up another win over Fnatic but it might be a close one.
The second match of day 1 of the quarterfinals see Cloud9 facing MOUZ. The two teams had very different starts to the tournament. MOUZ were table toppers during the Challengers Stage picking up consecutive wins against Outsiders, Evil Geniuses and Fnatic. However, they couldn’t replicate the dominance in the Legends Stage losing against BIG and Outsiders. On the other hand, Cloud9 started off sloppy losing against Fnatic and Grayhound in their two opening matches. Over time, they regained their form and now look to dominate MOUZ.
Cloud9 should be the easy favorites to win the series here. We know how good they are on maps like Overpass and Mirage where they have far better winrates than MOUZ. MOUZ always tries to ignore Dust2, so if C9 picks that up then it will be game over then and there. So, we’re siding with Cloud9 as the clear favorite here.
Heroic vs Team Spirit
Heroic vs Team Spirit could go either way. Both the teams have displayed some amazing Counter-Strike in this tournament. Heroic’s wins over Fnatic, Outsiders, and Team Liquid have impressed the crowd quite a bit despite being annihilated by C9. Team Spirit did pick up a well-deserved win against Liquid but losses against FURIA and Outsiders were uncalled for.
This matchup will boil down to the map picks and bans. If Heroic gets both Nuke and Overpass in their favor, they should be picking up this series. This series should be an amazing matchup!
Natus Vincere vs FURIA Esports
FURIA, overall, have had a better performance at IEM Rio thus far. They won all of their Legends Stage matches against ENCE, Team Spirit and BIG. Including those three, FURA have won six consecutive matches. With all of that in mind, Natus Vincere is surely in trouble. They started off the tournament on the wrong foot losing against Cloud9 and Team Liquid. With current form in consideration, we don’t see NaVi making it out alive. FURIA just might get the best of them this time around especially with yuurih in such great form.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-13.png321845Laurahttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngLaura2022-11-10 06:48:512022-11-10 06:48:51IEM Rio Major 2022 Quarterfinals Predictions
A lot of Reddit threads and YouTube videos have emerged about CSGO, all of them were titled “Is csgo dying?” In this article, we will go over some of the statistics and opinions about the current state of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive.
CS:GO PLAYER COUNT
If we take a closer look at SteamCharts, we can see a lot of green and red there. However, before we get straight into the numbers, you have to understand that CS:GO has the most competitive type of player, who invested a lot of hours into the game. On the other hand, there are also a lot of casual players, who will switch between CS:GO, Fortnite, PUBG and other popular titles. That is the main reason why most of the games have their ups and downs when it comes to player count.
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS vs CS:GO
PUBG has a huge player base, with an all-time peak of over 3 millions players. On the other hand, CS:GO had over 850.000 players playing the game in the same time period. This means that PUBG has 3.5 times more players than Counter-Strike:Global Offensive.
GENRE
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive has been around for a long time now, and it does not offer anything new, especially in the last few years. However, battle royale games are a brand new thing, and they will attract a lot of casual players. But, battle royale games are not as competitive as CS:GO, once you have spent hours on a battle royale type of game, you will definitely get fed up with it, because most it is a repetitive process: jump down, loot, run, shoot. While Counter-Strike:Global Offensive is nothing like this, there are no similarities in each particular match.
From my personal experience, most of the PUBG players give up once they accumulated around 500-700 hours, however, there are players who spent over 6000 hours playing CS:GO. Personally, I have around 3000 hours in CS:GO, and I know every corner of it. However, I tried PUBG, and I found it very interesting at first, but as I said above it got very repetitive and I gave up once I had around 250 hours.
WHAT CAUSED CS:GO TO LOSE ALMOST HALF OF ITS PLAYERS
If you ask me, all the blame is on developers, Valve. They made a lot of unpopular decisions lately, and this cost them a lot of players.
OFFICIAL MATCHMAKING & CHEATING
Firstly, official matchmaking is still stuck with 64-tick servers, which are awful to play on, that is the main reason why a lot of players are switching from official matchmaking to the third-party organizations, such as Faceit and ESEA. Secondly, cheating is a very big problem, not only in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive but in the entire gaming community. CS:GO is using VAC(Valve anti-cheat system). To be honest, it totally sucks. There are a lot of cheaters in competitive games, and they are barely ever banned, which causes people to quit.
CONTENT/NO CONTENT
If you are a veteran in CSGO, you probably do not remember when was the last time something relevant was added. However, as of late, a new gun was added to the game, but it does not provide much of a comfort. We also received a new HUD update, called Panorama, and it brought more harm than good. A lot of people are experiencing fps drops because of it(me included, and I have a decent PC). What I simply can not understand is why go live with something that is not polished, and it is causing problems for most of the players. There has been 344 since the last operation. There are no plans on introducing new one anytime soon, so I am wondering, what are casual players supposed to do when they get bored on matchmaking?
TOXICITY
Developers never managed to solve this mystery. This caused a lot of competitive players to quit CS:GO. It feels like they never had quality support on this topic, as developers were taking no actions against toxic players. If they were to implement certain punishment in order to prevent trollers and toxic players, most of these types of players would probably think about their actions before they ruined the game for others.
Why not do something similar to Dota 2, place toxic and AFK players in the lower priority, and let them climb back with the similar type of players.
SKIN INDUSTRY
Ever since skins were introduced to Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, the game popularity was rising. A lot of gambling websites started popping up. They were mainly prioritized as skin jackpots or roulette websites. They have created a huge market for CS:GO skins, and a lot of casual and competitive type of players were gambling in one way or another. After a couple of cease and desist letters, most of these types of websites decided to seize their operations. But, a new type of gambling emerged afterward, case opening websites were gaining a lot of popularity. Websites like hellcase.com, datdrop.com were earning a lot of money, but after the latest trading update, a lot of these type of gambling websites shut down their services as well.
All that we are left with are trading websites. The most popular one is definitely cs.money. It seems like they are the only type of skins exchange that survived, mainly because of the 8 days trade ban after each traded skin.
SKIN GAMBLING MADE CS:GO EVEN MORE POPULAR
In 2016, skin gambling was very popular. There were a lot of YouTubers(mostly casual players) gambling skins on regular basis. There was a lot of money in this type of industry, and new gambling sites were appearing every single day. As most of these earned tons of money, they sponsored a lot of giveaways made by famous CS:GO streamers, which attracted even more players and viewers.
If we take PhantomLord as an example, he accumulated over 45.000 concurrent viewers while he was gambling. Mostly because he would make a random $1000 knife giveaways on regular basis. However, he got greedy as he started rigging percentages in order to attract players to the site because when he played it seemed easy to win. He might be one of the reasons why certain actions were taken against skin gambling websites, but the main one was definitely underage gambling.
Most popular skin in CS:GO, AWP Dragon Lore
COULD NEW CS:GO(SOURCE 2) TURN THINGS AROUND?
Lately, there have been a lot of rumors about a new CS game. CS:GO was released in late 2012, which makes him 6 years old now. The engine is relatively old, graphics are also kinda out-dated. The only logical explanation would be a new game with a new engine.
It would definitely be a refreshment to all the Counter-Strike enthusiast, a new game would probably attract over 1.5 million players from what I think.
CONCLUSION
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive is a huge title in the gaming world. A lot of people played either original Counter-Strike, or CS 1.6, Counter-Strike Source, or the last addition to the CS family CS:GO.
CS:GO could use some type of refreshment, mainly in the content department. As I mentioned above, the last mission was active almost a year ago. Furthermore, problems with cheaters and toxic players are still not solved, and they need to be addressed in the near future.
However, everything is not so dark for Counter-Strike:GO. The game has a very stable player count, almost every month they average around 300.000 players, which is a great number for a game that is becoming old. A lot of tournaments, leagues and big prize pools are also attracting a large number of professional teams, players and sponsors, and in the end viewers. Let’s not forget that the last major had over 1 million concurrent users watching the final match.
So no, in my personal opinion, I do not think that CS:GO is dying, or that it is going to die anytime soon. There are a lot of new games released, even on monthly basis, and logically some players will switch to those games, but eventually, they will come back to Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, because this is a very unique game. There is nothing sweeter than hitting a Juan-deag, or one tap with an AK-47, no other games can offer that. However, there is a lot of room for improvement, and I believe that something will be done in order to fight versus cheaters and toxic players.
Csgo match betting continues to become more popular every single day. A couple of years ago, you could only find odds for typical games like CS:GO, LoL, and Dota 2. As scarce as betting on tournaments was, so was the ability for bettors to watch tournaments live. However, tides have turned, and now there are various activities related to esports betting that have evolved, allowing enthusiasts to bet on a large variety of esports markets while watching them in real time.
Bookmakers in 2020 now offer odds for newer titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, NBA 2K League, and FIFA. To say the least, the industry is thriving and we are here to help beginners and experienced bettors learn efficient esports betting strategies to help earn real money wagering on video games.
Not only can you place a pre-match bet, but you can also bet on live matches and there are even outright bets offered by some bookmakers. Throughout this guide we will cover various bet types, how to read csgo betting, and more strategies to place more knowledgeable CS:GO bets in the future!
How to Place a CS:GO Bet
In order to make a successful and safe CS:GO bets, you will have to take a couple of aspects into account. Mainly, you will have to dig out data from reputable websites like hltv.org. You can find a lot of information on sites like these. For instance, on HLTV you can see how many times team Astralis has played Inferno in the last 3 months. Furthermore, you can see how they perform on LAN and Online matches.
Let’s take finalist of the StarSeries i-League Season 6, Vega Squadron as an example. They will have to faceENCE esports, so I will try to break it down for you. Let’s take finalist of the StarSeries i-League Season 6, Vega Squadron. They will have to face ENCE esports, so I will try to break it down for you.
Last 3 Months
Once you have found the match you are willing to place a bet on, you will have to gather information about the teams. However, you do not want to look at their all-time record, because that is not very relevant, mainly because of roster changes.
Russian organization played a total of 24 maps in the last 3 months, which is average activity, that means that this roster is not rusty at all. They are competing on a regular basis. Alongside their total maps played, there are 2 players marked in red, meaning they are rated under 1.00 in the past 3 months. However, lately, their star player jR is having a blast, because he is sitting with a chilling +76 kill/death difference. We can also see that Vega averaged a 5-8th place placement in their last couple tournaments, excluding FACEIT London Major, where they ended up as 12-14th.
Maps
When it comes to map selection, Vega Squadron does not have that deep of a map pool. However, a lot of teams ban Overpass, just because of how aggressive Russian roster can be on the map. Furthermore, they played a lot of Inferno lately, but honestly, this is their worst map. They only managed to win 3 out of 10 matches played on the map. They did edge out a victory on Inferno vs NRG in the semifinals, but that was plain luck, as they won it with 16-14 scoreline. They usually play good on Mirage and Cache, as they were able to win 15 rounds versus team Liquid, but sadly they lost the match in overtime.
Head-to-Head
Vega Squadron played versus ENCE only once. They faced off on the Mirage, and ENCE closed the match in a dominating fashion, 16-6. However, as you can see from the scoreboard, their best player jR had a bad game, as he was only able to have 11 kills.
CS:GO Bet Types
Pre-Match
This is the most standard type of bet. However, it does not have to be strictly a match winner type of bet, there are also a lot of specials provided mostly by specialized esports bookmakers. Simply, this is a bet placed before the match starts. Make sure you utilize special bets to get the best odds and safest betting options.
Outrights
This is the latest addition for most of the bookmakers. If you enjoy watching a tournament and you have a favourite in your head, then this is the option for you. Very simple bet, mostly based on a tournament winner. Mostly, you will get very high odds for these type of bets.
Where to Place CS:GO Bets
If you are a betting enthusiast, then you should have an account with multiple bookmakers in order to secure yourself the best odds for your picks. At the moment, you will get the best odds if you decide to bet on gg.bet. They also have very high live betting odds and insane deposit bonuses. Sometimes they will even offer you a 300% deposit bonus, which is crazy.
Base most of your picks on a single our double combinations. If you want to be a serious bettor you should avoid picking more then 2 matches to bet on. Keep it simple. However, you should not be limited with only one or two bookmakers. There are literally over 20 bookmakers providing odds for numerous Counter-Strike:Global Offensive tournaments and events.
You should always look to maximize your CS:GO bets by finding the best odds. For instance, if egb.com is providing better odds on ENCE versus Vega Squadron, what is stopping you from placing a bet on their site? Bookmakers are smart, and you need to do a lot of research to get the best of them.
Conclusion
If we compare map pools for both the teams, there will be some similarities and differences. Mainly, both of these teams are bad on Inferno. Overpass is the best map for Vega Squadron, but not a very good map for Finnish roster. On the other hand, Dust 2 and Cache are maps that Vega is trying to avoid, but they can only avoid one map since this is the best of 5 match. ENCE enjoys playing Nuke, but Nuke is a permaban for Russians. Each team can ban only one map, and I think ENCE will ban Overpass as they are not as comfortable on the map as Vega Squadron is. In the end, these teams will compete on Cache, Dust 2, Train, Inferno, and Mirage. My suggestion in this match-up will go against Russians. Just because of a deeper map pool I will fancy ENCE esports @ 1.44
What type of research do you prefer when analyzing your picks? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/outfox_guides_csgo_banner-1.png400987ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2019-01-01 20:22:102020-08-20 14:30:14How to Make A Successful and Safe CS:GO Bet
After a brawl across Europe and North America, we are left with only 8 teams who will try their best to lift ECS Season 6 trophy. Only the best teams across the globe will battle it out for a total prize pool of $660,000. The event will be played from 22-25th November, and Gamopo will be providing daily updates on match odds, betting predictions, and tips for ECS Finals Betting.
ECS SEASON 6 FINALS WINNER ODDS
Astralis – 1.80 @ Betway
Liquid – 4.00 @ Betway
Mousesports – 7.25 @ Betway
MIBR – 13.00 @ Betway
Ninjas in Pyjamas – 13.00 @ Betway
NRG – 13.00 @ Betway
Team North – 17 @ Betway
Cloud 9 – 18.00 @ Betway
Needless to say who the bookmakers favor in this tournament. And they have every right to favor them so hard. Astralis has been on a terror throughout the entire year and it seems like no one can stop them, especially after FaZe Clan was not able to qualify for the finals. The only competition Astralis has in this event is Liquid and mousesports. However, both of these teams are highly inconsistent and I would not be surprised if one of these teams does not make it through the group stage.
GROUPS
FACEIT decided to split 8 of teams that made it through the league into 2 groups. What separates this event from the other ones is the format. At first, it might seem like nothing special, but winner’s match will also be played in a best-of-3 series, unlike many other tournaments, where winners play their matches in a best-of-1 match. This is how to groups will look in Texas.
GROUP A
Astralis
Cloud9
MIBR
Mousesports
Should I even mention who the favorite in this group is? Danish roster, Astralis of course. No one from this group is capable enough to stop them, and I do not think that they will lose a single map in the group stage. Furthermore, German roster, mousesports has a lot of chance to come out as a second-placed team in group A. Ever since their latest roster change took place, they were reborn. STYKO has really helped the entire team with his support role. As for the other teams in this group, Cloud9 is still in the rebuilding phase and they can not compete with any of these teams. MIBR may have a chance to go through, but they will have a hard time against both mousesports and Astralis.
GROUP B
Liquid
Ninjas in Pyjamas
North
NRG
This is a much tougher group than group A. A level of competition is way bigger. But still, first place should definitely go to the North American roster, Liquid. However, a battle for the second spot is going to be a hard one. All of these teams are capable of winning that second place and the playoff spot. However, I fancy NRG here. Ninjas in Pyjamas are not in a good form lately, but still, they managed to be placed high on the table and they definitely deserve the spot in this event. North is not the same team without MSL, and I think they might be regretting their decision now. They are in a slump at the moment and in my opinion, they will probably be the last team in this group. This is going to be a brawl between NRG and NIP, and I think NRG will go through, mainly because they have been playing on a consistent basis in the last couple of months, and they also managed to beat some of the best teams out there, but they will need to bring their A-game to this group.
ECS Season 6 Finals First Match-ups
All of the opening matches will be played in the best-of-1 format.
Astralis – Cloud 9
On one side we have a team that is simply unbeatable, and on the other side, there is a team who is still the rebuilding phase. Astralis has been playing together for a while now, while Cloud9 will play their first event with this lineup. Not much else to add to this, Astralis is on the rise, while Cloud9 is at their all-time low. Round handicap seems like a free money in this match.
Map 1 handicap(-5.5) – 1.85 @ Betway
Mousesports – MIBR
Even though this only a first match in this group, it will mean a lot for both of these teams. Whoever wins this match will have a big chance to advance to the playoffs. German squad, Mousesports have been doing good as of late, and the same can not be said about MIBR. It seems like adding two North American players, tarik and Stewie2K did not provide the results owners anticipated. It seems like former SK roster chemistry has been ruined as they seem like they have no idea how to adapt to opponents strategies. And I think mousesports will capitalize on that. If they keep mixing things up they will surely win this game. Value is great alongside odds. I got mousesports in my books.
Mousesports to win – 1.75 @ Betway
NRG – Ninjas in Pyjamas
Another hard match. You can never know with Swedish roster NiP. Sometimes it will feel like they did not even join the server, while sometimes they can dominate anyone. They are a team filled with firepower and experience and they are probably the worst team to bet against. To be totally honest I am clueless about who could win this match, but I am sure of one thing, both of these teams will perform at a high level. Total number of rounds seems like a great bet here.
Map 1 total rounds (26.5) – over – 1.75 @ Betway
Liquid – North
Last but not least, North American organization Liquid will have their way cut out for them. They were drawn against the worst team in their group and they will probably demolish them. One thing is sure when it comes to Liquid. They will barely ever lose against teams who are worse than them. On the other hand, they will always choke in highly competitive games, but this game, in particular, should be a walk in the park for them. North has been in a slump as of late, and I really do not think that this is the game where they will start their comeback among the best teams in the world. Most of the times I would go with a handicap win, but odds are very good on Liquid to win this match, so I will take it.
Liquid to win – 1.45 @ Betway
ECS Season 6 Finals Schedule 2020
Day 1 (Thursday 22 Nov)
09:00-10:30 CST / 16:00-17:30 CET – Astralis v Cloud9 (Group A Semi 1, BO1)
10:30-12:00 CST / 17:30-19:00 CET – mouz v MIBR (Group A Semi 2, BO1)
12:00-13:30 CST / 19:00-20:30 CET – NRG v NiP (Group B Semi 1, BO1)
13:30-15:00 CST / 20:30-22:00 CET – Team Liquid v North (Group B Semi 2, BO1)
15:00-18:00 CST / 22:00-01:00 CET – Winner of Astralis v C9 against winner of mouz v MIBR (Group A Upper Bracket Final, BO3)
18:00-21:00 CST / 01:00-04:00 CET – Winner of NRG v NiP against winner of Team Liquid v North (Group B Upper Bracket Final, BO3)
Day 2 (Friday 23 Nov)
09:00-12:00 CST / 16:00-19:00 CET – Group A Lower Bracket Round 1, BO3
12:00-15:00 CST / 19:00-22:00 CET – Group B Lower Bracket Round 1, BO3
15:00-18:00 CST / 22:00-01:00 CET – Group A Lower Bracket Round 2, BO3
18:00-21:00 CST / 01:00-04:00 CET – Group B Lower Bracket Round 2, BO3
Day 3 (Saturday 24 Nov)
12:00-15:00 CST / 19:00-22:00 CET – Playoffs Semi-Final 1, BO3 (Group A Upper Bracket winner v Group B Lower Bracket winner)
15:00-18:00 CST / 22:00-01:00 CET – Playoffs Semi-Final 2, BO3 (Group B Upper Bracket winner v Group A Lower Bracket winner)
Day 4 (Sunday 25 Nov)
11:30-12:30 CST / 18:30-19:30 CET – Texas Collegiate Showdown (BO1)
12:30-13:30 CST / 19:30-20:30 CET – Movember ECS Showmatch (BO1)
15:00-18:00 CST / 22:00-01:00 CET – ECS Season 6 Grand Final (BO3)
Stay Tuned for Gamopo’s Daily ECS Finals Betting Predictions 2020
All of the teams who are taking part in this event definitely deserve to be here. The only exception is Cloud9 who was invited since Renegades were not able to solve their visa issues on time. As I said, they are all here to compete, and they are capable to beat anyone, and this is why all of us, CS:GO fans and enthusiast will enjoy every second of ECS Season 6 finals.
Good luck to anyone tailing our CSGO betting predictions.
What do you think, who will come out on top in group B? Who is your favorite to lift the ECS Season 6 finals trophy? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
After yesterday’s perfect predictions, we are moving on to the semi-finals of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018. There was barely any surprises so far in this event, except in the opening matches of day 1.
Both Vitality and Luminosity dominated their opponents in the lower bracket, and in the deciding matches. Both of these teams did not drop a single map and they have proven why they are one of the favorites to lift the trophy at DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018.
DREAMHACK OPEN ATLANTA 2018 SEMI-FINALS BETTING PREDICTIONS
GHOST – LUMINOSITY
After the initial struggle, Brazilian roster, Luminosity Gaming has been on a terror. They did not drop a single map in their last two games. They managed to beat Envy, which was expected. In their decider, they had to face off against eUnited. eUnited is a hot and cold team, and their best player moose played out of his mind. However, that was not enough, as Luminosity swept them as well, with a 2-0 score.
Furthermore, their best player HEN1 is in a ridiculous form at the moment. In their last two matches, he is sitting on a +40 KD difference. If we compare him to Ghost’s best player, WARDELL we can see a lot of similarities. Both of these players are carrying their team to the victory, and at the moment I feel like HEN1 is in a better shape than WARDELL. This is definitely going to be a good matchup between these two AWPs and I feel like Luminosity’s star will prevail.
On the other hand, Ghost had it easy so far in this tournament. They won both of their matches and they did not have to play any best-of-3 series so far. They even had an extra day to prepare for their opponents. Firstly, they managed to beat Vitality, and no one expected that. Secondly, they played against Rogue in their last match of the groups. They won that match as well, but both of these matchups were pretty close. In the first one, they lost 12 rounds, and in the second one 13.
Map pool is deep for both of these teams. Let’s start with Ghost. Their permaban is definitely Overpass. They do not feel comfortable on this map and there is no way we will see them compete on it. Furthermore, their Nuke is also really bad, but we will not see them compete on it either, because this is permaban for the Brazilian side. I feel like Ghost will definitely have edge over Luminosity on Cache. They even managed to beat the best Brazilian roster on that map, MIBR. Furthermore, Inferno and Train are all decent maps for Ghost, while Mirage is also not something they shy away from.
Luminosity is also very comfortable on most of the maps. As I mentioned above, they are always permabanning Nuke and there is no way we will see them play it. Furthermore, their Dust 2 is also not so good, but they were able to defeat Liquid on it, and that says a lot. Inferno, Train, and Mirage are all good enough maps for Luminosity Gaming and Cache is probably their worst map which they will probably end up on.
These two teams played 2 maps against each other. Both of these maps went to the North American side, Ghost. However, this was the period when Luminosity was in a pretty big slump and they will definitely bring their A game in this match. They lost on Train and Inferno. I think that this time things might change a little when it comes to map picks. Ghost will definitely try to get Cache in, as they feel really comfortable on it. On the other hand, Train or Inferno would be an ideal pick for Luminosity, and decider might end up on Dust 2.
To conclude, there is a great value on Luminosity to win. They definitely have a chance in this match, they have been in a good form, they played on a constant basis and their best player is fragging like a madman. Bookmakers are underestimating Luminosity in this match and in my personal opinion, they have a great chance in this match.
LUMINOSITY TO WIN – 2.55 @ Betway
COMPLEXITY – VITALITY
I was expecting these two teams to face off in the grand final, but we can call this a final match, simply because one of these two teams will probably lift the trophy. CompLexity has been on a cruise mode so far in this event. On the other hand, Vitality had to shake things up and start playing like they are capable of. And they did just that. They did not drop a map in their 2 best-of-3 series. Now they have an ultimate test in front of themselves.
Vitality is heavily relying on one person, that being Zywoo. On the other hand, compLexity is playing a really structured game and everyone is fragging on a high level.
Even though compLexity did not have such a high level of competition so far in this event. But, Vitality had to dig deep to survive and here they are, fired up against the second biggest favorite to lift the trophy. Do not get me wrong, Vitality is not basing their game around Zywoo, that guy is just insane. If he gets going, just give him a weapon and let him win rounds for you. A lot of us thought that the big stage might get to him, that he will feel the pressure, but that is not happening.
When it comes to map pool, I feel like VItality has a slight edge. Overpass is the best map for Vitality, but this is a permaban for North American roster. On the other hand, Vitality hates playing Train and there is no way we will see them play it, especially against compLexity. However, Vitality is a lot better on any other map, especially on Inferno and Cache. However, the only map where compLexity has an edge is Mirage, and that is mainly because of bad T-side of Vitality.
To conclude, Vitality is a lot more individually skilled than compLexity. They have a much deeper map pool, better strategies, more experience and overall they are a better team. If Vitality wins this match, they will probably win the entire thing. I got Vitality in my books.
VITALITY TO WIN – 1.70 @ Betway
Good luck to anyone who is tailing our CS:GO betting predictions. Let’s hope we can get another perfect score today.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/image1-4.png5851115ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-18 14:29:522020-09-29 09:10:54Dreamhack Open Atlanta Betting Predictions 2018
There were a lot of surprising results from the first day of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018. Some of the biggest favorites managed to lose against underdogs, but not all of them. Vitality had every chance to claim their first match after a furious start, but they fell short. On the other hand, second favorites to win this event, compLexity is also edging things out versus an average team like eUnited. Furthermore, Luminosity lost their opening game as well, and they were considered as one of the favorites to lift the trophy as well.
Even though this has been a roller coaster so far, these are our betting predictions for the second day of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018.
DREAMHACK OPEN ATLANTA BETTING PREDICTIONS
ENVY – LUMINOSITY
As I mentioned above, making a correct prediction for this CS:GO tournament has been very hard. However, we are here to try to help you win your bets with our in-depth analysis.
Coming to this tournament, Envy was the biggest underdog to lift the trophy. On the other hand, Brazilian roster, Luminosity Gaming has been rated as the third favorite to win it. So you are probably wondering how did Luminosity end up in a loser bracket versus the worst team participating here at Atlanta.
Let’s start with their performance. One of their star players LUCAS1 did not show up to this game. He has been the best-rated player for this roster, and his performance today was awful. At the end of their opening match, he had a -10 KD difference. I believe that this is just one of those games, and he will definitely have a point to prove in their match against Envy.
On the other hand, Envy had to play against compLexity, and it was easy to spot that they will struggle in this match. After though they linked 3 rounds after losing pistol and eco round, it was not enough to make a difference at halftime. In the end, they only won one round on T-side of Cache, and that concluded their opening match, 16-6 scoreline.
If we are to compare these two teams, there is a huge gap. Mainly in team cohesion and individual skill. Envy has been together for a brief period of time, while Luminosity played together for a while now. Also, individual skill is a huge factor in this match. Brazilian roster has a lot of firepower, players who are capable of winning rounds single-handedly, while Envy can not thrive in those type of situations, simply because they are a CS:GO team filled with washed up players.
Map pool could create a lot of problems for Envy side. They have a very limited map pool, and they are not comfortable on any map at the moment. However, Luminosity is capable of excelling on a couple of maps. Mainly Train, where Envy has zero wins and 5 defeats in the last 3 months. Mirage and Inferno are also maps where Luminosity can show their A game. This leaves Envy with limited map pool. They can hope to get Dust 2 since Luminosity is not that comfortable on it, but they are not either. Envy is decent enough on Cache and Mirage. To conclude, Luminosity has a huge advantage, simply because this is a best-of-3 match between these two teams.
In conclusion, Luminosity is better than Envy in every aspect of the game. There are several bookmakers offering insane odds on Luminosity to win, and we will take the one provided by gg.bet
LUMINOSITY TO WIN – 1.68 @ Betway
VITALITY – FRAGSTERS
Most of you know that there is a lot of hype surrounding this Vitality team. They have a chance to be the best French team on the scene, but they are not playing to their full potential just yet. Yes, their star players are fragging on a great level, but they are lacking that team play and cohesion between themselves. Vitality had a great start versus Ghost, and everyone thought they will run with the game easily. But it was not that simple. Eventually, they had no response to what Ghost was showing on their T-side, and one economy reset sealed the game for the North American organization.
Fragsters are having an awful tournament, mainly because they had to find a stand-in hours before their match starts. They found one in the likes of HS, and it is very clear to see that he can not help them in any way. Furthermore, they were torn apart by Rogue, and they will probably be the first team to be eliminated from this tournament.
There is no need to compare map pools from these teams, as there is a huge difference in individual skill. Vitality really needs to stop messing around and this is their best chance to play a serious and structured game of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive.
Furthermore, this is Vitality’s last chance to prove to the world that they mean business. Even though Zywoo, their best fragger, may not be on his usual level, there is a lot of firepower behind other players in Vitality. Especially NBK and apeX duo. They are two very experienced players, and they will have to step up and carry this newly formed team over the finish line.
To conclude, Vitality needs to show good performance in this event since this is their first LAN tournament. They do not want to be eliminated and I am sure they will play their best tomorrow versus fragile Danish roster Fragster. I feel like this will be a dominating performance from the French roster and they will not drop a map versus Fragster.
CORRECT SCORE 2:0 (IN MAPS) – 2.15 @ Betway
These are our two best bets for the second day of DreamHack Open Atlanta. Considering both of these teams are coming to this matches as favorites, odds on them winning their match-ups are out of this world.
Best of luck to anyone tailing on our CS:GO betting predictions.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/image1-4.png5851115ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-17 17:16:562020-09-29 09:08:46Dreamhack Open Atlanta Betting Predictions 2018
DreamHack Open Atlanta is coming back to the Georgia World Congress Center. 8 teams will battle it out for a total prize pool of $100,000. There are not any spectacular teams competing in this event, but there are two teams who will attract a lot of attention, Vitality and CompLexity Gaming.
We will be able to enjoy 3 days of action, starting with 16th of November, while the grand final will be played on 18th of November.
DREAMHACK OPEN ATLANTA 2018 WINNER ODDS
compLexity @ 4.33 odds | Visit Betway
Vitality @ 4.5 odds | Visit Betway
Luminosity Gaming @ 5 odds | Visit Betway
Fragsters @ 6.5 | Visit Betway
eUnited @ 8.5 odds | Visit Betway
Ghost @ 9 odds | Visit Betway
Rogue @ 11 odds | Visit Betway
Envy @ 26 odds | Visit Betway
As you can see there is no clear favorite in this tournament. There are 4 teams favored by bookmakers, and I feel like Vitality has a good chance to lift the trophy. However, this is their first LAN tournament, and we have not seen Zywoo on LAN yet, but I think he will perform even better than in his recent online games.
CompLexity also has a very good chance in this tournament, as they could be very hard to defeat, especially on their home soil. Furthermore, you can never know with Brazilian roster, Luminosity Gaming. They can lose all of their group games, or they can just go and stomp everyone.
Dreamhack Open 2018 Atlanta Groups
All of the first matches will be played in a best-of-1 format, while deciders and elimination matches will be played in a best-of-3 series. After first matches, the upper bracket will be further decided with best-of-1 matches, while lower bracket will continue in a best-of-3 series.
In the end, entire playoffs alongside grand final will be played in the best-of-3 series. 2 team that will top their groups will advance to the playoffs.
GROUP A
compLexity
eUnited
Luminosity
Envy
This should be a very easy group for tournament favorites, compLexity. The only threat they have is Luminosity, if they are able to beat them, there is no one else capable of winning against them in this group. Furthermore, I doubt Luminosity will lose against eUnited and Envy, and they will probably advance as well. Brazilians were playing very good at IEM Chicago 2018, but they got bested in their decider match versus mousesports. On the other hand, Envy and eUnited are filled with veterans who are degrading in skill, and they are all past their prime, so I do not fancy them at all in this group.
GROUP B
Ghost
Fragster
Vitality
Rogue
Group B is a much more competitive group once compared to group A. All of these teams are capable enough to beat each other, and there is no clear favorite to top this group. In my personal opinion, I would rate Vitality as a winner of this group. Yes, this is their first LAN event, but apex, NBK, Happy, and Rpk are all so experienced on the big stage and I can not see them struggle to cope with pressure. I would also rate Rogue to come out of this group in the second place. They as well are playing on their home soil and this is their chance to prove their worth. But, as I mentioned above, any team from this group is capable of winning the entire thing.
FIRST MATCH-UPS
COMPLEXITY – ENVY
Coming to this match-up, compLexity is favored to lift the trophy, while Envy is the biggest underdog on this event. There is a reason for such a big difference in odds. CompLexity is filled with talent and raw firepower, while Envy on the other hand only has the experience to compete with these guys. reltuC, jdm64 are not at their prime anymore, and they are supposed to carry this team to victory. This prediction seems like an easy one, odds are good as well. CompLexity has this one.
COMPLEXITY TO WIN – 1.45 odds @ Betway
GHOST – VITALITY
North American roster, Ghost, is coming off from a solid tournament, cs_summit 3. Even though they were eliminated as the 6th team(out of 8) they did not perform so bad. They managed to beat Kinguin, but they narrowly lost to NRG and they were stomped by OpTic. However, they have to face a different kind of animal in this match. Vitality is insanely experienced and highly skilled Counter-Strike:Global Offensive team. They only have one objective in front of them. To be the best. This is going to be their first LAN tournament as the part of Vitality organization and they will definitely try their best to lift the trophy, and it will all start with this game. I am going for a handicap win from the French roster.
VITALITY(-5.5) – 2.58 odds @ Betway
EUNITED – LUMINOSITY GAMING
Another match where I fancy favorites. Both of these teams are coming off from IEM Chicago 2018. However, Luminosity played much better than eUnited. eUnited started with a stunning victory over Natus Vincere, where they left Ukrainians with only 6 rounds to their name. But, eventually, these two teams faced off against each other, in the lower bracket. Guess what happened, eUnited got stomped. They had no response to HEN1 and his ridiculous AWP skills, as they were bested on Mirage and Train. I feel like eUnited will struggle how to cope with HEN1 and they will probably use most of their resources to stop him, but Luminosity is not based strictly around HEN1, there are also other players who are capable of carrying the game. This should be exactly the same match, with a different main actor. Luminosity to win.
LUMINOSITY TO WIN – 1.67 @ Betway
FRAGSTERS – ROGUE
Both of these teams are a bit rusty, and they have not played a LAN tournament for a while now. They played 3 maps against each other, and North American organization won 2 of those maps(Nuke and Dust 2). What fascinated me the most is how good Rogue looked on Dust 2, and if they are able to get this map in this match, they will definitely come out on top. There are a lot of similarities and differences in their map pools and this match could easily go to the distance.
TOTAL ROUNDS – OVER 25.5 – 1.62 @ Betway
CONCLUSION
Even though there are not a lot of top teams attending this DreamHack event, we will definitely be able to enjoy ourselves. DreamHack is a perfect host, they barely ever have any delays and they were able to attract some of the promising and upcoming teams to their Atlanta 2018 edition.
It will be very interesting to watch these teams fight their way out for a total purse of $100,000.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/image1-4.png5851115ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-13 16:48:322020-09-29 09:06:39DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018 Betting Preview
Most of you have heard about Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat. He decided to cheat on a LAN tournament, and logically he was caught, and eventually banned from competing in the Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. In this article, we will talk about cheating in CS:GO, how easy it is to cheat on a LAN game, and potential cheaters in the professional CS:GO scene.
Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat
Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat
Not only did this 23-year-old player screw himself over, but he also screwed an entire country, India. Simply by cheating in a professional CS:GO event.
Not so long ago, OpTic Gaming organization decided to pick up an Indian team to compete in the Asian region, and it backfired massively. He doomed an entire region, as OpTic decided to cut ties with the entire roster, only a few days after the incident. You can only imagine, how must his teammates feel about this situation, as they were on the rise, and all of the sudden they are without a contract, and without an organization to play for.
VAC (Valve anti-cheat system) IS VERY BAD
For most of his professional career, forsaken has been called a cheater. He was always doing weird and random stuff, as most of the times, he was able to get perfect timing, rotations, and prefires. It can be clearly seen from the video I will post in this article.
However, VAC was not able to detect his blatant cheat. Luckily, eXTREMESLAND(a tournament where forsaken was caught cheating) used, alongside VAC, another anti-cheat system, B5 platform anti-cheat. B5 was triggered after a suspicious
Valve Anti Cheat
activity, and that action alerted the admins to check out forsaken’s PC. After admin alt-tabbed, he spotted a suspicious program running in the background, which was quickly closed and deleted by Nikhil. The support team at eXTREMESLAND was able to recover the file, but they were unable to get it up and running again. All of this evidence combined led to the forsaken ban, and finally, entire OpTic Gaming India roster was disqualified, followed by disbanding of the roster.
(forsaken blatant cheat, credit goes to @vLADOPARD2)
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHEAT ON LAN?
In my personal opinion, it is very easy to cheat on LAN tournament. We do not have to go far to prove that, we just have to look at forsaken. The guy was probably not very bright, and he was using bad cheating software, created by a random programmer. Now you can imagine, if someone has a lot of money, like most of the tier 1 players have, they might invest in a professional cheat coder, and get themselves a perfect cheat.
HOW TO SNEAK THE CHEAT ON THE LAN EVENT
All of the professional CS:GO players are taking care of their personal hardware. For instance, every player attending a EPICENTER 2018 will bring his own keyboard, mouse, and mousepad. A good cheat coder can easily implement a chip into the mouse, or even place it as a hotkey in the keyboard. And how can anyone spot that, it would be impossible to spot that.
Cheats can also be sneaked in through the Steam screenshots, or even through the workshop maps, as there are numerous videos proving that.
This is really easy to answer, but it takes a lot of money. LAN is a more controlled event once you compare it to the online match. If someone is playing in the controlled environment, he would probably think twice about cheating. There is one simple solution to prevent hacking on LAN.
DO NOT ALLOW PERSONAL HARDWARE
In my personal opinion, every tournament organizer should get a list of all the hardware professional players attending a certain tournament use. After that, tournament staff should get them a brand new, un-opened gear. This limits the possibility to sneak in the cheat on the mouse or keyboard to 0. If funding is low in a tournament, there are a lot of sponsors in the CS:GO, main ones are gaming brands, who can help out with gaming hardware, so funding this project would not be as expensive as some of you may think.
FRESH CS:GO ACCOUNT
CS:GO cheating has unfortunately always been an issue amongst competitive players. As I mentioned above, it is not that hard to sneak in a cheat through a screenshot or workshop map. Do not allow that, if every player gets a clean account, there is no way he will be able to get a cheat on the PC. Of course, there is always a possibility that a player can download cheat, but this is where admins come in place. It is not that hard to control PCs on LAN event, as I stated above, LAN is a controlled environment, and tournament hosts are barely using that to provide transparent gameplay to all the participants.
COULD SOME OF THESE PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS CHEAT?
There are a lot of YouTube videos about some of the best players in the world, mainly about their CS:GO cheats and crazy aim locks through the walls. However, it might be a random line-up which can occur if someone has a good crosshair placement, but it could also be triggered by a software.
Robin “flusha” Rönnquist
(Robin “flusha” Rönnquist)
So-called, Senor Vac, is a guy who will always be remembered as a blatant cheater. However, some of his fans will defend him and say that his in-game IQ and ability to predict someone’s movement is out of this world. But his aim locks through smokes are very hard to call natural. I will leave a link down below for you to see and conclude if he is cheating.
A French legend. Richard has been around CS:GO for a long time now. Even though he is not as blatant as flusha is, there are a lot of fishy clips about this guy. See for yourself.
(shox’s suspicious 4k versus LG, credit goes to @CS:GO Highlights)
Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
Kristian has been around for a while now. However, he has not been on his past level lately, ever since he joined OpTic Gaming, he is struggling. Before that, he was rated as the 14th best player in 2017. Could third-party software make k0nfig look better than he really is? You have to see this crazy aim lock, as there is no way he is able to predict a player there, especially through the smoke. A very suspicious play.
These are some of the most popular “cheaters” in CS:GO. The list of potential cheaters is very long, and there is no space to fit all of them in. There are also some rumors that some of the guys I mentioned above have VAC bans on their smurf accounts, which makes them even more suspicious.
CONCLUSION
Valve anti-cheat system(VAC) is getting outdated. It does not offer any security when it comes to cheating in CS:GO, as it can be spotted in many casual and competitive games. I really think that Valve should do something about their anti-cheat software, as in my personal opinion there are better options out there. For instance, Faceit anti-cheat seems to be doing a solid job against cheaters.
Events hosts could also try harder to make LAN events more secure, with some of the options I mentioned above, because cheating is becoming more common in every sphere of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ss_baa02e979cd3852e3c4182afcd603ab64e3502f9.1920x1080.jpg6731581ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-12 19:56:532019-05-23 21:08:27How Easy is Cheating in CS:GO?
