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ESL Pro League Season 16 Quarterfinals Day 1

We are over and done with the Round of 12 of ESL Pro League Season 16. From 29th September, the quarterfinals are to commence. Let’s find out who made it to the ESL quarterfinals and also get some predictions rolling!

Quarterfinals Teams

  • Cloud9
  • FaZe Clan
  • MOUZ
  • Team Liquid
  • G2 Esports
  • Natus Vincere
  • Team Vitality
  • Outsiders

ESL Quarterfinals Day 1 Predictions

Cloud9 vs FaZe Clan

The OG Counter-Strike fans will never forget the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 final between C9 and FaZe. It might not be as grand this time around but is a game to watch out for nonetheless. Cloud9 is in a pretty hot form if we take out the last series against Team Liquid on the last day of Group D. They have won the rest of their four group matches. FaZe Clan didn’t start as impressively, however. They lost only to G2 in the group stage but picked up a scrappy win over Complexity in the Round of 12.

The two teams have met each other four times this season. Cloud9 picked up the last win and the first three were won by FaZe. The last meeting was in July and to be fair, FaZe’s form dipped quite a bit after that. On the other hand, Cloud9 seemed to get better as they kept playing during the group stage. With that being said, it’s really tough to pick a winner here but we’re going for a 2-1 win for Cloud9.

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MOUZ vs Team Liquid

Team Liquid have barely made it to the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 16. However, an impressive victory over Fnatic in the Round of 12 has given the team some much needed momentum. Topping Group C, MOUZ have definitely impressed the crowd as they look to make it through the quarterfinals of ESL.

This series could really go either way. Team Liquid looks to have recovered from their form during the group stage. Despite MOUZ having a better form in the tournament, Liquid’s experience might prove to be the victor. Our guts say that it will turn out to be a 2-1 win in favor of Team Liquid.

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Eternal Fire Onto Finals Of TWR Eastern European Masters

We’re at the closing stage of the TWR Eastern European Masters. After a close best of 3 series between MOUZ and Eternal Fire, Eternal Fire reaches the final of the competition. They will be going up against Sinners Esports in the grand final.

MOUZ vs Eternal Fire

Rosters

MOUZ

  • Christopher “dexter” Nong (IGL)
  • David “frozen” Čerňanský
  • Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás
  • Jon “JDC” de Castro
  • Dorian “xertioN” Berman

Eternal Fire

  • Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli
  • Ahmet “paz” Karahoca
  • İsmailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş
  • Özgür “woxic” Eker
  • Ömer “imoRR” Karataş

Map Picks and Bans

  • Eternal Fire removed Ancient
  • MOUZ removed Dust2
  • Eternal Fire picked Vertigo
  • MOUZ picked Mirage
  • Eternal Fire removed Overpass
  • MOUZ removed Inferno
  • Nuke left

The Series

Map 1 (Vertigo)

Vertigo was the first playground of the semifinals of TWR Eastern European Masters between MOUZ and Eternal Fire. Vertigo was Eternal Fire’s first pick but it was MOUZ that started it off on the right foot on defense picking up the pistols. But Eternal Fire showed why it was their pick as they responded right after. They got the plant down multiple times and ended the first half 10-5 in their favor. In the second half, MOUZ responded quite well picking up the first four rounds. But Eternal Fire didn’t take long to pick up the map as it finished 16-12 in their favor. XANTARES was the top fragger of the first map with 26 kills.

Map 2 (Mirage)

It was now MOUZ’s turn to respond with their pick of Mirage. Eternal Fire started off MOUZ’s map pick their way destroying everyone in their path the first four rounds. MOUZ tried to comeback into the half but failed to do so. Eternal Fire was absolutely flawless at picking up kills ending the first half 9-6. Eternal Fire started off the second half smoothly as well and it seemed to be a matter of time till they win the series. They were up 12-6 but the unthinkable happened right after. MOUZ managed to successfully defuse the bomb in round 19 and they just didn’t stop from there. MOUZ picked up nine straight rounds without flinching once to come back and win the map 16-13.

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Map 3 (Nuke)

It was MOUZ again that started off Eternal Fire’s map pick the right way. They won the first three rounds on Nuke with ease. Eternal Fire couldn’t manage to get a hold of the first half at any cost. They managed to get plants down but conceded to MOUZ’s defuses. MOUZ led the first half 11-4. Eternal Fire started off the second half well winning the first pistol and forcing MOUZ to go for a save. Including the two pistols, Eternal Fire won four straight rounds hoping to force a comeback. And soon, they did force the scoreline to go even at 13-13. With some back and forth, the series was forced to feature it’s first overtime. In overtime, Eternal Fire won four of the six rounds to pick up the series and a spot at the finals of TWR Eastern European Masters.

Eternal Fire will now be going up against Sinners Esports in the grand final. Both of the teams started in two different groups in this tournament. Ironically, both of these teams finished as the runners up of their respective groups. Only a matter of time now before we can find out who gets a spot at Blast Premier Showdown from the finals!

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Group C Leaderboard of ESL Pro League Season 16

With Valorant Champions 2022 wrapped up, our focus is now shifted to all the other major esports tournaments that are taking place around the world. No, we did not forget about CS:GO at all which is why today we’re covering ESL Pro League Season 16. Group C has now finally been wrapped up, so let’s take a look at who’s qualified for the ESL Pro League playoffs!

ESL Pro League Group C

5 days was all it took to wrap up the entire action of Group C. As expected, there was no lack of action as the group composed of both top dogs as well as underdogs.

Who qualified?

MOUZ topped the leaderboard of Group C winning 4 out of their 5 matches. Their only loss came against Astralis who even failed to qualify. Since they’re in 1st place, they have directly qualified for the quarterfinals. Heroic and Complexity are the other two teams joining MOUZ at the playoffs. However, they have only advanced to the round of 12 and not the quarterfinals yet.

Agony for Astralis

For the 4-time Major winning Danish team, this was a tournament they’d love to forget. Astralis could not replicate even an inch of the performance they had portrayed in the years of 2018 and 2019.

Astralis started the tournament off on the wrong foot losing 1-2 to Complexity on day 1 of Group C at ESL. A 2-0 clean win against table-toppers MOUZ revived hopes but quickly withered away losing 1-2 to HEET. There was some hope of qualifying as they won against ENCE the next day but a loss to Heroic sent them back home. Their loss to HEET surely cost them a spot at the playoffs which is even more sad considering that HEET finished at the very bottom.

Even worse news for Astralis is that k0nfig suffered a complicated ankle fracture, the organization announced on social media today. Coming off the bench, their reserve, Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen, will be included in the main roster. MistR will be in the main squad for the upcoming RMR.

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Wrapping up Group A of ESL Pro League Season 16

Group A of ESL Pro League Season 16 is seeing some fierce action thanks to some amazing teams. The final 3 matches will be wrapping up the group tonight. Let’s see who’s facing who but more importantly, let’s see who might win.

Group A Action

Right off the bat, Group A is one of the groups to watch out for at ESL Pro League Season 16. The group consists of the likes of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Natus Vincere, Fnatic, Team Spirit, Team Vitality and Endpoint. According to the format of the group stage, all teams will face each other once. As of now, it’s Team Vitality that is at the top of the group with 4/4 wins. Thanks to their winning streak, they have already qualified for the quarter-finals. Natus Vincere and Fnatic are the favorites to qualify for the Round of 12. Both of the teams have picked up 2 wins out of the 4 matches played so far. Team Spirit also has the same number of wins but lags behind in terms of round difference.

Predictions

Natus Vincere vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

Natus Vincere started off Season 16 on a strong note picking up wins against Fnatic and Team Spirit. But to their demise, they lost the next two matches against last placed Endpoint and Vitality. NaVi has won 11 out of the 14 times they have faced NiP in professional tournaments including their last 3 head-to-heads. The two teams last met in Group A of IEM XVII Cologne earlier this year during July. While it is true that both of the teams are nowhere near their best forms, NaVi is a little better off in that regard. With that in mind, Natus should be picking up a win and moving onto the next stage of the tournament.

Team Vitality vs Team Spirit

Team Vitality are at the very top of Group A winning all four of their matches. And why wouldn’t they top the group? They have ZywOo and Spinx at the very top of their game. While they have already qualified for the quarter-finals, they don’t really need a win. In fact, it’s Team Spirit that badly needs a win to overtake Fnatic and NaVi. Vitality picked up a 2-1 win against Spirit the last time they faced each other back in Season 14. Both ZywOo and apEX played Vitality back then, so it shouldn’t be too hard to replicate that win. Our prediction is a win in favor of Team Vitality.

Endpoint vs Fnatic

Endpoint are currently at last place of Group A in ESL Pro League Season 16. Their only win came against Natus Vincere though, so the team has at least some hope. Endpoint has an extremely slim chance to gather something on the final day and qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, Fnatic badly needs to secure this win to confirm a spot for the next round. Good news for them is they have a much better form in terms of getting wins than Endpoint. The two teams faced each other only thrice with Fnatic picking up two wins. We think it’s pretty safe to say that Fnatic will be picking up another win tonight.

If you wanna drop in these bets, be sure to check out the most trusted CSGO betting sites.

Will Fnatic and Natus Vincere pick up the last two spots from Group A? Let’s wait and watch!

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Group Stage Action of BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022

We are done and over with all the group stage action of BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022. The 12 teams of the tournament were divided into three groups this year. It goes without saying that the intensity of BLAST Premier did not disappoint at all thus far.

BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 Group Stage

All of the 12 teams were divided into 3 separate groups this year.

Group A

  • Team Vitality
  • OG
  • Ninjas in Pyjamas
  • Astralis

The tournament kicked off with some dynamic competition coming out of Group A. The way things kicked off, it looked like either Vitality or NIP would be winning the group. But a shocking comeback from Astralis awaited them. Despite moving down to the lower bracket after losing to NIP, Astralis came back strong beating all three teams to directly qualify for the finals of the play-in stage.

Group B

  • Natus Vincere
  • Complexity Gaming
  • G2
  • Team Liquid

Group B also witnessed a comeback of the same level. Complexity got the best of Natus Vincere in the first match of the group but it wasn’t over there. In the lower bracket, NaVi faced G2, barely edging a win against them. They then went on to batter the same lineup of Complexity and then Team Liquid. Thus, NaVi grabbed the second spot of the play-in finals.

Group C

  • FaZe Clan
  • Evil Geniuses
  • Heroic
  • BIG

Group C wasn’t a stroll in the park for anyone either. FaZe Clan started off the group stage the best possible way beating Evil Geniuses and Heroic. But it was the same Heroic that beat them in the grand final of the group stage despite being demoted to the lower bracket.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive just stepped into its 10 year anniversary today. Still haven’t started betting on CS: GO? Well, check out the top betting sites for CSGO!

Play-In Stage

The Play-In Stage of Fall Groups 2022 will resume from 25th August. The winners and runners up of the group stage grand finals have already qualified for the finals and semi finals of the play-ins already. Here are the fixtures of the quarter finals:

  • OG vs. Complexity Gaming
  • G2 vs. BIG
  • Evil Geniuses vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

With the way things are turning out, the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 promise even more madness!

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FaZe Become Champions of IEM Cologne 2022

The stage was set as Natus Vincere (NAVI) met FaZe Clan in the finals of IEM Cologne 2022. What started off with 24 teams earlier this month now trickled down to only them. The two teams clashed with guns blazing as FaZe Clan emerged as the victor.

Rosters of the Finals

FaZe Clan

  • Finn “karrigan” Andersen (IGL)
  • Håvard “rain” Nygaard
  • Helvijs “broky” Saukants
  • Russel “twistzzz” Van Dulken
  • Robin “ropz” Kool

Natus Vincere

  • Denis “electroNic” Sharipov (IGL)
  • Oleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev
  • Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
  • Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
  • Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev

Map Picks

  • FaZe bans Dust2
  • NAVI bans Vertigo
  • FaZe picks Inferno (First map)
  • NAVI picks Overpass (Second map)
  • FaZe picks Ancient (Third map)
  • NAVI picks Mirage (Fourth map)
  • Nuke left  (Final map)

First Map (Inferno)

With Inferno being FaZe’s first pick, you’d expect them to win it. Right from the get go, they played accordingly. FaZe Clan won the first 5 rounds without flinching at all. For the first time in the map, things went NAVI’s way and they won the next 4 rounds thanks to team efforts. Things went back and forth a little before NAVI picked up the lead for the first time making the score 6-7 in their favor. The two finalists kept going at each other as the scoreboard read 12-12. FaZe put it into fifth gear to win 3 rounds back to back making it 15-12. There was a little bit of resistance but FaZE picked up the first map 16-13.

Second Map (Overpass)

It was the first map pick for Natus Vincere but FaZe took the first round. S1mple then took the risk of buying an AK despite losing the first round and it paid off. They picked up the second round thanks to his brilliance. For the first time after the 2nd round, the scores were levelled 5-5 between the two teams. The first half of the second map ended 8-7 in favor of NAVI. After the half, it continued to be balanced for the next few rounds as well and things started tipping in favor of FaZe. But the lead didn’t last for long as NAVI took 7 consecutive rounds. While things seemed a little shaky as FaZe Clan won the next two to make 15-13, perfecto stepped up and defused the bomb right in time to win the map.

A new overpowered boost has been discovered on Overpass - WIN.gg

Third Map (Ancient)

Right from the start, FaZe’s pick seemed to have been NAVI’s. NAVI won the first 8 rounds straight without any problem whatsoever. The form continued as the scoreboard read 15-4. It should’ve been moments before NAVI picked up their second map in a row but this is Counter-Strike! When it matter the most, FaZe responded. They won 11 rounds consecutively to tie the map and head into overtime. Natus recollected themselves and won it in overtime thanks to a 200 IQ defuse by b1t. They were now just one map away from becoming champions.

 

Fourth Map (Mirage)

It was NAVI’s pick again in the fourth map of the finals of IEM Cologne 2o22. They started off well as they picked up the first 3 rounds, no issues whatsoever. But then issues started arising out of thin air. FaZe levelled it 3-3 and then went on dominate the rest of the first half. They ended the first half 10-5 in their favor. NAVI did show some fight in the second half but it just wasn’t enough. FaZE picked up the fourth map winning it 16-9.

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Fifth Map (Nuke)

The fans asked for a fifth map and the finalists, FaZe and NAVI delivered it in the grand finals of IEM Cologne 2022. NAVI started off the best way possible picking up the first 5 rounds. However, they couldn’t hold onto their lead for long as FaZe Clan responded drawing the map 6-6. But the first half ended 8-7 in favor of Natus Vincere. FaZe turned the map around in their favor and had a 4-point advantage making it 13-9. NAVI responded and won 4 straight rounds, the 4th being a clutch by perfecto. 13-13 soon turned into 14-14. And just when it looked like it’ll go into overtime, twistzzz and karrigan stepped up to pick up the next two rounds. And that is how FaZE Clan finally won it all at Cologne!

With yet another major under their belt, FaZe Clan are now the best CS:GO champions of the entire world.

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Astralis to face NAVI at IEM Cologne 2022 SemiFinals-1

Cologne has witnessed the best teams from across the world clash to win the Masters. With the competition at its final stages, few remain to become a victor. We now finally have our first pair of semi-finalists with Astralis facing NAVI today.

Team Astralis

Astralis has always been one of the most fierce teams in the Counter-Strike world. The pride of Denmark- Astralis has picked up multiple titles, the last notable one being the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019. While 2018 and 2019 served as their prime years, Astralis is still a force to be reckoned with. They surely have proved so with their current run at IEM Cologne 2022.

Astralis Roster

  • Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander (IGL)
  • Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
  • Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
  • Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
  • Asger “farlig” Jensen
  • Martin “trace” Heldt

Astralis team overview | HLTV.org

Astralis’ Run at IEM Cologne 2022

Astralis was one of the 16 Play-In teams that made it thanks to their ESL World Ranking. Following a Bo3 format, the first opponents to face Astralis at the lower bracket were Complexity and BIG. Both Complexity and the winners of the 2022 Roobet Cup lost to the Danish squad. Placed in Group B, Astralis faced some big, big names of the Counter-Strike scene. In round 1 of the upper bracket, Astralis clean sweeped FURIA Esports. They went on to do the same to Cloud9 in round 2 of the upper bracket. Their first loss came against FaZe Clan in the following round. While FaZe directly proceeded to the semi-finals of the competition, Astralis faced MOUZ (formerly known as mousesports) in the quarter-finals.

Astralis vs MOUZ

MOUZ was not at all expected to make it this far at IEM Cologne 2022. But they did. They beat the likes of Heroic, Team Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas to name a few. With new recruits torzsi and JDC, MOUZ gave Astralis a run for their money. MOUZ started off strong winning their pick of Mirage 16-8. Astralis took Nuke as their first pick and they leveled the series 1-1 winning 16-9. Ancient was the decider and Astralis just clinched it 16-12 ending what can be considered as a dream run for MOUZ. While Astralis have done a good job at taking care of Mouz, their biggest challenge yet awaits- NAVI.

Natus Vincere

NAVI has proven many times in recent years that they will destroy anyone that comes their way. Before we look into what may be in store for us, here’s how NAVI is lining up this Major:

  • Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
  • Oleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev
  • Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
  • Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
  • Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev

Astralis vs. NAVI Preview

 

Astralis vs. Natus Vincere will be taking place at 19:30 ALMT today. It will be streamed live on Twitch right from Cologne. Since 2020, the teams have faced each other a total of 11 times. Astralis has only won thrice out of those 11 matches. NAVI has a win rate of 70% in the last 30 days while Astralis has won 62% of their matches. So, the odds are heavily in favor of Natus Vincere.

 

 

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BIG wins the Roobet Cup 2022

BIG Clan secures their first massive title of the year winning the Roobet Cup 2022. The German team beat FaZe Clan 2-1 at the finals to pick up the title. This is their first trophy since winning the Funspark ULTI 2020 which took place last year.

BIG’s Roster

BIG showed up to the event with their ever strong lineup.

  • Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz (IGL)
  • Nils “k1to” Gruhne
  • Florian “SyrsoN” Rische
  • Karim “Krimbo” Moussa
  • Tizian “Tizian” Feldbusch

The entire roster performed well throughout the event. Even as a stand-in player, k1to turned quite a few heads throughout the tournament. But it was syrsoN who won the MVP of Roobet Cup 2022.

If you wanna put your money into this squad, why don’t you check out our CSGO betting section?

SyrsoN wins MVP

SyrsoN put BIG on the map with his phenomenal performance throughout Roobet Cup this year. The German was awarded the HLTV x BitSkins MVP of Roobet Cup. Over the 14 maps that BIG played on their way to winning the tournament, SyrsoN obtained a 1.23-rated performance. This was SyrsoN’s personal best performance since the PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR. This isn’t his first MVP, however, as he won his career’s first one at DreamHack Masters Spring back in 2020. While there were quite a few players with higher overall ratings, the AWPer was a crowd favorite in the late-tournament matches. It was Cloud9 in the semifinals and FaZe in the finals that witnessed the wrath of SyrsoN.

BIG’s Journey at Roobet Cup 2022

 

BIG started off their journey facing Entropiq and FaZe Clan at the group stages. The German team picked up two 2-1 wins against both of them progressing to the knockout rounds. They then faced Eternal Fire and maintained their streak of winning 2-1. At the semi-finals, BIG faced their toughest opponents yet. Cloud9 topped Group B and convincingly defeated 9z Team. Despite that, BIG defeated C9 two straight rounds, winning 2-0 and moving onto the finals. Surprisingly, it was FaZe yet again that stood between them and the Cup title.

This is how the results turned out

Map 1: Dust 2 16-13 win for BIG (BIG Pick)

Map 2: Nuke 14-16 win for FaZe (FaZe Pick)

Map 3: Mirage 19-17 win for BIG (BIG Pick)

With $150,000 in the bank, BIG are going home with nothing but smiles on their faces. But the team don’t have time to rest as they’ll be facing Order soon at the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In.

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Blast Global Finals 2022

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CSGO FANTASY LEAGUES

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