Heroic vs Outsiders Prediction: Outsiders to claim victory

October 31-November 13 will mark the second major CS:GO event of the 2022 competition season. Twenty-four teams have been selected through the regional RMR qualifiers – eight will begin their journey with the Legends stage and another sixteen will embark on the journey with the Challengers stage. The winner of the IEM Rio Major 2022 will receive $500,000, BLAST ranking points, and invites to ESL Katowice 2023 and BLAST Premier: World Final.

On November 5, Heroic and Outsiders will play their first match in the IEM Rio Major 2022 Legends Stage. We'll find out which team will be stronger very soon. The meeting is scheduled to start at 19:30.

• Current HLTV ranking: #7;
• Changes over the last three months: +7;
• Best map: Ancient – 100% in 3 maps;
• Worst map: Overpass – 33% in 6 maps.

Heroic is traditionally considered one of the strongest teams on the planet, claiming a trophy in every tournament. True, the cadiaN team has not yet learned how to steadily get victories in important games, but the squad has no problems with getting to the biggest tournaments. At the end of September they failed to defeat Natus Vincere in the ESL Pro League Season 16, and before that in the end of August after a phenomenal performance in the group twice failed to get selected for the world finals of BLAST through BLAST Premier: Fall Groups.

Over the past three months, the team's win rate is 71.4%, a figure that at least five representatives in the top 10 can't boast. October was successful for Heroic – they won the last slot via RMR-qualifications for the Legends stage of the IEM Rio Major 2022 and booked a ticket to the BLAST Premier: World Final, beating their bitter rival Astralis 2-0 in the Grand Final along the way. All of the team members have a positive HLTV ranking in this time frame. The captain cadiaN is in good form, combining his work as a sniper with the important calls to the teammates. The transfer of jabbi has been successful, as he's doing a good job as an entry fragger.

Heroic easily handles most professional teams, but occasionally has trouble against top-10 HLTV opponents. In the last three months they only managed to beat Team Vitality in the RMR qualifications for the IEM Rio Major 2022, but the French team was just a little too long in the emotions of the long-awaited victory at a major tournament. In just five meetings, the Danes' stats are 1-4. This factor will be significant in the upcoming match.

• Current HLTV ranking: #8;
• Changes over the last three months: +9;
• Best map: Vertigo – 100% in 4 maps;
• Worst map: Inferno– 45% in 11 maps.

The Russian team is gradually returning to the world elite after a disappointing spring. The team finished in the top 8 at ESL Pro League Season 16, was able to qualify for the major and even won ESL Challengers Rotterdam 2022, beating MOUZ and ENCE in the playoffs.

Outsiders didn't have their fans worried about advancing to the Legends stage. The Bears were able to defeat Team Vitality, and on the last game day of the Challengers stage they played the Overpass perfectly against Fnatic, allowing their opponent to take only 1 round. By the way, at the major, the opponents do not allow the Russian team to pick a signature map, so they had to draw another 100% on Overpass – three out of three. FL1T is in great shape – Eugene has 1.24 rating and does 85 damage per round, he is especially dangerous in clutch and unequal situations. Jame goes through the tournament with 0.44 deaths per round.

The Outsiders play a good 4x5 (30%), have a positive win rate when playing as an attacker (one of three teams among the Challengers), and rank in the top 5 for average team Kill/Deaths (1.17). At the same time, two of their four opponents are now in the top 10 of HLTV (1-1), and Fnatic has become much stronger since the Resurfle. All the more valuable is a confident exit to the next round of the majors. The team picked up good momentum in October, so now even the clear favorites should prepare closely for the Bears.

Given the current form of the teams, the Outsiders' chances of winning look significantly higher. First of all, in their last face-off, the Russian team won a willful victory, turning the map over from a 5-round gap. Second, the Danes have some problems with teams in the top 10 of the HLTV rankings. The odds on Outsiders winning the match are 2.00 at Bet365, 2.05 at Betway, and 2.24 at 1xbet.