Outsiders vs IHC Esports Prediction: Outsiders Won't Make Mistakes

Prediction for the ESL Pro League Season 17 Outsiders vs IHC match will take place on February 22th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available. 

At the beginning of 2023, Outsiders decided to make a replacement after winning the IEM Rio Major 2022 and failing at BLAST Premier: World Final 2022. Instead of n0rb3r7 came the young Russian talent KaiR0N. According to many experts and professional players, Alexander has a huge potential to become one of the best riflers in the world, and some compare his style with YEKINDAR.

At IEM Katowice 2023, the newcomer performed exceptionally well: 1.1 HLTV rating, 78 damage per round – usually, his predecessor did not play so clearly. But the statistics in the case of KaiR0N do not reflect the real state of things. He put the team on his shoulders to victory against Natus Vincere on the first map, but the teammates could not support him. In general, the Outsiders tournament was similar to the team that shocked everyone with its victory at the major. Attractive tactical solutions, good shooting from Jame and FL1T, and even play both in defense and attack. At IEM Katowice, Outsiders played five maps and performed incredibly well on Inferno. Before the match with Natus Vincere, they got three wins out of three opportunities.

ESL Pro League Season 17 will last a month, so Outsiders will still have time to find their game at the event. Cloud9 and G2 Esports will be considered real competitors in Group A, but the team will most likely secure a place in the playoffs.

The Mongolian team has become a real discovery of IEM Katowice 2023. In the play-in stage, IHC Esports scored a sensational victory over FURIA Esports and sent Cloud9 home a few days later. The path to the trophy was cut short in the match against FaZe Clan: the best team of 2022 sent IHC Esports into a resounding knockout without giving any reason for another sensation.

Almost all the players' maps of the Mongolian team ended with negative Kill/Deaths indicators. None of them was able to earn a positive rating at the end of the tournament. The Mongols win 40% of the winning rounds by activating and clearing the mine, and the CT side succeeds more often. IHC Esports is expected to play poorly on exchanges (14.5% of kills) and in open duels (42%), which affects the level of competition in its region.

The successful performance (and the 9th-12th place at the s-tournament can be called a success) resulted from hard work in the winter. The team played many official matches with mixed results but approached IEM Katowice 2023 in peak form. Participation in the ESL Pro League Season 17 will answer the question: was the result in Katowice an accident, or are the Mongols ready to compete at the tier-1 level?

Outsiders enter this series as a favorite. However, there are some points. Firstly, Outsiders traditionally look bad on the first game day of the tournament. They can lose the series or give the map to an outsider. Secondly, IHC Esports has already made the world gasp twice, and now it cannot be underestimated. Remember the match between the teams at IEM Rio Major2022: there was even a score of 12:11 in favor of Outsiders. Therefore, the Russian team will be preparing for a difficult match against not the most famous opponent.