Format: BO3.
The long break in the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has finally come to an end. During this break, everyone missed CS:GO, and very soon, all the shooter fans will plunge into the highest level of CS again. The first tournament of the new season will be ESL Pro League Season 14, in which 24 teams will compete for 750,000 thousand in prize money. The tournament brings together the best of the best, with teams divided into four groups of six, but only three will make it through. So there’s no margin for error. Heroic and Bad News Bears will battle it out in the opening match of the tournament. Will the new sniper help the underdogs, or will the Danes have no problem taking the win for themselves?
Heroic: Will the break help the Danes?
Heroic have slumped quite a bit in the rankings in the last couple of months. Not so long ago, the team was in the top 3 of HLTV rankings, but the recent tournaments were extremely unsuccessful and dropped to the eighth position. The Danes finished in 9th-12th place at IEM Summer 2021 and then settled for 7th-8th at IEM Cologne 2021. This break should help the team recover, prepare well for the new season, and show their game again.
In their first game, they faced a major underdog in Group A and the whole tournament. Looking at possible maps, Bad News Bears are likely to ban Vertigo, and this will give Heroic a chance to pick Nuke, their best map. Even despite the recent disappointing results of the Danes, they are consistently strong on Nuke, and their win rate is still not below 80%. It is doubtful that the Bad News Bears will take more than eight rounds on this map. The Danes themselves need to prepare for Inferno or Overpass. Their opponent will pick one of these maps, but it’s also rather unlikely that they’ll win at their choice. Bad News Bears can’t even outscore the tier-2 teams in Europe, and there’s no point in seriously considering a win against a top 10 team in the HLTV rankings.
Bad News Bears: Will the reinforcements help?
Bad News Bears can be called the main outsider of this tournament, of course, Fnatic are currently ranked lower, but we all understand that this is just a convention. Before this tournament, Bad News Bears have strengthened the sniper FURIA Junior, who was on loan from Brazilians, and the organization has allowed him to join the Americans. It’s an undoubted reinforcement, but not so powerful that you can believe Bad News Bears will win against the Danes.
The team has won their last six matches, but naturally, winning in the American region does not inspire much confidence against Heroic. Still, the level of play of the regions is too different. As for maps, Bad News Bears will have to decide what is more profitable for them to play Inferno or Overpass. On the first map, the Danes have a 0% win rate, and Overpass is the most decisive map of the Americans. Bad News Bears can struggle, but I don’t believe they can win even on their map. The level of players is too different, and Danes, after a couple of bad tournaments, should get together and show their game.
Expert Betting Tips
Without a doubt, Heroic look to be the clear favourite. They are noticeably better than their opponent in individual skill and should be favoured to win this encounter by 2-0. On paper, Junior is a reinforcement of the Bad News Bears, but how he will prove himself in action remains to be seen.
The bookmakers are offering odds of 1.50 on Heroic to win with a handicap (-9.5), which looks like a good option. You can also take Total Under 52.5 rounds for 2.34.
Other predictions
