DraftKings CS:GO Thursday ESL RTR Cheat Sheet

GAMES (EDT)

• 12:30 p.m. G2 vs. GODSENT
• 12:30 p.m. Isurus vs. Red Canids
• 12:30 p.m. Imperial vs. BOOM
• 4:00 p.m. Bad News Bears vs. Team Liquid
• 4:00 p.m. FURIA vs. Envy
• 4:00 p.m. MiBR vs. Yeah

G2 vs. GODSENT

G2 will be the bookmakers favorite in this match against GODSENT. Both huNter and kennyS are the highest-priced players for a reason, and both of them are great plays. Unless GODSENT decides to throw a curveball in the map veto, we should end up on some variation of Dust2, Inferno, Nuke or Vertigo. This is definitely a pretty comfortable set of maps for G2, and it is easy to see why the bookmakers like them in this spot. If you want to have exposure to a lower-priced option on G2, I think that AmaNEk has the potential to outscore nexa at a lower price, but this is a bit of a flier.

Maden is the highest-priced player, and he definitely has the potential for a great return, but not without risk. This guy is insanely aggressive; in fact, he has both the highest average kills/round (0.74) and deaths/round (0.69) on the team, which is a testament to just how much this guy is willing to take fights. I think Maden definitely has the highest upside on this team in terms of fantasy scoring, but if you want to play someone whose play style is a bit more consistent, you could opt for STYKO or zehN.

• G2 Players to Target: huNter ($9,400), kennyS ($8,400)
• GODSENT Players to Target: Maden ($7,400), STYKO ($6,800), zehN ($6,000)

Isurus vs. Red Canids

Red Canids has looked like the stronger side in the last three meetings between these two teams, with a 5–2 map record. I suspect that the map veto will play out in similar fashion as last time, with Overpass and Train being likely picks, leaving Dust2 and Mirage for a potential decider. Let's start with Isurus, who will be coming as the underdog in this match. DraftKings has opted to price Noktse at $8,200, which is way too high for one of the worst-performing players on this roster. decov9jse is the most consistent performer across the maps that we are likely to see, and he is the guy I would feel the most comfortable restoring on Isurus. However, both reversive and 1962 have the potential to put up numbers on Train and Overpass, respectively, which adds to their value. 

On the Red Canids side, I still like the trio of latto, DeStiNy and nython the most, with fnx having some value if you think that Red Canids sweep this series. latto has received a high salary of $8,600, so it might be worth going for DeStiNy or nython in this spot because they give you a bit more flexibility.

• Isurus Players to Target: decov9jse ($8,200), reversive ($7,400), 1962 ($6,400)
• Red Canids Players to Target: latto ($8,600), DeStiNy ($7,800), nython ($7,000)

Imperial vs. BOOM

The last and only time these two sides have played, felps went nuclear for BOOM, posting 75 kills, 16 assists and a plus-24 K/D differential across three maps. felps has received a very high salary of $9,200, and I can only repeat what I said about felps last time: his upside is incredible, and his aggressive style of play can be both a blessing and a curse. yeL had a great showing against Red Canids, posting 65 kills, 17 assists with a team-high K/D differential of plus-12, and he is again a solid value at $6,400. Both chelo and boltz are viable plays as well, especially if we end up on Mirage and Dust2, where their mechanical ability really shines. This is especially true if this ends up being a blowout in favor of BOOM.

I personally think that BOOM is a very strong roster overall, so I don't feel great about rostering Imperial players despite the fact that anything can happen in these online games. If I were to go there, I would opt for zqkS ($6,800). zqkS was the only player to finish in the green the last time these sides met, posting a team-high 56 frags, 16 assists with a K/D differential of plus-five, and he has posted a team-high K/D ratio of 1.17 on Mirage and Dust2, two maps that are likely to be played here. However, if we do end up on Nuke as a decider, this could potentially hurt his totals.

• BOOM Players to Target: felps ($9,200), yeL ($6,400)
• Imperial Players to Target: zqkS ($6,800)

Team Liquid vs. Bad News Bears

Team Liquid are coming off winning ESL Pro League North America, and they will be huge favorites here against Bad News Bears. EliGE is the highest-priced player on the slate, and for good reason. He was excellent all throughout 2019, and his form has only continued into 2020. In their ESL Pro League run, EliGE led all players on Liquid with 0.82 kills/round and his K/D ratio of 1.29 was only bettered by NAF at 1.32. Both EliGE and NAF would be the ones that I would focus on, but I also don't mind some exposure to Twistzz.

On the side of Bad News Bears, I would only ever consider rostering dapr, who has been the clear standout for his team. However, in a matchup as tough as this one, I would generally advise against it.

• Team Liquid Players to Target: EliGE ($9,800), NAF ($8,600), Twistzz ($7,200).
• Bad News Bears Players to Target: dapr ($7,000)

FURIA vs. Envy

FURIA will be a big favorite here against an Envy team that is coming off losses to Cloud9 and Bad News Bears in the DreamHack Masters Qualifiers. yuurih stood out for FURIA the last and only time these to sides met, posting a team-high 45 kills and a K/D differential of plus-14 in a 2–0 victory. At just $7,600, he makes for a nice play. Both KSCERATO and HEN1 will be great picks as well against a struggling Envy side, but you will have to pay up significantly if you wish to roster them.

MICHU had a great performance in the last meeting between these two teams, finishing the series on a plus-10 K/D differential with 43 kills, and at $6,600 he can be considered if you believe that Envy can compete here. Calyx has great upside, even at $8,000, but this is not an easy matchup for the Turk.

• FURIA Players to Target: yuurih ($7,600), KSCERATO ($9,000), HEN1 ($8,400)
• Envy Players to Target: MICHU ($6,600), Calyx ($8,000)

MiBR vs. Yeah

MiBR will be a huge favorite in this matchup against Yeah. The map veto should play out in favor of MiBR as well, with maps like Inferno and Train likely to get picked. Even if Yeah tries goes towards Dust2 or Overpass, MiBR have shown good enough form that they should easily take care of their Brazilian counterpart.

fer, FalleN and kNgV will all be great options in this one-sided matchup. fer will have a chance of giving us a great return at $8,800 if we end up Inferno and Train, with Train being a particularly strong map for him. Interestingly, FalleN actually outscored kNgV on DraftKings in their most recent match against MAD Lions despite ending the series with 11 fewer frags and a worse K/D differential. FalleN is one of the AWPers who benefits the most from flash assists being counted on DraftKings, as he leads his team with 0.11 flash assists/round, while the remainder of the team hovers around 0.02 to 0.04. This really proved to be the deciding factor in that series, as he scored 23 assists, 12 of which came from flashes. 

kNgV does have some potential to give us a better return at $7,600, but it depends a lot on the maps that we end up on. If Yeah attempts to make a desperate attempt at surprising MiBR with a pick like Mirage or Overpass, kNgV has the potential to shine, especially if MiBR pick Train, as well.

I would avoid any Yeah players in this match, but if you really want to go there, dumau and RCF are the best players on the team by quite some margin. 

• MiBR Players to Target: fer ($8,800), FalleN ($9,600), kNgV ($7,600)
• Yeah Players to Target: dumau ($7,000), RCF ($6,400)