This article is part of our DraftKings CS:GO series.
Games (EDT)
- 10:30 a.m: ENCE (E) vs. G2 Esports (G2)
- 1:10 p.m: OG (OG) vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP)
- 5:00 p.m: Evil Geniuses (EG) vs. Team Liquid (TL)
ENCE vs. G2 Esports
Wednesday's three-game slate opens in the European edition of BLAST Premier with an unlikely lower bracket match of the current world No. 1 G2 Esports and red-hot ENCE. G2 come into this match as slight favorites, but also on a two-match (and five-map slide), dropping three maps in a row to BIG Clan before being swept by an indomitable Vitality side to fall to the lower bracket. ENCE were undefeated in their last seven maps before dropping a tight best-of-three to FaZe Clan 2-1 and falling to a tough elimination match against G2. Despite being No. 1 vs. No. 14, this match should be incredibly tight, and the veto lends itself to that - Overpass and Vertigo will be banned, and of the remaining five maps, two favor G2, two favor ENCE and the final map is completely neutral. This series is likely to end up on Mirage, Dust2 and Train, three relatively neutral maps, and three maps that both teams have edges on. That said, G2 may look to change up their playbook and introduce a Nuke or Inferno, two maps ENCE have less experience on. The value play from this series looks to revolve around all three AWPers; if kennyS is off his game at all, allu and Jamppi will feast, but if he's at his
Games (EDT)
- 10:30 a.m: ENCE (E) vs. G2 Esports (G2)
- 1:10 p.m: OG (OG) vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP)
- 5:00 p.m: Evil Geniuses (EG) vs. Team Liquid (TL)
ENCE vs. G2 Esports
Wednesday's three-game slate opens in the European edition of BLAST Premier with an unlikely lower bracket match of the current world No. 1 G2 Esports and red-hot ENCE. G2 come into this match as slight favorites, but also on a two-match (and five-map slide), dropping three maps in a row to BIG Clan before being swept by an indomitable Vitality side to fall to the lower bracket. ENCE were undefeated in their last seven maps before dropping a tight best-of-three to FaZe Clan 2-1 and falling to a tough elimination match against G2. Despite being No. 1 vs. No. 14, this match should be incredibly tight, and the veto lends itself to that - Overpass and Vertigo will be banned, and of the remaining five maps, two favor G2, two favor ENCE and the final map is completely neutral. This series is likely to end up on Mirage, Dust2 and Train, three relatively neutral maps, and three maps that both teams have edges on. That said, G2 may look to change up their playbook and introduce a Nuke or Inferno, two maps ENCE have less experience on. The value play from this series looks to revolve around all three AWPers; if kennyS is off his game at all, allu and Jamppi will feast, but if he's at his best, the French maestro is one of the best in the world.
Prediction: ENCE 2-1
- E Players to Target: Jamppi ($11,400 Captain, $7,600 Flex), sergej ($10,200 Captain, $6,800 Flex)
- G2 Players to Target: huNter- ($13,200 Captain, $8,800 Flex)
OG vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
The second match of the day also looks to be far and away the most one-sided as OG, who have struggled even outside of the top tier of competition, come into a match against a lethal NiP side. This is a match that should favor NiP in pretty much every way; in firepower the Swedish side have been competing with the very best, while OG looked toothless against Complexity, dropping to the lower bracket. In the form department it's just as one sided: NiP have lost to only FaZe and Na'Vi in their last five, while OG have dropped series to Complexity, HAVU, forZe and c0ntact in their last four. If OG want any chance at the upset they will need one of the oddest map vetoes of the tournament, as their best map, Dust 2, is NiP's permanent ban, and the only other maps they have an advantage on are Mirage and Nuke, where they hover around 50 percent win rates. NiP will look towards any of Inferno, Train, Overpass or Mirage, and will favor their raw firepower on any of those maps against the international side. Overall, NiP should have far too much firepower, far too much cohesion and simply far too much talent for OG, which should keep them alive in BLAST Premier Spring. If this match is as one-sided as it has the potential to be, NiP could provide the value and performances of the slate, especially Plopski and nawwk.
Prediction: NiP 2-0
- OG Players to Target: valde ($11,100 Captain, $7,400 Flex)
- NiP Players to Target: Plopski ($12,900 Captain, $8,600 Flex), nawwk ($11,700 Captain, $7,800 Flex)
Evil Geniuses vs. Team Liquid
The final match of the slate closes out in North America with Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid clashing, a match that two months ago many would have called a fight for the top spot in North America but is now barely a fight for second. EG and TL have both fallen well behind FURIA, and now have to contend with Cloud9 and Gen.G both looking to move into the top of the North American and world rankings. That said, this match still looks to be relatively one-sided; Team Liquid come in on the back of a grand final defeat to FURIA, while Evil Geniuses have been out of competition for 10 days following a third-place decider victory over Gen.G. Team Liquid are the heavy favorites, and outside of that grand final defeat to FURIA have been in tremendous form, especially their deadly duo of riflers, NAF and EliGE. If Evil Geniuses want to upset Team Liquid they will need a very specific veto - namely a series on two of Inferno and Mirage, their best maps. EG bans Overpass and TL bans Train, with Vertigo and Dust2 both being under 40 percent win rates for EG, leaving only Mirage, Inferno and Nuke. Of those, Team Liquid still take the edge on Nuke, and are almost guaranteed to pick one of Dust 2 or Vertigo, so barring a mistake from Team Liquid they should be large favorites in the veto as well. The value in this match could come from the depth of Team Liquid; the last time these two sides met in a best-of-three, Stewie2k and nitr0 both produced performances alongside NAF and EliGE to secure the 2-0 sweep.
Prediction: Team Liquid 2-1
