The Americas Minor is already halfway over, and the contenders have been pruned down to the four best. If you are trying to avoid spoilers, I don’t know why you’d be here, but you should look away.

NRG, INTZ, FURIA, and Envy have all made the playoffs, and three of them will be moving on by the end of this weekend.

Remember, if you are betting on this event, we recommend you do it on one of these sites:

Group Stage

NRG

NRG were my favorite coming into this tournament, and I don’t think that’s a particularly contentious statement. They have a well-balanced team, and CeRq is the best player at the tournament, besides maybe kNg.

However, in a surprising turn of events, CeRq bottom fragged in their first game against Imperial, and was middle of the scoreboard in their best-of-three against Bravado.

Even without their Bulgarian superstar, NRG Brehzed through their games in the group stage and secured their spot in the playoffs.

Did you see what I did there? Brehzed? He and nahtE put on a show, reminding the peers and spectators alike that NRG isn’t a one man show.

NRG drew Envy in the playoffs, and I feel good about their chances.

INTZ

Just to remind you all, MIBR could have had kNg on their team instead of Felps. He was readily available, and I imagine the buyout was reasonable.

Granted, I understand why the Immortals brand didn’t want to bring kNg back to playing under their organization again, but still.

If MIBR has a disappointing first half of the year, I expect kNg to be hanging over them.

INTZ isn’t just the kNg show, even though that may be how I sounded just now. I’ve seen xand and chelo put in work so far in the tournament, and I like this team.

Bravado

Bravado were the feel-good story of this Major cycle, at least so far. They moved to America from South Africa, qualified for the NA Minor, and were one best-of-three away from making the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the miracle run is over, and it’s back to the drawing board for Bravado. Their best players were consistent throughout the tournament, but they fell to NRG and INTZ.

There’s no shame in that, both of those teams are very good, but it does mean Bravado has to get better. I don’t know how they’d do that, but it’s that or blow it up.

Imperial

Imperial looked outclassed in every game at this tournament, aside from their Inferno game against INTZ. That shouldn’t surprise anyone, seeing as how they’re like the fourth best team from Brazil. It’s honestly pretty impressive that they made it this deep.

FURIA

Another team with a near MIBR member in kscerato, FURIA made quick work of eUnited and Envy, securing their spot in the playoffs in only three maps. Kscerato and yuurih are the powerhouses of the team, and they seem to be playing well.

This roster is relatively untested on LAN, so it remains to be seen if they can carry their early successes into the playoffs, especially because their first match is against INTZ, one of the better-looking teams at the event.

I certainly don’t think there are any teams at the Minor that FURIA can’t beat. The field just isn’t that strong, I don’t think it’s totally out of the question for FURIA to win the Minor. I don’t think that’s the most likely scenario either, but it could certainly happen.

Envy

When I wrote my preview for the Americas Minor, I highlighted Envy as a dark horse, just because of Karrigan. It seemed silly to think a player of his caliber wouldn’t make it through, and so far, I’m right.

They gave me a scare in their final best-of-three, but they managed to pull it out.

I am impressed most with cutler so far, as well as with a seemingly revitalized jdm. I didn’t love the calls in crunch time on Overpass. Karrigan didn’t really seem like he had a handle on the situation, it felt to me like it was TeamOne’s game to lose, which they did.

TeamOne

So close, and yet so far. After getting blown out of the server by Envy in the opening match, TeamOne dispatched eUnited and then fell in a close best-of-three to Envy.

Like I said, that game really could have gone either way. If any of TeamOne’s players had had legitimate LAN experience, I think they could have clutched it out.

I like this roster, and they went toe to toe with a Karrigan-led team, which is no easy feat (although yes, this Karrigan-led team isn’t very good).

eUnited

I couldn’t have even told you who was on eUnited before this event. Tier two NA just can’t stop shuffling for some reason, it’s like they’re LMFAO circa-2012.

Cooper- had an admirable performance, managing to go +12 in a disappointing best-of-three loss against the aforementioned Brazilians, TeamOne, presumably to make up for the no-show in their opening game against FURIA.

Predictions

NRG (-834) – Envy (+425)

This game shouldn’t be close. NRG has the better roster by far, they’re playing great together, this roster has been together for a while.

Envy on the other hand, is playing with a brand new IGL, has less talent, and less chemistry. These odds seem about right.

You can bet $100 to win $12, which I wouldn’t recommend. However, you can throw this game in a parlay with the next game, which I’m a fan of.

FURIA (-154) – INTZ (+110)

I like INTZ here. I have seen a lot less of FURIA so far this tournament, and I think that it should be close, but I take INTZ by a hair. Having kNg is going to give them an X factor that I don’t think FURIA will be able to handle.

Put down $100 on INTZ to win $110.

Or, if you’re feeling frisky, you can parlay NRG at -834 and INTZ at +110 to bring the odds up to +235, which obviously means put down $100 to win $235.

Every seasoned gambler has a series of personal rules that they follow. In a lot of cases, the rules are based on times that the gambler has been burned, especially if it happens repeatably. (The most famous example being Bill Simmon’s NFL Playoff Manifesto)

During the EU Minor this weekend, I forgot one of my own gambling rules, and paid the price for it.

Never bet on young players/teams in the clutch, especially in big games. I saw this multiple times at the EU Minor, fom ZywOo, from Valiance, from Windigo, even sergej had a bad game on Mirage.

It’s not surprising that these players and teams performed poorly in the big moments. Unless you’ve been in a big game before, it’s hard to know what to do, and how to keep calm.

That’s a big reason that I am such a big fan of having a veteran presence on teams. Those players are crucial when they get into those kinds of games.

When it comes to the wire, the game can start to break down. It’s just like how playoffs in the NBA can look totally different than a regular season game.

The pressure isn’t always something that needs to be factored into a betting decision, but on younger players in big games, it certainly needs to be.

It’s extra important when the game is played on LAN, in front of a crowd of thousands screaming and clapping and stomping and holding up dumb signs. Which team will be able to handle that environment, and that pressure better?

If you look at some of the results from the EU Minor so far, ZywOo’s statline in their best-of-three against North stands out.

He went 38-39 over the series, which doesn’t seem all that bad until you remember that it’s his worst statline of the event, and against a team that honestly isn’t all that great.

In their best-of-three against Valiance, ZywOo went 72-48, which is almost unbelievable. He has the most kills on the server, over three maps, by 11.

These are the kinds of trends you need to keep in mind when betting on Counter-Strike. It’s a high variance game, and even a little edge like this can help push you into the black.

Remember, if you are looking to bet on Counter Strike, or any esport really, we recommend you check out these sites.

The iBUYPOWER Masters are coming up, and it seems like this would be a great event to get some info for the Major. See which teams are in form, if there are any map pool changes, how the teams are settling in with their roster changes.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I would be cautious about takeaways from this event, especially if you’re planning on betting at the Major. It’s highly unlikely that teams like Astralis are going to play up to their potential at this event. They will be concealing parts of their stratbook, feeling the other teams out, and continuing to prep for the Major.

That all being said, this is the first time we are seeing new compLexity, FaZe, Cloud9, and Liquid. It’s always a treat to watch these new lineups try to figure it out, and this should be a tournament full of solid betting games and exciting matchups.

If you’d like to bet on the iBUYPOWER Masters, I recommend checking out our recommended betting sites here:

Outrights

Astralis (-167)

There really isn’t much to say about Astralis. They were the most dominant team last year by far, and it doesn’t seem like much has changed. They are going to have the best player in the server most games, and the best player at every position for the most part.

Be that as it may, if you were going to bet against Astralis at an event this year, I’d recommend doing it here. I can’t imagine Astralis is worried about anything other than the Major at this point, and I would assume they are planning on using this tournament as a testing ground for new stuff and are unlikely to play at their very best.

Team Liquid (+475)

I imagine Liquid is the team that cares the least about this tournament. They lost an important piece in TACO and replaced him with a completely different kind of player.

They will likely be trying to figure out their map pool, their system, their roles, how they want to play. I can’t imagine they will look in form for this tournament, and I think +475 is way too low to get any value out of this.

An important thing to note, don’t overreact if and when they perform poorly at this tournament. Stewie is going to change this team fundamentally, and it will take them a while to get used to it I’m sure. Just because they play poorly here, doesn’t mean they will look bad at the Major, so don’t press the panic button.

One of the worst bets of the event I think, stay far away.

FaZe Clan (+600)

I’ve got a lot of problems with this team. They picked up Adren, who I’m a big fan of, which would be a good move in a vacuum, especially if they are planning on letting him call. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

(https://www.twitch.tv/adren/clip/SuspiciousRealCrabsKappa?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time)
I just don’t think this team can be successful when NiKo is calling. He will limit Rain, who needs a strong IGL to play at his best, and I don’t think it would enable Guardian to play at his best either.

A new, strong voice on the team to help FaZe’s incredible roster of aimers would help take this team back to the upper echelon of CS.
On the other hand, a roster of top 10 talent, in the honeymoon phase of a roster replacement, at a tournament Astralis will likely be punting on? I like them, especially at +600. I recommend it.

Fnatic (+1400)

Fnatic seem to have been on an upswing at the end of 2018, albeit a small one. They took the PLG Grand Slam over G2 towards the end of December last year, and the roster finally looks solidified.

They have a nice mix of veterans and younger guys, and KRIMZ is still one of the better Swedish players. I haven’t seen enough of this team to confidently say they will make it deep into this tournament. This event will likely be a good evaluation period for this team playing against top tier teams.

I wouldn’t recommend betting on them.

Cloud9 (+1600)

It’s really a shame that Cloud9 continues to play with handicaps. This team has a lot of potential, and I like their full lineup a lot. Golden is one of my favorite IGLs in the scene, what he did with that Fnatic lineup was impressive. Unfortunately for Cloud9, they’re playing with Zellsis instead.

Zellsis has almost zero tier one experience, and now he is being put in a tournament with multiple tier one teams. I’m excited to see how he responds, as it’s hard to tell with young talent like this. I hope that he can rise to the challenge and show out, and that he can earn a big contract from someone.

I like Cloud9 at this event quite a bit. They will (hopefully) play loose, taking advantage of their aim and press some of these top teams. Cloud9 doesn’t really have any aspirations of doing more than maintaining their Major spot, so they shouldn’t be holding back at this event.

compLexity Gaming (+1600)

I’m excited about this lineup. I’m a big n0thing fan, I’ve liked this core for a while, I think they have a shot to be one of the best teams in NA. They’re still missing some firepower, hopefully Rickeh can step up and contribute in a big way.

I get the feeling compLexity is going to take a big swing at this tournament, and the Major. They made big moves in the scene in 2018, putting together a surprisingly strong roster, and Jason Lake (their CEO) doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would play it safe.

They also don’t really have n0thing on a trial run here. N0thing has them on trial. CompLexity has to prove that they’re a competent team and win him over, prove to him that they can compete and be a viable place for n0thing to (continue) to play. (This all assumes n0thing wants to compete again, and can still play at a high level, which are both things I assume are true. I suppose we’ll see.)

I don’t think I’d put any money down for coL to win the event, but a bet on them to make it out of their group seems smart. They have talent, and stan is a great IGL.

Luminosity Gaming (+2000)

Not much to say about LG. They pretty consistently put up middling results at mid-level tournaments and have yet to really impress with any notable wins. A stay away for sure.

Ghost Gaming (+3000)

I have never been a big Ghost believer. I think they’re overrated in NA, especially against tier one EU competition. (I do really like WARDELL though.) I tend to rate them a little higher than most other teams around their skill level, mostly because of steel. Not because he’s a great IGL, although he is certainly solid.

Ghost is the only team at this event who isn’t attending, at the very least, the Minor, for obvious reasons. So, for all intents and purposes, this event is Ghost’s Major.

That means, at least in my mind, they’re going to try much harder, put in a lot more prep work, and care much more than any other team attending. These factors can end up being important, especially in close games.

Ghost having the lowest odds to win this tournament seems pretty silly to me. While I don’t think they have a great chance to take the whole thing, a small bet on them might be fun.

I do like them to make it out of their group however, as long as they don’t get put in with FaZe and Astralis or something like that.

Day two is over, and we know who’s moving on to the finals. It’s not quite who I might have expected, but it’s close enough. Here are some thoughts on each team that played today, and then my picks. And remember, if you’re betting, we recommend using any of these sites:

Today

Mousesports

This was a rough event for Mousesports. They weren’t tournament ready and it showed. Their run was characterized by sloppy play, a lack of teamwork, confusing CT setups, and an inability to hit shots that they should be hitting every time.

Oskar had one of his worst events since, believe it or not, the FACEIT Major last year. This underperformance was not an isolated issue though. The team suffered from inconsistent performances from everyone on the roster, usually with one or two guys playing well per map. ChrisJ almost dragged them to a victory over Valiance in their best-of-one, ropz was the only positive player on Cache in their best-of-three, but they couldn’t string anything together.

Hopefully this team doesn’t make any roster moves. I still like this team a lot, in the way they play and in their composition, and I hope that they persevere through what is probably their worst performance at a tournament as a unit.

North

Valde is really good at Counter-Strike. Their win over Windigo comes down to his performance, and a rare lights out game from aizy to help secure Inferno. They played better than Windigo did on the last map, by a fair margin, and took the final spot in the playoffs with relative ease.

Unfortunately, this is as far as they’re going to go. I don’t see North winning a best-of-three against Vitality, at all. There’s just no way.

Windigo

Another team that impressed. It’s unfortunate that they fell apart on the third map against North, but in some ways that’s to be expected when a team this young makes it to a game that important.

Poizon is good, as is SHiPZ. It’s hard to tell if this is the ceiling for this team. With a few more events under their belt, they might be able to start getting wins over top 15 teams. I’d imagine they would need to add a veteran, and another star. I can’t imagine there’s any reality where NRG let go of CeRq, but if they did, Bulgarian superteam anyone?

Valiance

I am very, very impressed with this team. I had no expectations for them at all coming into this event, and they managed to hold their own against Vitality and handle a (weak) mousesports handily.

There is some serious talent on this team. huNter had a big game against Mousesports to open the tournament, and an incredible highlight play against Vitality, but he was not the focal point of this team. EspiranTo and nexa stood out the most to me, their impact and aim blew me away.

I think this team has a very real shot of making it to the Major. I would go so far as to say they’re definitely going to make it to the 3^rd Place Play-In, as I’d take them over North for sure.

Ex-Space Soldiers

I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being the last event for this core. They went out last with barely a whimper and failed to show any signs of life at all.

I don’t blame them for their poor performance at this event. Take the best player off any team at the Major, and their performance is sure to suffer. There is definitely still talent on this team, and I hope that they get picked apart and rostered on international teams following this event.

OpTic

Not much to say really. They need to offer Karrigan a lot of money. This is a pretty serious org, I imagine they have the resources to build a serious competitor in CS. Not to mention the depth of Danish talent in the scene right now. A second, really good Danish team could exist, if all the talent was brought to the right place. So why not OpTic?

Tomorrow

These should both be solid games. I especially like the ENCE-Valiance matchup.

Vitality (-222) vs. North (+161)

This game shouldn’t be close, as long as everyone on Vitality plays as good as they should. Honestly, ZywOo alone could probably handle North, not to mention apex and a newly revitalized (hopefully) RpK. I’d strongly recommend a bet on Vitality here. I’d also recommend watching the game, as anytime ZywOo is on screen it’s a joy.

ENCE (-222) vs. Valiance (+165)

This matchup should be a lot of fun. Both teams are going to be hungry and should come in well prepared. I like ENCE here, I just don’t think I can bet against Aerial, Allu, and sergej, even after the showing Valiance had against Mouz.

Recency bias is an easy thing to get caught up in, so let me just remind you that allu went 46-19 yesterday in a best-of-three against Windigo. Not only did he put up those numbers, he did them on just 47 rounds. That’s averaging almost a kill per round over the course of two maps.

I expect ENCE to look great, given a couple days rest and plenty of tape to review for this best-of-three. Bet on ENCE is what I would advise.

Counter Strike is finally back. After a long player’s break, the CS scene is rolling again, starting with the IEM Katowice EU Minor. This tournament has some serious threats in it, and some very good teams are likely not going to make it through. Let’s recap the day’s action, and then talk about what’s coming tomorrow.

Today

Vitality vs. OpTic

This match played out about how you would expect. ZywOo had some crazy highlights, OpTic played not all that great, OpTic looked listless, Vitality looked solid. The one unexpected thing, which looks good for Vitality, is how well RPK played. They’re going to need him to play at an all-star level if they want to make it deep into the Major, and that doesn’t look impossible right now.

This could very well be ZywOo’s break out tournament, not that he hasn’t been looking great already. He seems like the kind of player that will be able to keep Vitality in any game, which is what you need if you want to make a deep run at a tournament this stacked. I’m going to keep a close eye on him as Vitality progresses, as I’m sure he will continue to be a treat to watch.

Mousesports vs. Valiance

This was a disappointing showing by Mouz, although not a surprising one. They haven’t played an official since early December, and I would bet they didn’t prepare all that well for this matchup. They looked rusty, and Valiance took full advantage. huNter certainly proved all the hype for him was well deserved, putting up 26 frags on 86 ADR.

I’m not worried about Mousesports, at least not yet. This loss puts them in the decider game, which means they now need to win two best-of-threes if they want to make it to the Major, but that’s certainly doable. They need to beat OpTic, which they shouldn’t be worried about, and then

Ex-Space Soldiers vs. ENCE

Believe it or not, ENCE beat ex-Space Soldiers. It’s almost as if removing a team’s best player will make them play worse. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to learn from a game like this besides the fact that ENCE is good. Allu looks like prime allu, sergej has incredible aim (although he’s clearly young and inexperienced, and has made a fair number of mistakes), Aerial is doing everything you need from a star player.

North vs. Windigo

I am not a fan of this North lineup. Having cadiaN IGL and AWP, keeping aizy on the roster, it just doesn’t make any sense, and isn’t likely to start working anytime soon. Their fraggers aren’t consistent, their calling is poor. I can’t imagine they win the elimination match tomorrow, which means they’ll be headed home. Hopefully they have more success in the Karrigan sweepstakes.

ENCE vs. Windigo

Yet another stomp for ENCE. Allu went 46-19 over the two maps, out fragging Windigo’s two bottom fraggers put together. Aerial and sergej both went 42-28, and sergej especially had a good game. This team is firing on all cylinders, and I love it. They’re a lot of fun to watch, I’m pulling for them to make it to the Major (I want those stickers).

As far as Windigo goes, I was really impressed by poizon. He was a lot of fun to watch and had real impact in a lot of important rounds for his team. I assume that Windigo is the best Bulgarian team, so I don’t know what opportunities he has besides going international, but I was a fan.

Vitality vs. Valiance

This was the game of the day. Vitality and Valiance looked to be evenly matched, trading rounds all throughout the series. Vitality had the best player on the server in ZywOo, but nexa and EspiranTo weren’t far off. Mirage was contentious, before Vitality swept in the overtime, and Vitality’s collapse on CT side let Valiance walk away with the game. Unfortunately for the (mostly) Serbians, Vitality put the clamps on them CT side of Dust 2, and closed out the best-of-three with little trouble.

The biggest takeaways from this series are that ZywOo is a bona fide star, RPK is slowly playing his way into for, and that Valiance is not to be underestimated. Nexa and EspiranTo looked great this series and were fully capable of going toe to toe with anyone on Vitality. If I were Mouz, I would be worried about the decider match tomorrow.

Tomorrow

OpTic (+175) vs. Mousesports (-250)

This should be an easy game for Mouz. OpTic did not impress against Vitality today, and they won’t impress against Mouz I’m sure.

Mousesports did not look good today, as I mentioned. They need suNny, and especially ropz, to take a step up before tomorrow’s games. Hopefully this is just them shaking the rust off, and they’ll come back in force tomorrow, because it would be a shame to see them go out in last at the Minor. They certainly have the talent to beat OpTic and Valiance, but whether they can get on the server and execute is another question entirely, especially after a lengthy player break.

Ex-Space Soldiers (+235) vs. North (-358)

This game is a tossup I think. Obviously ex-SS doesn’t look very good, especially without xanatres, but I really don’t like North either. I think I must give the edge to the Danes, just for the fact that they are playing with an actual roster, one which has been together for more than a month.

That being said, with the odds looking the way they do, I like a bet on Space Soldiers. I don’t know how North is a -258 favorite, but I do know I want to put money against that.

CS:GO is finally starting to ramp up again, after a lengthy, though well deserved, player break. The season will kick off with the iBUYPOWER Masters on January 19th, with the Katowice Minors and subsequent Major taking place throughout January into early February.

And so, with another year, and another set of events, comes another set of rankings. There have been a lot of roster moves since last year, so it’s going to be hard to place them in a definitive order.

Astralis

Surprise, surprise. I’ve written about Astralis extensively, but man are they great. Pound for pound they’re the best team in CS:GO right now. They have one of the very best players in the world in device, and they have a top three guy at every position.

Not only is their team composition near perfect, but they have the infrastructure to back them up. Astralis is one of the best organizations in esports, and they have the financial backing to keep these guys performing at their peak. They’re one of the early adopters of sports psychology, they take care of burnout better than anyone else in the scene right now, and Astralis is looking unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

Na’Vi

Na’Vi is here by default, due to Liquid and MIBR’s roster changes. I am not a fan of this team, and I think they have a lot of problems. But before I detail that, let me talk a little bit about their assets.
S1mple is a transcendently talented player. He has the best aim in CS:GO, he can rifle and AWP, and he is hard carrying Na’Vi right now.

Electronic took a leap last year, and he looks like a legitimate second star for s1mple to alleviate some of the weight from him.

The problem is, this team just doesn’t work well together, and personally I think pretty much every player is at fault. I don’t think that s1mple can play with Zeus. It hasn’t worked so far, and I don’t think it ever really will. Zeus is an accomplished IGL, and the only Major winner on this team. What’s weird is, he led a less talented team to a Major win while on Gambit. Clearly, he can lead a team to success.

So, what’s the problem?

I think that s1mple is too overcentralizing on this team. He makes it so that Zeus can’t run the team how he wants, and the team suffers for it. I think that it’s going to end up being one or the other, and I can’t imagine they pick Zeus. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s off the team by the end of 2019.

Liquid

Liquid makes me nervous. They were the number two team in the world last year by a pretty solid margin and looked like they could be a roster move away from success. Unfortunately, I think they made the wrong move.

I wrote about this before here (Team Liquid Trades Taco for Stewie2k), but their chemistry and team structure might get weird now.

While I have written pretty negatively about this before, the ceiling for the move is high. Just look at Astralis. Xyp9x is the most overqualified support player in the world, and he is one of the big factors to their success. If Liquid can manage their egos and find a system that works for them, this could be a big step up.

MIBR

This is the team I’m most excited for. MIBR is finally going back to their roots and bringing back an all SA lineup. This should alleviate any language barriers they had, and hopefully bring the whole team back to their comfort zone.

More importantly though, is that it will fix their issues playing within Fallen’s system (assuming they make smart roster moves, which I’m sure they will.) The big problem for MIBR was that Tarik wasn’t a support player. He has played a carry role pretty much his whole career, and that’s where he shined. It’s no wonder MIBR could never take a leap when they hadn’t really figured out the roles and responsibilities on the team.

A new, ironed out roster, with real support players, should turn MIBR back into the Brazilian powerhouse they used to be.

FaZe

Another weird one, that’s almost entirely dependent on their roster moves. Unfortunately for FaZe, I have much less confidence in their ability to make the right ones.

Keeping NiKo as the IGL could be disastrous for this roster. Its unlikely Rain will return to form under NiKo, and it wouldn’t bode well for Guardian either, who may be nearing the end of his career.

Adren is a great player, and I think he could be a huge help for this team if they let him call. He secondary called for Zeus on the Major-winning Gambit team and is a great glue guy. FaZe management needs to push for this to happen.

Yes, NiKo did IGL for Mousesports, but only because he had to. There’s no way he can consistently outcall gla1ve while also trying to be FaZe’s star carry. It just won’t happen.

Mousesports

Mouz is another one of my favorites on here. They made some questionable roster moves in 2018, but it looks as though this new-old roster is here to stay, for the time being anyway. This team has had great chemistry, and they looked as though they could be tier one contenders.

Oskar, ropz, and sunNy are all players who can turn it on and take over a match. ChrisJ’s in-game-leading has improved leaps and bounds over the last year, and STYKO has clearly demonstrated his usefulness to the team as a glue guy.

This is one of the teams on this list who I think can’t improve with a roster change. They have plenty of talent already, and just need to grind it out. I’m hopeful that’s what they’ll choose to do.

NRG

Another Na’Vi-esque team, although with a slightly better distribution of talent and resources. CeRq looked like an all-star last year, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get even better this year. nahtE has impressed as well, and Daps seems to be a good fit for this team.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see them try and upgrade with some cast-offs of the NA shuffle. Maybe Tarik?

NiP

It’s still hard to discount any team with f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, and dennis on it. The talent on this team can be overwhelming at times, although they continue to play under where they probably should be.
The Swedish scene right now is kind of light on talent, so I’m not sure where an upgrade would come from if they were considering one. Perhaps a change in leadership might help?

ENCE

The up and comer of the group, I’ve been both impressed and entertained by their play. It’s fun to see Allu still kicking in the scene, and sergej is a delight. Their ceiling is probably the least defined right now out of any team I have in the top 10, which is always exciting.

Hopefully they make it to big LANs in 2019 and we can see more of the Finnish firing squad. I’d love to see them ride this roster out for a while, as I really like the construction of it.

Fnatic

Fnatic continues to chug along, slow and steady. After some roster turnover in the middle section of 2018, they seem to be set with their five. KRIMZ, twist, and JW are a solid top three to complement Xizt’s in-game-leading, but I don’t know if it will be enough to break the top five, or win a tournament at all in this calendar year.

I’ve got a fun fact for you. TYLOO and Renegades have come in second and first place at every Asia Minor since 2016, where The MongolZ took first in a stomp over renegades. We are coming up on three years of complete dominance over the Oceanic scene by Renegades and TYLOO, and it doesn’t seem as though that’s going to change anytime soon.

Fortunately for the rest of the teams at this event, TYLOO attained returning challenger status, which means two of these teams are going to the Major, and a third will be attending the third-place qualifier.
If you are planning on betting on this event, we recommend these sites:

Renegades (+100)

The reigning champions, back again to sweep the Minor. They’re the team with the most raw talent, the most infrastructure, the best coach. Although they’re dealing with the tail end of roster turnover, and they look different than they did this time last year, they are still the easy favorite to win the tournament.

I don’t love them as a bet though. This roster is relatively untested, and +100 doesn’t add a lot of value. They’re still a safe bet.

Grayhound Gaming (+300)

The only thing notable about this Grayhound team is the fact that DickStacy’s name is so funny. They’ve been a middling team, getting middling results, even before they added sterling in October of last year.

Lucky for them, they’re competing in the Asia Minor.

Grayhound are likely to make it through to the Major, and they owe a big thanks to TYLOO for not being here.

MVP PK (+450)

The better of the two South Korean teams at the Asia Minor, MVP seem like the favorite for the third-place slot, if only by process of elimination. Their most notable win is a 2-1 over a washed up Virtus.Pro, and I don’t see them making any progress past a third-place finish.

ViCi (+450)

ViCi is the only other real competitor at this event. Their team is seasoned, and they’ve been playing together for a while.

I wouldn’t recommend putting big money down on any teams at this event. Inter-region play can be particularly hard to predict, and there isn’t a ton of value in betting on Renegades. I would suggest holding off for some of the big events coming up in the next month or so, as they are likely to be a little more fun and offer more value.

The iBUYPOWER Masters are coming up, and it seems like this would be a great event to get some info for the Major. See which teams are in form, if there are any map pool changes, how the teams are settling in with their roster changes.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I would be cautious about takeaways from this event, especially if you’re planning on betting at the Major. It’s highly unlikely that teams like Astralis are going to play up to their potential at this event.

They will be concealing parts of their stratbook, feeling the other teams out, and continuing to prep for the Major.

That all being said, this is the first time we are seeing new compLexity, FaZe, Cloud9, and Liquid. It’s always a treat to watch these new lineups try to figure it out, and this should be a tournament full of solid betting games and exciting matchups.

If you’d like to bet on the iBUYPOWER Masters, I recommend checking out our recommended betting sites here:

Outrights

Astralis (-167)

There really isn’t much to say about Astralis. They were the most dominant team last year by far, and it doesn’t seem like much has changed. They are going to have the best player in the server most games, and the best player at every position for the most part.

Be that as it may, if you were going to bet against Astralis at an event this year, I’d recommend doing it here.

I can’t imagine Astralis is worried about anything other than the Major at this point, and I would assume they are planning on using this tournament as a testing ground for new stuff and are unlikely to play at their very best.

Team Liquid (+475)

I imagine Liquid is the team that cares the least about this tournament. They lost an important piece in TACO and replaced him with a completely different kind of player. They will likely be trying to figure out their map pool, their system, their roles, how they want to play.

I can’t imagine they will look in form for this tournament, and I think +475 is way too low to get any value out of this.

An important thing to note, don’t overreact if and when they perform poorly at this tournament. Stewie is going to change this team fundamentally, and it will take them a while to get used to it I’m sure.

Just because they play poorly here, doesn’t mean they will look bad at the Major, so don’t press the panic button.

One of the worst bets of the event I think, stay far away.

FaZe Clan (+600)

I’ve got a lot of problems with this team. They picked up Adren, who I’m a big fan of, which would be a good move in a vacuum, especially if they are planning on letting him call.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I just don’t think this team can be successful when NiKo is calling. He will limit Rain, who needs a strong IGL to play at his best, and I don’t think it would enable Guardian to play at his best either.

A new, strong voice on the team to help FaZe’s incredible roster of aimers would help take this team back to the upper echelon of CS.

On the other hand, a roster of top 10 talent, in the honeymoon phase of a roster replacement, at a tournament Astralis will likely be punting on? I like them, especially at +600. I recommend it.

Fnatic (+1400)

Fnatic seem to have been on an upswing at the end of 2018, albeit a small one. They took the PLG Grand Slam over G2 towards the end of December last year, and the roster finally looks solidified.

They have a nice mix of veterans and younger guys, and KRIMZ is still one of the better Swedish players. I haven’t seen enough of this team to confidently say they will make it deep into this tournament.

This event will likely be a good evaluation period for this team playing against top tier teams.

I wouldn’t recommend betting on them.

Cloud9 (+1600)

It’s really a shame that Cloud9 continues to play with handicaps. This team has a lot of potential, and I like their full lineup a lot.

Golden is one of my favorite IGLs in the scene, what he did with that Fnatic lineup was impressive. Unfortunately for Cloud9, they’re playing with Zellsis instead.

Zellsis has almost zero tier one experience, and now he is being put in a tournament with multiple tier one teams. I’m excited to see how he responds, as it’s hard to tell with young talent like this.

I hope that he can rise to the challenge and show out, and that he can earn a big contract from someone.

I like Cloud9 at this event quite a bit. They will (hopefully) play loose, taking advantage of their aim and press some of these top teams.

Cloud9 doesn’t really have any aspirations of doing more than maintaining their Major spot, so they shouldn’t be holding back at this event.

compLexity Gaming (+1600)

I’m excited about this lineup. I’m a big n0thing fan, I’ve liked this core for a while, I think they have a shot to be one of the best teams in NA. They’re still missing some firepower, hopefully Rickeh can step up and contribute in a big way.

I get the feeling compLexity is going to take a big swing at this tournament, and the Major. They made big moves in the scene in 2018, putting together a surprisingly strong roster, and Jason Lake (their CEO) doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would play it safe.

They also don’t really have n0thing on a trial run here. N0thing has them on trial. CompLexity has to prove that they’re a competent team and win him over, prove to him that they can compete and be a viable place for n0thing to (continue) to play. (This all assumes n0thing wants to compete again, and can still play at a high level, which are both things I assume are true. I suppose we’ll see.)

I don’t think I’d put any money down for coL to win the event, but a bet on them to make it out of their group seems smart. They have talent, and stan is a great IGL.

Luminosity Gaming (+2000)

Not much to say about LG.

They pretty consistently put up middling results at mid-level tournaments and have yet to really impress with any notable wins.

A stay away for sure.

Ghost Gaming (+3000)

I have never been a big Ghost believer. I think they’re overrated in NA, especially against tier one EU competition. (I do really like WARDELL though.)

I tend to rate them a little higher than most other teams around their skill level, mostly because of steel.

Not because he’s a great IGL, although he is certainly solid.

Ghost is the only team at this event who isn’t attending, at the very least, the Minor, for obvious reasons.

So, for all intents and purposes, this event is Ghost’s Major.

That means, at least in my mind, they’re going to try much harder, put in a lot more prep work, and care much more than any other team attending.

These factors can end up being important, especially in close games.

Ghost having the lowest odds to win this tournament seems pretty silly to me. While I don’t think they have a great chance to take the whole thing, a small bet on them might be fun.

I do like them to make it out of their group however, as long as they don’t get put in with FaZe and Astralis or something like that.

The Major is finally upon us, starting with the Americas and Asia Minors. There is a solid slate planned for the Americas Minor, and solid betting opportunities if you’re willing to take a chance on an unproven team or two. If you do choose to bet, we highly recommend these sites:

Outrights

NRG (-167)

NRG are poised to take this qualifier by storm. After a bomb-out in last year’s minor, NRG are back and better than ever, coming off a solid 2018. CeRq is looking like a bone fide all-star, and the team is functioning as intended under the leadership of Daps.
The question for NRG is, who is their star rifler. CeRq has huge impact on the AWP, but that tends not to matter when your team can’t back you up. nahtE and Brehze are both capable players to back CeRq up, but NRG will need big performances from at least one of them.
NRG are my favorite to make it out of the minor, and you can get them at -167.

eUnited (+600)

eUnited has been on the come up in NA for a while now, and this time last week I would have had them as one of my favorites to make it through. That was before I read this twitlonger from Relyks.
This reads like a disorganized, poorly managed team, and that’s the kind of team that I try not to bet on. That much role shuffling doesn’t bode well for any team, much less a tier-two NA team with middle of the road results over the last couple months. There’s clearly talent on this team, and if they were given time to work with a stable roster I might be sold on them, but I’m not comfortable putting any of my money on them, especially not at +600.

Envy (+1300)

This is clearly the most interesting team at the Minor. In one of the more shocking roster changes in recent history, they have picked up karrigan as a stand-in, which could be a huge boon for this team.
Envy has not been good. This lineup doesn’t really have any significant wins, and I am not a fan of their roster. I would be really surprised to see Envy do any damage at all at the Minor. That being said, they have added a top 5 IGL who is known for his loose calling style. I would say that karrigan is probably the single best player you could add to this team right now. If everyone on Envy buys in, which I imagine they will, it’s not unthinkable that they could make it to the Major.
At +1300, I kind of like this bet. They’re still not a favorite to make it out, but it’s hard to discount a team with karrigan on it at a Minor.

Furia (+900)

Furia’s best results over the past two months have been taking a map off of Rogue and winning 2-0 over Swole Patrol. Not exactly a strong endorsement of their skill, but not terrible either. I’m not sure why Furia is at +900, as that seems low to me. There’s always a chance they’ll surprise, especially since MIBR were looking at kscerato to replace Tarik, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Literally.

TeamOne (+1200)

TeamOne are lucky to be at the minor. In the qualifiers they were down a map to Old Guys Club, who had to forfeit due to a scheduling conflict. After being handed this win, they took full advantage and 2-0’d Rogue and Swole Patrol to qualify for the Minor.
They played well in the qualifier, but this is TeamOne’s first major LAN, unless you count Fragadelphia or TOYOTA Master Bangkok.

Bravado (+1100)

Bravado were the feel-good story of the year in 2018, and it looks like they may ride that wave all the way into the Major. They are pulling a Luminosity and scraping together funding to attend the Minor, and it seems the community is rallying around them. It’s like something out of a movie, and that can’t be underestimated.

CS:GO is a mental game and having this kind of motivation, knowing that people all around the world are pulling for you and hoping for an upset, can show up in game. Bravado have some solid results over the last couple months of 2018, and it certainly isn’t impossible that they make it through.

At +1100 they’re good for a small bet, especially if you consider yourself a romantic.

INTZ (+800)

Things don’t look good for INTZ. If Felps and kNg were to show up, I’d feel pretty good about them. Unfortunately, it’s looking like Felps has been poached by MIBR, which leaves this team in the lurch. +800 is way too low, this is the most obvious stay away on the list. We don’t even know their full roster, and I don’t know if INTZ does either at this point.

Imperial (+2900)

This actually isn’t a terrible lineup. It’s full of seasoned players, like SHOOWTiME and zqk, who have been in big(ish) spots like this before. They’re about as good as TeamOne, so I don’t know why the odds are so high. Maybe good for a small bet if you’re feeling especially frisky, but they aren’t one of my favorites.

The roster lock for the Katowice Major has come and gone, so we now have the finalized rosters for the event. Well, for the most part anyway. FaZe still hasn’t announced their fifth, and MIBR has yet to officially announce their pickup of Felps, assuming that is who they pickup. That would also mean a change to INTZ, as they still have Felps rostered for the Major.

Since we last updated you, the NA scene has been very active, and there have been some relatively minor changes in EU. I’m going to list them off, and then tell you a little bit about how these moves are going to impact their chances at the Minor/Major.

And remember, if you’d like to place a bet for Katowice, check out these sites we recommend.

North America

Cloud9

Cloud9 has finally come full circle. After a weird second half to 2018, they have added a relatively unknown pugger, with fashionable hair, to help rectify the team. Now, I’m not saying that Zellsis is the new Stewie2k. But I am saying that using this exact strategy has worked for Cloud9 before. I think it’s unlikely for Zellsis to stay on this roster long-term, as Cloud9 seems to be pretty committed to Golden, and I’m not sure who they’d remove to keep him on. But, his contract does have a team option that would lock him into a two-year contract. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Cloud9 sign him and try to flip him to someone like compLexity, or even to keep him as a backup in case someone on their team doesn’t work out.

I would be putting money down on Cloud9 headed into the Major. Adding a young player like Zellsis, especially on a “prove it” contract like this, makes me confident in seeing a big performance from him. This team is full of professional veteran players, who have been here before time and time again. I’m not sure who is calling for them, but there are certainly plenty of teams I would favor Cloud9 over at this event.

compLexity

CoL has had the most turnaround in their roster of any returning team. They have swapped out both of their allowed players, as well as dropping their coach. Personally, I have been calling for a roster change for compLexity for a while. I think they have a strong core in ShahZam and stanislaw, but they were missing firepower to complement them.

It appears they’ve decided Rickeh is their best bet to take this team to the next level. He’s coming off a lackluster year with Rogue, although it’s hard to place the blame wholly on him. Rogue had an especially tumultuous year last year, going through a series of roster changes, including multiple IGL changes. Playing under stanislaw might revitalize Rickeh and help him get back to tapping heads. All in all, I like the move, mostly because compLexity needed to swing for the fences.

Their other roster move, bringing in n0thing, is probably my favorite of the pair. I’m a big n0thing fan, and I think he has the potential to bring a lot to this roster. He’s a veteran, should act as a calming presence, but he can also be a high energy guy for them team. He’s played in plenty of big games, on big stages, and I feel confident saying he should help this team out. Whether or not he’s in peak form, however, is another question entirely. I don’t think it’s likely we will see n0thing playing like a carry at this event. I don’t know if he still has the aim for it, and he certainly hasn’t had the practice for it. I’d be excited to see if n0thing stays with this lineup. He could help turn compLexity into a powerhouse in NA, especially if they get Tarik after the Major.

I’m high con compLexity right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make noise at the Major. They’ll be a strong upset candidate, if not a favorite, behind the in-game-leading of stan and the potential firepower on the roster.

Envy

Out of the most telegraphed roster move in recent history, FaZe removing Karrigan, comes the most wildly unexpected roster move I’ve seen, maybe ever. Envy has picked up Karrigan as their IGL for the American Minor.

While this move undoubtedly makes Envy a much better team, and a legitimate threat to make it through the American Minor, I don’t think it’s going to be enough. This roster still doesn’t make a lot of sense. Nifty and JDM on the same team, Cutler continuing to hang on, I’m just not a fan.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the odds shift in Envy’s favor leading up to the Minor, but I wouldn’t bite if I were betting. This is not one of the teams I’m particularly excited about, and I don’t have high hopes.

Europe

Vitality

Vitality has removed Happy and added ALEX, formerly of LDLC. This move is complicated to unpack, mostly because of the timing of it. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say this team will be better than the version with Happy over the next six months. Happy’s style of play is outdated at this point, and he is past his prime. The hard lurk hasn’t been working for him, so I’m not upset that his gone.

What worries me is changing the IGL of a young team, with a budding superstar, less than a month before the biggest tournament of his life. That is, assuming ALEX is IGLing. If NBK continues to IGL, as I think he has so far on this team, this seems like a lateral move.

Vitality has the seeds of a great team. On the backs of their skill alone, I’d be surprised if they didn’t make it decently deep into this tournament. That being said, I’m not sure if this roster can pull it together. RPK needs to take a major step up, and they need to find another star. That could be ALEX, or apEX, but someone needs to step up and help ZywOo. The kid is incredible, but he can’t do it all on his own.

OpTic

It seems as though Cloud9 is turning into a farm team. After BLAST Pro Lisbon, refrezh has been added by OpTic, replacing niko. The Danish niko, not the Bosnian. I’m not really sure what to make of this move either. The way I see it, any Danish roster moves from now until after the Major are just stopgaps before the Karrigan sweepstakes begins. Although it is entirely possible Karrigan would opt to play in an international roster again, I think it’s likely he’ll return to playing in an all Danish lineup.

Niko certainly isn’t bad, by the way. I’d expect him to get signed after the Major as well, likely by the Danish team that doesn’t get Karrigan. Or maybe even by the team that does. Ultimately, I can’t see this move making a huge impact on OpTic, or on Katowice as a whole.

CIS

Gambit

Bondik said in a recent interview that he wanted to take on more of a star role, and it looks like he’s going to do exactly that on Gambit. A team in desperate need of firepower since losing Adren and Zeus (who didn’t provide firepower but led the team effectively enough that it wasn’t an issue), Gambit haven’t had a solid roster since their run at the Major. This could be the lineup that brings them back into relevancy.

I’m still a big fan of mou, but besides him and Dosia this team is unrecognizable from their Major run. I haven’t seen a ton of Gambit, mostly because they rarely make international LANs, and I’ll be surprised if this team gets any notable wins while attending Katowice.