BLAST Premier returns on Monday with the Fall 2020 season, where we will see 12 of the strongest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams duke it out for the lion’s share of US $150,000 prize pool and a ticket leading to the Finals. We will look at two Group A fixtures, including a bout between Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas, as well as a BLAST Premier: Spring rematch between Evil Geniuses and OG. Let’s jump right into action so you can keep on betting against their Counter Strike odds.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 Season Analysis
Natus Vincere Vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas last met two months ago during the ESL One Cologne 2020 Europe, where Ninjas in Pyjamas caused a huge upset and swept NaVi with 16-9 on Overpass and 16-3 on Train. It marked their first win over the CIS juggernauts since May 2019 and NaVi’s first loss to NiP after a streak of eight consecutive head-to-head triumphs.
Hampus “hampus” Poser played a pivotal role for NiP in their triumph that day with 45 frags and 1.53 HLTV rating. However, he was not the only player on his team that impressed. All of his teammates ended the series with marks of 1.17 HLTV line or over.
On the side of NaVi, all five players underperformed. Their star player and best-performing individual of the day Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev ended the series with only 31 frags and a disappointing 0.95 HLTV rating, while three out of five NaVi players failed to pass the 0.65 mark.
Natus Vincere are heading into this match as the odds-on favorites, which seem fair since they are 8-2 in H2H matches with NiP. Even without knowing the H2H record, it’s fair to say that NaVi are a much stronger team. However, that won’t necessarily show here.
Not only will NaVi be without Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy, who got infected by COVID-19, but we must also consider this match will be played online, where NaVi rarely shows their true potential. What’s more, NiP is the type of team that usually does well into squads with a lot of firepower, and we can be sure they will put in the work to prepare themselves for NaVi. Bet on Ninjas to hand NaVi another loss!
Prediction: Ninjas in Pyjamas to win
Evil Geniuses Vs OG
Evil Geniuses and OG last met way back in February during the BLAST Premier Spring Series 2020, when OG edged out a 2-1 win. Even though EG took the series lead (16-4 on Train), they completely fell apart on Mirage (16-3) and Inferno (16-14) and basically handed OG a free win.
Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski was the best-performing player on the day with 52 frags and 1.24 HLTV score, while Ethan “Ethan” Arnold shone the brightest for EG with 46 frags and 1.10 HLTV score. His teammates, however, left a lot to be desired, especially Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte and Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov, who both ended the series with <1.00 HLTV ratings.
We would not put too much emphasis on that result since EG was at the time dealing with some internal issues, which are now believed to be fixed. What’s more, EG is also looking very solid as of late and is currently ranked as the sixth-best team in the world.
While it would be fair to give OG some praise for their showings, it all really comes down to their occasional moments of brilliance. OG is the type of a team that can impress one day only to lose a match against a much weaker team the next, so it’s very hard to trust their lack of stability.
The odds set by the bookmakers on this match are completely out of whack as there is no reason to have EG priced as the underdogs. While it’s true that OG won this bout in February, they have not shown any improvement since, while EG slowly improved and recently emerged as the best North American CS:GO team. Bet on Evil Geniuses to win 2-0!
Prediction: Evil Geniuses to win 2-0
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