Vitality (World rank: #3) vs. Heroic (World rank: #8) - 10:00 A.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: Vitality (-185) | Heroic (+150)
Map Handicap: Vitality -1.5 (+160) | Heroic +1.5 (-195)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+115) | Under 2.5 (-140)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the Group A Upper Bracket Semi-Finals of IEM Katowice 2022
- Vitality - Rating at event: ZywOo 1.42 | dupreeh 1.26 | Magisk 1.10 | apEX 1.07 | misutaaa 1.01
- Vitality - Rating past three months: ZywOo 1.34 | dupreeh 1.19 | Magisk 1.06 | apEX 1.04 | misutaaa 1.01
- Heroic - Rating at event: stavn 1.43 | refrezh 1.11 | sjuush 1.10 | cadiaN 0.94 | TeSeS 0.76
- Heroic - Rating past three months: stavn 1.16 | sjuush 0.97 | TeSeS 0.97 | refrezh 0.95 | cadiaN 0.94
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other.
Map Projections:
Heroic removes Dust2
Vitality removes Ancient
Heroic picks Nuke
Vitality picks Inferno
Heroic removes Vertigo
Vitality removes Mirage
Overpass is left over.
Prediction/Narrative: Vitality wins 2-1.
Heroic dominated this match-up in 2021, winning five out of six maps played between these teams. However, Vitality’s new roster has more firepower than they did last year, and I expect them do more favorably against the Danes in 2022. Vitality had a higher team rating through the first day of this event (1.17 compared to 1.07) and ZywOo is a top three performer so far with a 1.42 Rating across three maps played. Heroic have a win rate of 50% or lower on every map in the pool in the past three months, while Vitality have an 8-3 W/L record across 11 maps played with this lineup. Vitality are in better form and should be able to grind this one out.
- On Nuke, ZywOo had 27 kills and a 1.49 Rating in a 16-10 win against MOUZ on Thursday.
- On Inferno, ZywOo leads his lineup with a 1.64 K/D ratio and 1.41 Rating across five maps played.
- On Overpass, ZywOo finished with 26 kills and a 1.46 Rating in a 10-16 loss to FaZe back in January.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
ZywOo ($9,200) | magisk ($7,200) | dupreeh ($8,600) | apEX ($6,600) | misutaaa ($5,600) | cadiaN ($4,800) | stavn ($8,000)
OG (World rank: #11) vs. MOUZ (World rank: #33) - 10:00 A.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: OG (-130) | MOUZ (+105)
Map Handicap: OG -1.5 (+220) | MOUZ +1.5 (-280)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+105) | Under 2.5 (-130)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the Group A lower bracket round one of IEM Katowice 2022
- OG - Rating at event: flameZ 1.21 | niko 1.08 | valde 1.06 | mantuu 1.00 | nexa 0.83
- OG - Rating past three months: valde 1.18 | mantuu 1.11 | niko 1.09 | flameZ 1.08 | nexa 0.94
- MOUZ - Rating at event: NBK- 1.01 | frozen 1.00 | torzsi 0.95 | dexter 0.84 | JDC 0.73
- MOUZ - Rating past three months: torzsi 1.22 | frozen 1.09 | JDC 1.08 | NBK- 0.96 | dexter 0.92
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other.
Map Projections:
MOUZ removes Overpass
OG removes Vertigo
MOUZ picks Nuke
OG picks Ancient
MOUZ removes Inferno
OG removes Dust2
Mirage is left over
Prediction/Narrative: MOUZ wins 2-1.
Both of these teams qualified for IEM Katowice through the play-in tournament, but OG made it through the upper bracket, while MOUZ had to play through the lower bracket after a loss to FaZe. However, MOUZ actually had a higher team rating during the play-ins (1.13 vs. 1.09 for OG), and they really haven’t missed a beat with JDC standing in for Bymas. MOUZ had a strong showing against Vitality on Thursday with two of the three maps going to overtime, and they are playing good Counter-Strike at the moment despite the moving parts in their roster. Nexa has been an excellent fit for OG, and their lineup has a 9-3 W/L record across 12 maps played, plus they did have a solid showing against Heroic. OG have been playing well on Ancient lately, but MOUZ just beat Entropiq 16-6 on that map with JDC as the top frag. This should be a close series that goes either way and I’m just not sure that OG should be favored here, so I would much rather target MOUZ on Draftkings at underdog pricing in a coinflip match-up.
- On Nuke, NBK- leads this lineup with a 1.25 K/D ratio and 1.29 Rating across three maps played.
- On Ancient, torzsi led his team with a 1.85 Rating, while JDC had the most kills (27) in their win against Entropiq.
- On Mirage, torzsi led his team with 30 kills and a 1.38 Rating in their 14-16 loss to FaZe on Tuesday.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
torzsi ($7,800) | frozen ($6,800) | flameZ ($6,000) | NBK- ($5,800) | mantuu ($8,400) | Dexter ($5,000) | nexa ($5,200)
Virtus.pro (World rank: #4) vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (World rank: #6) - 1:30 P.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: Virtus.pro (-215) | Ninjas in Pyjamas (+170)
Map Handicap: Virtus.pro -1.5 (+145) | Ninjas in Pyjamas +1.5 (-175)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+115) | Under 2.5 (-140)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the Group A Upper Bracket Semi-Finals of IEM Katowice 2022
- Virtus.pro - Rating at event: buster 1.28 | FL1T 1.25 | Jame 1.25 | Qikert 1.15 | YEKINDAR 1.14
- Virtus.pro - Rating past three months: YEKINDAR 1.28 | FL1T 1.23 | Jame 1.23 | Qikert 1.12 | buster 1.07
- Ninjas in Pyjamas - Rating at event: hampus 1.14 | REZ 1.10 | phzy 1.02 | es3tag 0.93 | Plopski 0.93
- Ninjas in Pyjamas - Rating past three months: REZ 1.03 | hampus 1.02 | phzy 1.00 | Plopski 0.98 | es3tag 0.94
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other.
Map Projections:
Ninjas in Pyjamas removes Dust2
Virtus.pro removes Nuke
Ninjas in Pyjamas picks Ancient
Virtus.pro picks Inferno
Ninjas in Pyjamas removes Vertigo
Virtus.pro removes Overpass
Mirage is left over.
Prediction/Narrative: VP wins 2-1.
VP were the better team in 2021, winning six out of the last seven maps that these teams played against each other. VP have since improved their roster bringing in FL1T, while NiP’s roster has been in a weird spot for some time now. Expectations were low for this roster when phzy stepped in for device, but they’ve beaten NAVI, G2, and now Gambit in best-of-threes with this lineup, so we have to show them some respect. Still, they have only a 14-18 W/L record across 32 maps played. VP are the better team on paper, and they are the highest rated team at the event through day one with a 1.22 team rating across two maps played. We just saw VP make quick work of Copenhagen Flames, meanwhile NiP got destroyed by the Flames at the Katowice Play-In, particularly on Nuke where they lost 3-16. VP have won all eight maps that they have played in 2022, so their recent form has been great. I’m giving NiP a map here because they do have some strong maps, like Ancient where they are 3-0 with this lineup, as well as Overpass, where they are 4-2. However, VP is the stronger team and I expect them to win the series one way or another.
- On Ancient, Jame leads his team with a 2.11 K/D ratio while YEKINDAR leads with a 1.51 Rating across two maps played in the past three months.
- On Inferno, Jame leads his team with a 2.22 K/D ratio and 1.46 Rating across two maps played in the past three months.
- On Mirage, Qikert leads his team with a 1.22 K/D ratio, while FL1T leads with a 1.29 Rating across three maps played in the past three months.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
Jame ($7,200) | YEKINDAR ($9,400) | FL1T ($8,200) | Qikert ($6,400) | hampus ($7,000) | buster ($5,400)
Gambit (World rank: #2) vs. Copenhagen Flames (World rank: #18) - 1:30 P.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: Gambit (-330) | Copenhagen Flames (+260)
Map Handicap: Gambit -1.5 (+105) | Copenhagen Flames +1.5 (-130)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+130) | Under 2.5 (-160)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the Group A Lower Bracket Round One of IEM Katowice 2022
- Gambit - Rating at event: HObbit 1.17 | Ax1Le 1.17 | interz 1.08 | sh1ro 0.94 | nafany 0.74
- Gambit - Rating past three months: sh1ro 1.23 | HObbit 1.16 | Ax1Le 1.16 | nafany 1.02 | interz 0.98
- Copenhagen Flames - Rating at event: nicoodoz 1.08 | Zyphon 1.02 | roeJ 0.99 | jabbi 0.73 | HooXi 0.60
- Copenhagen Flames - Rating past three months: roeJ 1.18 | nicoodoz 1.11 | Zyphon 1.07 | jabbi 1.04 | HooXi 0.87
H2H Data:
- These rosters faced in October at Elisa Invitational Fall 2021 and Copenhagen won 2-0 (16-13 Ancient / 16-13 Mirage). Jabbi topped the leaderboardfs with 49 kills, while sh1ro was the highest rated player (1.32) across two maps played.
Map Projections:
Copenhagen Flames removes Dust2
Gambit removes Nuke
Copenhagen Flames picks Overpass
Gambit picks Vertigo
Copenhagen Flames removes Inferno
Gambit removes Ancient
Mirage is left over.
Prediction/Narrative: Gambit wins 2-1.
Copenhagen Flames were the highest rated team at the Katowice Play-in with a 1.33 team rating across three maps played, but they failed to take a single map against VP in their group stage opener. Gambit did manage to take a map against NiP on Thursday, but they still performed below expectations too. These rosters faced in October and Copenhagen swept Gambit 2-0. That series was online, which is generally Gambit’s comfort zone, so it doesn’t make sense to see Gambit as such a heavy favorite here on LAN. Still, Gambit have a win rate of at least 50% on every map in the past three months (besides their permaban Nuke). Gambit is the stronger team and I still think their map pool is too deep for Copenhagen to pull the upset, but I think this series will be a lot closer than the odds show, and the Flames are certainly capable of winning a map and keeping things tight.
- On Overpass, sh1ro leads his team with a 1.51 K/D ratio, while Ax1Le leads with a 1.46 Rating across six maps played in the past three months.
- On Vertigo, sh1ro leads his team with a 1.42 K/D ratio and 1.21 Rating across nine maps played in the past three months.
- On Mirage, sh1ro leads his team with a 1.45 K/D ratio and 1.27 Rating across six maps played in the past three months.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
sh1ro ($9,600) | Ax1Le ($7,600) | HObbit ($8,800) | nicoodoz ($6,600) | nafany ($6,800) | jabbi ($5,200) | roeJ ($7,400) | interz ($5,800)