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ex-MAD Lions (World rank: #46) vs. EC Kyiv (World rank: #61) – 9:00 A.M. ET

Moneyline Odds: ex-MAD Lions (-150) | EC Kyiv (+120)

Map Handicap: ex-MAD Lions -1.5 (+195) | EC Kyiv +1.5 (-245)

  • This is an online best-of-three series for Elisa Invitational Spring 2022 – Swiss Round 2 (Teams with a 1-0 record). 
  • ex-MAD Lions - Rating at event: sdy 1.38 | Woro2k  1.27 | TMB 1.09 | jL 1.07 | Buzz 0.83 
  • ex-MAD Lions - Rating past three months: jL 1.15 | Woro2k 1.13 | sdy 1.05 | TMB 1.03 | Buzz 1.01
  • EC Kyiv - Rating at event: Smash 1.40 | s4 1.31 | uQlutzavr 1.19 | amster 1.19 | byr9 0.94
  • EC Kyiv - Rating past three months: s4 1.06 | uQlutzavr 1.05 | byr9 1.04 | Smash  1.00 | amster 0.96

H2H Data:

  • These rosters have never faced each other. EC Kyiv’s roster faced against the former MAD Lions core of jL, woro2k, and TMB in September 2021 and MAD Lions won that series 2-1 (6-16 Dust2 / 16-10 Mirage / 16-10 Overpass). Byr9 & jL led the server with 63 kills each across three maps played.

Prediction/Narrative: ex-MAD Lions win 2-0.

Ex-MAD Lions have a 10-6 W/L record across 16 maps played with this lineup, and they opened this event with a convincing win over SINNERS. We only have a small sample size of data to work with for this team, but they have passed the eye test thus far. EC Kyiv have a 12-13 W/L record across 25 maps played in the past three months, and their win against 777 to open this event doesn’t mean as much to me. 777 are currently the second-to-worst team at the event with a 0.85 Team Rating and 0.78 K/D ratio, and they are also the second-lowest ranked team, currently outside of the top 100 on HLTV. Thus, it was not exactly reassuring to see EC Kyiv need three maps to get past 777, meanwhile ex-MAD Lions took down SINNERS who were the second-highest ranked team coming into the event. Neither of these teams play Nuke, which could affect the map pool, but ultimately the map pool should lean in the favor of ex-MAD Lions given the fact that they have already gotten solid wins on Inferno, Ancient, Mirage, Vertigo, and Overpass. I think ex-MAD Lions should be the clear favorite based on recent form, so I am happy to hammer them at similar pricing on Draftkings.

  • ex-MAD Lions K/D Leaders: Woro2k 1.14 | sdy 1.11 | jL 1.06 | Buzz 1.02
  • Woro2k leads ex-MAD Lions with 0.13 opening kills per round across 16 maps played.

Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority): 

Woro2k ($8,400) | jL ($5,400) | TMB ($6,600) | Buzz ($4,600) | sdy ($10,000) | s4 ($7,800)

 

Sprout (World rank: #34) vs. Apeks (World rank: #52) – 12:00 P.M. ET

Moneyline Odds: Sprout (-130) | Apeks (+110)

Map Handicap: Sprout -1.5 (+220) | Apeks +1.5 (-275)

  • This is an online best-of-three series for Elisa Invitational Spring 2022 – Swiss Round 2 (Teams with a 1-0 record). 
  • Sprout - Rating at event: Staehr 1.15 | slaxz-  1.10 | lauNX 1.05 | raalz 0.95 | Spiidi 0.88
  • Sprout - Rating past three months: lauNX 1.13 | slaxz- 1.11 | Staehr 1.09 | Spiidi 1.01 | raalz 0.92
  • Apeks - Rating at event: AcilioN 1.37 | jkaem  1.35 | nawwk 1.32 | chawzyyy 1.24 | STYKO 1.15
  • Apeks - Rating past three months: nawwk 1.15 | jkaem 1.14 | STYKO 1.04 | AcilioN  0.97 | chawzyyy 0.97

H2H Data:

  • These rosters have never faced each other. 

Prediction/Narrative: Sprout wins 2-1.

Sprout have been incredible as of late. They have won seven of their last eight series with impressive wins against ex-Mad Lions, K23, Sampi, MOUZ (twice), HEET, and Entropiq. With lauNX in the lineup, Sprout now have a 21-9 W/L record across 30 maps played, and they have proven that they are a top tier two team. Sprout’s map pool looks strong as well with a 5-0 W/L record on Inferno, 6-1 W/L record on Ancient, and a 4-1 W/L record on Vertigo, though Apeks will likely ban Vertigo to start. Apeks looked solid in their opening match of this event with a sweep against Into the Breach, but they have now lost three of their last four series, and they are not demonstrating the same level of consistency as Sprout. Nuke is Apeks’ most played map, but Sprout should ban it to start. Apeks have their highest win rate on Inferno, but Sprout are undefeated on that map, so I just don’t see much of an opening here for Apeks in terms of the map pool. Overall, I think that Sprout should be the favorite here, and I expect them to close this series out in three maps, though a sweep is possible since their map pool matches up well against Apeks.

  • Sprout K/D leaders: slaxz- 1.18 | Staehr 1.13 | lauNX 1.08
  • slaxz- & Staehr lead Sprout with 0.13 opening kills per round across 30 maps played.

Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority): 

slaxz- ($8,800) | Staehr ($10,200) | lauNX ($7,000) | Spiidi ($4,800) | nawwk ($6,000) | jkaem ($7,400) | raalz ($5,600) 

 

*Top Stacks: ex-MAD Lions, Sprout

*Favorite Captains: Woro2k, slaxz-, Staehr, sdy, jkaem, s4

*Favorite Value Plays: jL, lauNX, TMB, Buzz, Spiidi, nawwk, raalz