Apeks (World rank: #52) vs. KOVA (World rank: #87) – 12:00 P.M. ET

Moneyline Odds: Apeks (-315) | KOVA (+250)

Map Handicap: Apeks -1.5 (+110) | KOVA +1.5 (-160)

  • This is an online best-of-three series for Elisa Invitational Spring 2022 – Swiss Round 3 (Teams with a 1-1 record).
  • Apeks - Rating at event: jkaem 1.16 | nawwk 1.13 | chawzyyy 1.07 | STYKO 1.02 | AcilioN 1.01
  • Apeks - Rating past three months: nawwk 1.15 | jkaem  1.14 | STYKO 1.04 | chawzyyy 0.97 | AcilioN 0.96
  • KOVA - Rating at event: uli 1.01 | Airax 0.98 | zks 0.91 | Spargo 0.87 | Twixie 0.83 
  • KOVA - Rating past three months: uli 1.12 | Spargo 1.09 | Airax 1.02 | zks 1.00 | Twixie 0.98

H2H Data:

  • These rosters have never faced each other.  

Map Projections:

KOVA removes Dust2

Apeks removes Vertigo

KOVA picks Nuke

Apeks picks Inferno

KOVA removes Overpass

Apeks removes Ancient

Mirage is left over

Prediction/Narrative: Apeks wins 2-0.

Apeks were the third highest-ranked team coming into this event, and they have performed well as the fourth highest-rated team with a 1.08 Team Rating across five maps played. Their only loss came against Sprout, who have been on fire as of late. KOVA have the same 1-1 record as Apeks, but KOVA have the worst round differential of the eight teams at the event with a 1-1 record. Apeks look to be the clear favorite, and the map pool should be in their favor as well. We can expect Apeks to ban Vertigo and KOVA to ban Dust2 to start, which means Nuke is KOVA’s most likely option for their map pick. KOVA have been solid on Nuke with an 11-3 W/L record in the past three months, and they have beaten respectable tier two teams such as SKADE, Into the Breach, Anonymo, and Hellslayers. However, Nuke is also Apeks’ most played map in the past three months, and they are currently on a four map win streak with wins against Movistar Riders, Into the Breach, ECSTATIC, and Enterprise. Thus, KOVA’s best map could go either way, especially considering Apeks would have the benefit of starting on the CT side, where they have a 65.2% CT round win rate in the past month. Outside of Nuke, the rest of the map pool should lean heavily towards Apeks. Inferno could be an excellent punish pick for Apeks considering they have a 7-1 W/L record in the past three months compared to 1-6 W/L record for KOVA during that time. I think Nuke will be a close map, but Apeks should dominate the rest of the map pool. I have Apeks sweeping this series, but KOVA do have some potential to steal a map, likely Nuke.

  • I like targeting the aggressive players on Apeks in this spot since I expect them to dominate a majority of this series.
    • Apeks opening duel attempt leaders: jkaem 25.3% | AcilioN 24.5% | chawzyyy 19.2%
  • On Nuke, jkaem & STYKO lead Apeks with a 1.22 Rating, while STYKO leads with a 1.32 K/D ratio across 16 maps played in the past three months.
  • On Inferno, jkaem & STYKO lead Apeks with a 1.21 Rating, while nawwk leads with a 1.45 K/D ratio across eight maps played in the past three months.

Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority): 

jkaem ($11,800) | AcilioN ($7,400) |  chawzyyy ($8,600) | STYKO ($10,600) |  nawwk ($12,600) | uli ($9,800) | Spargo ($9,000) |  Twixie ($6,000) |  zks ($6,600) | Airax ($8,000)