Vitality (World rank: #8) vs. ENCE (World rank: #15) - 7:30 A.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: Vitality (-215) | ENCE (+175)
Map Handicap: Vitality -1.5 (+155) | ENCE +1.5 (-190)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+115) | Under 2.5 (-140)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 15 - Group B
- Vitality - Rating at event: Magisk 1.46 | ZywOo 1.43 | dupreeh 1.20 | apEX 1.02 | misutaaa 0.98
- Vitality - Rating past three months: ZywOo 1.24 | dupreeh 1.17 | Magisk 1.09 | apEX 1.01 | misutaaa 0.93
- ENCE - Rating at event: hades 1.14 | Spinx 1.14 | Snappi 1.07 | Maden 0.94 | dycha 0.89
- ENCE - Rating past three months: Spinx 1.19 | hades 1.13 | dycha 1.09 | Snappi 0.96 | Maden 0.96
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other. The teams last met in October at IEM Fall 2021 Europe in a best-of-one on Mirage that ENCE won 16-8, though both lineups have changed since. Snappi led the way with a 1.39 Rating.
Map Projections:
ENCE removes Inferno
Vitality removes Ancient
ENCE picks Mirage
Vitality picks Vertigo/Dust2
ENCE removes Overpass
Vitality removes Nuke
Dust2/Vertigo is left over
Prediction/Narrative: Vitality wins 2-1
Vitality are the highest-rated team at ESL Pro League Season 15 through the first day of Group B with a 1.22 Team Rating across two maps played. Additionally, Magisk & ZywOo are the two highest-rated players at the event thus far, so the French/Danish roster is in excellent form at the moment. ENCE are a sneaky good team, and I liked them to pull the upset at (+250) moneyline odds on Wednesday against FaZe. However, Vitality should be a tougher match-up for them than FaZe, yet their moneyline odds have dropped to (+175) in this spot. The pricing on Draftkings is still somewhat expensive for Vitality relative to the odds, but I don’t think that ENCE will be able to overcome the firepower of Vitality, so stacking Vitality is my favorite play here. ENCE have a chance to win on Mirage and maybe Nuke, but I don’t think that both of those maps will make it into the map pool, so Vitality should at least be able to win here in three maps.
- On Mirage, dupreeh leads Vitality with a 0.88 Rating and 0.87 K/D ratio across three maps played in 2022.
- On Vertigo, ZywOo leads Vitality with a 1.59 Rating and 2.00 K/D ratio across one map played in 2022.
- On Dust2, ZywOo leads Vitality with a 1.34 Rating and 1.56 K/D ratio across three maps played in 2022.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
ZywOo ($9,800) | magisk ($7,600) | dupreeh ($9,000) | misutaaa ($5,600) | apEX ($6,600) | hades ($6,800)
FURIA (World rank: #14) vs. Sprout (World rank: #30) - 11:00 A.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: FURIA (-275) | Sprout (+215)
Map Handicap: FURIA -1.5 (+120) | Sprout +1.5 (-145)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+125) | Under 2.5 (-155)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 15 - Group B
- FURIA - Rating at event: KSCERATO 1.30 | yuurih 1.23 | arT 1.07 | drop 1.05 | saffee 1.04
- FURIA - Rating past three months: KSCERATO 1.15 | saffee 1.12 | arT 0.98 | yuurih 0.97 | drop 0.90
- Sprout - Rating at event: slaxz- 1.00 | Staehr 0.98 | Marix 0.87 | raalz 0.84 | Spiidi 0.76
- Sprout - Rating past three months: slaxz- 1.17 | Spiidi 1.03 | Marix 1.00 | Staehr 0.97 | raalz 0.96
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other.
Map Projections:
Sprout removes Mirage
FURIA removes Dust2
Sprout picks Vertigo
FURIA picks Inferno
Sprout removes Nuke
FURIA removes Ancient
Overpass is left over
Prediction/Narrative: Sprout wins 2-1
I’m generally not a fan of backing FURIA when they’re a heavy favorite because of their risky playstyle. They do look to be in good form after their 2-1 win against Virtus.pro/Outsiders on Wednesday, and they are currently the second-highest-rated team at the event with a 1.14 Team Rating across three maps played, fueled by their dominant T side. However, Sprout are certainly a capable underdog, and they showed their toughness on Wednesday when they forced Vitality into double overtime on Inferno. FURIA would be heavy favorites on paper on Inferno and Nuke, but Sprout could easily win on any of the other maps. FURIA are priced up on Draftkings with saffee as the second most expensive player on the slate, so I’d much rather target the value on Sprout in a winnable spot for them.
- On Vertigo, slaxz- leads Sprout with a 1.23 Rating and 1.26 K/D ratio across 10 maps played in 2022.
- On Inferno, slaxz- leads Sprout with a 1.11 Rating and 1.10 K/D ratio across seven maps played in 2022.
- On Overpass, slaxz- leads Sprout with a 1.12 Rating and 1.20 K/D ratio across nine maps played in 2022.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
slaxz-($8,000) | Staehr ($5,000) | raalz ($4,400) | yuurih ($6,400) | KSCERATO ($8,4000 | Spiidi ($7,000)
Outsiders/Virtus.pro (World rank: #6) vs. FaZe (World rank: #3) - 2:30 P.M. ET
Moneyline Odds: Outsiders (+140) | FaZe (-170)
Map Handicap: Outsiders +1.5 (-205) | FaZe -1.5 (+165)
Map Total: Over 2.5 (+115) | Under 2.5 (-135)
- This is a best-of-three series on LAN for the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 15 - Group B
- Outsiders - Rating at event: FL1T 1.14 | YEKINDAR 1.07 | Jame 0.96 | Qikert 0.76 | buster 0.66
- Outsiders - Rating past three months: YEKINDAR 1.21 | FL1T 1.17 | Jame 1.15 | Qikert 0.99 | buster 0.98
- FaZe - Rating at event: broky 1.23 | ropz 1.13 | Twistzz 1.12 | rain 0.99 | karrigan 0.81
- FaZe - Rating past three months: broky 1.23 | ropz 1.17 | Twistzz 1.11 | rain 1.05 | karrigan 0.89
H2H Data:
- These rosters have never faced each other. The teams last met in November at PGL Major Stockholm 2021 when Outsiders/VP won 2-1 (13-16 Inferno / 16-14 Ancient / 16-11 Overpass). However, that series took place prior to FaZe bolstering their roster with ropz, and it was also early days for FL1T within the Outsiders/VP lineup. YEKINDAR & broky each had 68 kills across three maps, though broky was the highest-rated player on the server (1.22).
Map Projections:
FaZe removes Vertigo
Outsiders removes Nuke
FaZe picks Inferno
Outsiders picks Dust2
FaZe removes Mirage
Outsiders removes Overpass
Ancient is left over
Prediction/Narrative: FaZe wins 2-1
Both of these teams lost their first series of Group B, but Outsiders had the more disappointing performance in my opinion. FaZe lost to a solid ENCE team, and they even finished as the higher-rated team, which makes them the fifth-highest-rated team at the event with a 1.06 Rating across three maps played. Meanwhile, Outsiders lost to a FURIA roster that has had limited success as a unit, and they were unable to establish their CT side on both Overpass and Vertigo. This match-up was really close when these teams last met but FaZe have clearly improved adding ropz into the lineup, plus they look to be the team in better form at the moment. Outsiders have a strong map pool and are capable of winning a map here, but I think that FaZe should find their footing on Thursday.
- On Inferno, broky leads this FaZe lineup with a 1.14 Rating and 1.31 K/D ratio across four maps played in 2022.
- On Dust2, broky leads this FaZe lineup with a 1.18 Rating and 1.25 K/D ratio across three maps played in 2022.
- On Ancient, broky led FaZe with a 1.49 Rating and 1.92 K/D ratio in a 16-6 win over Liquid in February. Note: jks was standing in for ropz at that time.
Favorite Draftkings Plays (In order of priority):
broky ($9,200) | Twistzz ($7,000) | ropz ($8,200) | Jame ($7,200) | YEKINDAR ($8,600) | rain ($6,400)