The opening matches at IEM Cologne 2021 have been played. We got a solid look at the teams playing, and how some of them match up. Now its time to start making our picks for the upcoming matches.
Three matches on today’s schedule have incredible odds and are relatively easy selections. Let’s get straight into it.
Robin “ropz” Kool
After both teams suffered a defeat in their opener, this is a do-or-die match for them. We have a strong lean for this pick as one team definitely has an edge in this bout. At the moment, we can say that Complexity is in a much better form since they won 4 out of the last 6 played. Contrary to that, Virtus.pro only has one victory in the last 6.
Map pool is going to be simple in this one. Ancient and Nuke are getting permabanned which leaves us with either Overpass or Mirage for Complexity. Virtus.pro, in our opinion, only stands a chance on Inferno. If a decider is needed, it is going to be either Vertigo or Dust 2.
With all of that in mind, we simply do not see a way for Virtus.pro to win this match. Complexity is in a much better form right now and they have a better map pool. The best part about this pick is that the odds on Complexity are insane as we believe that they should be a much bigger favorite.
Pick: Complexity to win
Odds: 1.76
Moving on to the easiest pick out of them all. G2 just stomped Complexity while BIG had it easy against a very poor Virtus.pro side. Overall, G2 is sitting on 4 victories in the last 5 played, just like BIG. However, teams G2 faced can’t be compared to the teams like Sprout and SKADE that BIG played against.
Let’s talk about map pool. Ancient and Overpass are not in contention for this match. BIG is going to get a comfortable pick for themselves in either Vertigo or Dust 2. Truth be told, Dust 2 is a perfect map for NiKo and we would not be surprised if he beats BIG by himself on this map. G2, however, looked great on both Mirage and Inferno and this is going to be their pick for sure. This leaves us with Nuke that is likely going to be a decider.
To summarize, G2 is on a mission here while BIG isn’t known for their top performances on LAN events. On top of that, BIG did not face off against top contenders, and G2 did. This is going to play a big factor in this match and G2 will come out on top.
Pick: G2 to win
Odds: 1.65
For our final prediction, we decided to go for another elimination match. Both Liquid and mousesports suffered a loss, but mousesports showed much more against the best team in the world, that being Gambit. Liquid on the other hand, won 4 straight before losing to NiP. On the other hand, mousesports has 2 victories in the last 4 matches played. Mousesports, however, have a huge map pool advantage in this one.
With Ancient and Dust 2 being permabanned, mousesports will get themselves Inferno pick (7 wins in 7 matches played on Inferno). On the other hand, Liquid has a chance on either Mirage or Overpass. The decider is going to be played on either Vertigo or Nuke and this is where mousesports thrives. All in all, everything is pointing out towards mousesports in this one and this is our pick.
Pick: mousesports to win
Odds: 1.62
At x4.70 combined odds, we are looking at some easy payouts ahead of the weekend. The CSGO odds in this selection are courtesy of Buff.bet. Read our Buff.bet review to see if they are the right fit for you.
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