ESL One is a tournament series that the Electronic Sports League has organized that includes the video games Dota 2, Battlefield 4 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The eSports world is set for ESL One: Road to Rio, which is the first of several regional competitions that will provide the qualifiers for ESL’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive Major in November 2020. Between April 22 and May 17, 56 of the best teams in the world will square off for the right to advance. In this regional competition, teams are competing for ranking points that will set up a qualification order for the Major, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Let’s take a look at the matches set for this weekend. If online betting on eSports is new to you or if you’re an old hand, take a look at our match previews and their gambling odds.
eSports Betting: Counter Strike Global Offensive – ESL One: Road to Rio Weekend Matches
Saturday, April 25 (Europe)
Astralis (1.599) vs fnatic (2.248) (9:00 am ET)
These two sides have squared off 34 times overall, with Astralis controlling the series with 25 wins to just nine for fnatic. fnatic did win in their last meeting, in ESL Pro League Season 11 in Europe, back on April 6, but Astralis has won four out of five since then, dropping a match to mousesports but beating FaZe Clan, OG, Complexity Gaming and also getting a win over mousesports.
fnatic counter strike team has won three of their last five, beating mousesports twice and taking down NaVi while losing to OG and ENCE. Their record is mixed against common opponents. Astralis (4-1) has a slightly better record in ESL Pro League Season 11 play than fnatic (3-2). However, when things are this even, I tend to go with the value, so I’m taking fnatic here.
Prediction: fnatic wins
Heretics (2.75) vs ENCE (1.42) (9:00 am ET)
Heretics and ENCE will face each other for the first time in this qualifying tournament. Heretics has a better record in recent play, winning three of their last five, while ENCE has won twice in their last five. Heretics is competing in LOOT.BET Season 6 and has won three of their lsat five, while Heretics is competing in ESL Pro League Season 11 and has won two in a row, taking down NiP and fnatic. The gap in talent in the two leagues is the likely cause for Heretics to come in as the underdog, and without common opponents this one is harder to handicap head to head. Given that gap between the leagues, I’ll back ENCE here.
Prediction: ENCE wins
Complexity Gaming (2.07) vs Vitality (1.71) (12:30 pm ET)
Complexity Gaming and Vitality have met four times, with Vitality taking three of those meetings. Complexity won the last meeting, during BLAST Premier Spring Series 2020 in the regular season, prevailing 2-0. Complexity lost their match against Astralis on Wednesday in ESL One: Road to Europe and last won against North in ESL Pro League Season 11 play on April 3. Vitality has not won since March 22, when they beat NiP in ESL Pro League Season 11 play. Since then, they have lost to Astralis and OG in ESL Pro League play and to NiP in ESL One: Road to Rio play. Despite Vitality’s struggles, their presence in the pro league makes them a favorite, and I’m picking them.
Prediction: Vitality wins
Saturday, April 25 (North America)
Bad News Bears (6.00) vs FURIA (1.11) (4:00 pm ET)
Bad News Bears and FURIA have played four times in the past, with FURIA winning three of those encounters. Bad News Bears won the last time they played, prevailing 16-7 in the ESEA MDL Season 31 North America league, but that was back in May 2019. Bad News Bears lost their ESL One: Road to Rio opener to Team Liquid, 2-1, but won three of four at the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 North America Closed Qualifier.
Even so, they come in heavy underdogs against FURIA, who beat Team Envy in their ESL One: Road to Rio opener. They have split their last four matches in ESL Pro League Season 11. The odds tend to favor teams that play in the ESL Pro Leagues. However, since Bad News Bears won in their last matchup — and since they offer so much value — I’m going to pick them here.
Prediction: Bad News Bears wins
Team Envy (1.25) vs YeaH! (3.75) (4:00 pm ET)
These two sides have only met once, and Team Envy picked up that victory on March 9 at the Americas Minor North America Closed Qualifier for ESL One: Rio 2020. Team Envy lost their ESL One: Road to Rio opener. In fact, Team Envy has lost three matches in a row dating back to April 18, when they won two matches in the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 – North America Closed Qualifier.YeaH! got swept in their ESL One: Road to Rio opener by MIBR but have a three-game winning streak going in eFire Master League Season 1 North America. YeaH! does not make a whole lot of sense as this level of an underdog here, given their comparable records, so I’m picking YeaH! Here.
Prediction: YeaH! Wins
Team Liquid (1.275) vs MIBR (3.88) (4:00 pm ET)
Team Liquid has won 11 of the 16 meetings with MIBR overall, including the last four. They last met on March 26 in ESL Pro League Season 11, with Team Liquid winning via the 2-0 sweep. Team Liquid comes in with a four-match winning streak across all competitions, including three straight in ESL Pro League Season 11 and that win over Bad News Bears in the ESL One: Road to Rio opener.
MIBR swept YeaH! In their ESL One: Road to Rio opener and has won four in a row in FLASHPOINT Season 1. Their league is not viewed as high on the level of competitive rigor as is ESL Pro League, which explains the disparity in odds. That sweep over YeaH! looks impressive, though, so I’m going to take MIBR with the value.
Prediction: MIBR wins
Sunday, April 26 (Europe)
North (3.5) vs mousesports (1.27) (9:00 am ET)
The odds disparity here is interesting given that these two teams have played 18 times, with each side winning nine of them. North won the last meeting, back in October in StarSEries i-League Season 8. North has been competing in the #HomeSweetHome competition and had split its last four matches across all competitions before losing to FaZe Clan, 2-1, in their ESL One: Road to Rio opener.
mousesports lost their ESL One: Road to Rio opener to Movistar Riders, 2-0. They have split their last four matches in ESL Pro League Season 11, as they have beaten Astralis and fnatic one time each…and lost to them once each as well. I’m going with mousesports here because of the disparity in league quality and the recent struggles that North has had.
Prediction: mousesports wins
G2 Esports (1.84) vs FaZe Clan (1.919) (12:30 pm ET)
These two teams know each other well, having faced off 29 times in the past. FaZe Clan has controlled the series, winning 21 times so far. Even so, G2 Esports is the favorite here. They have won the last two in the series, both times in ESL Pro League play. G2 Esports won their ESL One: Road to Rio opener over GODSENT and has split their last four ESL Pro League Season 11 matches, with wins over Virtus.pro and FaZe Clan and losses to OG and mousesports.
FaZe Clan beat North in their ESL One: Road to Rio opener but has just a 1-3 record in their last four ESL Pro League matches, beating OG but losing to NaVi, Astralis and mousesports. Given the recent struggles that FaZe Clan has had, I’m going with G2 here.
Prediction: G2 Esports wins
Movistar Riders (2.211) vs c0ntact (1.607) (12:30 pm ET)
Movistar Riders and c0ntact have never met in competitive play. MoviStar Riders swept mousesports, 2-0, in their ESL One: Road to Rio opener, ending a four-match winless streak that included a pair of losses in #HomeSweetHome and a loss in the Cyber.Bet Cup. c0ntact lost their ESL One: Road to Rio opener, 2-1, to Copenhagen Flames, extending a drought to three matches, which includes a pair of losses in FLASHPOINT Season 1. This is tough to handicap across different leads, but Movistar Riders’ win in their opener, and the higher value, makes me lean their way.
Prediction: Movistar Riders
