There has been a slight break from major tournament action lately in the Counter Strike scene. The next major tournament scheduled is Starladder, which will start in early April. Until then, the ESL pro league provides satisfactory matchups every week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The North American league is full of superpowers like SK, Liquid and Optic as well as up and coming teams like CLG and NRG. The championship also features teams like Cloud9, Rush, Luminosity, Complexity, and more! We already previewed the European week six matchups, so let’s do North America now! Without further ado, here are my betting tips for CS:GO ESL pro league week six, North American division.
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On Tuesday, the first matchup is between SK and Optic. This looks like a really exciting match between two of the biggest teams in America right now. Let’s get into a little background of their recent performance. SK has cooled off since winning back to back majors, but is still plenty competitive on LAN, and takes care of business in its online battles. They are a formidable squad that is probably the best in America, which lacks a real top three team.
Optic looked like they could be the top three crew for USA late last year when they had impressive results in Eleague and other LANS. However, they have been terrible lately and a lot of their roster has been pillaged. They tried Hiko and that experiment failed miserably. Right now Optic don’t look like a tier two team, let alone top three. After a little analysis, it is obvious that SK winning 2-0 is the smart betting tip for CS:GO, as well as a good value bet. Wager on SK with confidence here.
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The second match on Tuesday is between Liquid and Winterfox, the team in Australia that gets the second tier players that Renegades don’t need. And since the Renegades are not doing so well, it should be obvious how the Winterfox squad is faring. They are last place in the standings with a terrible record of 1-11. There is no need to go into the background of Liquid here, it is an easy 2-0 for them as Winterfox cannot even compete. For the value, bet Liquid spread on both maps. Winterfox will not reach fifteen rounds across both map and Liquid will cover the handicap on both games.
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On Wednesday, Immortals take on Rush. This is an intriguing matchup for me, although on paper it will probably be a blowout for Immortals. They managed to do well in Katowice and were competitive in the playoffs. They were in all honesty the best squad from the west at the tourney, and have looked good. On the back of their star AWPer Hen1 and their core of strong riflers, they have the basic fundamentals of a strong team. Once Immortals incorporate strategy into the game, they will be a force to be reckoned with!
On the other side of things, Rush is the crew that rose from the amateur development league. They have gone 3-11 so far, which is not bad for an amateur team! They are keeping pace with the professional squads. While Rush get blown out on some maps, they are often competitive and hang around on others. Look for Immortals to take this 2-0, but watch Rush as a future mainstay in the North American Counter Strike scene. Bet the over on both maps as far as value bets go as I think Rush can be competitive although they will fall short in the end.
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Later on Wednesday, Complexity take on Selfless. A huge surprise team last year, Selfless has collapsed this year, going 1-11 so far. Complexity has always been a tier two North American crew that doesn’t have enough firepower to compete. This is a really low quality matchup that is hard to predict, and there isn’t much to analyze, to be honest. I personally think that Selfless have looked horrible this season and that Complexity have been together long enough to win. My betting tips for CS:GO here is 1-1 however, with the smart money being on Complexity.
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Thursday features four exciting battles, and is an action packed day! First up on the A stream, we have SK taking on Renegades. I already analyzed SK, but I only briefly mentioned the Renegades so let’s talk about them for a bit. They are widely considered Australia’s best team, but they recently lost two of their players. Their star AWPer Rickeh left for CLG, and Yam decided to leave. Renegades have performed poorly all year after doing very well last year. This team looks tired and unmotivated, and they have zero self confidence at the moment. My prediction is 2-0 for SK, and that’s where the value bet is as well.
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The other match early on Thursday is Misfits vs Optic. We already discussed Optic so let’s go over Misfits. They recently acquired a CS:GO roster, and they have gotten off to a good start. Misfits have looked good and solid if not spectacular. Optics will be favorites in this battle but due to their lackluster form and opponent’s decent showings, I’ll say Misfits take it 2-0. Smart money would be on Misfits Moneyline as well. This is my upset pick of the week.
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The last battles promise to be exciting! CLG take on Cloud9 in my personal favorite fight of the week. CLG are NA’s fastest rising team, while Cloud9 seems to be on the down. This is a great battle between the veterans and the rising stars. CLG started 2017 off with a bang by acquiring Rickeh and turning their good roster into a great one. The squad has only gotten better as they got to know each other, and they recently knocked off a win against Liquid.
Cloud9 meanwhile have underperformed expectations and seem to live up to their name of Clown9. I say CLG wins a map and Cloud9 take one as well and the final score is 1-1. Since CLG is an underdog, betting on them to win a map is the smart pick here for you bettors.
Thanks for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed my analysis and picks, and maybe you can earn some money by betting using my advice!
Look out for my predictions on the upcoming Starladder tourney, and I will see you next time! Good luck!
