We’re in a new era of CS:GO. Astralis’ super team was broken up in April when Ninjas in Pyjamas signed dev1ce, and they have since benched Dupreeh, Magisk, and Zonic. They will be going forward with three newcomers for the foreseeable future, meaning they no longer are the team to beat in majors. Instead, Gambit Esports and Team Vitality are seen as the two best teams in CS:GO, and they will look to grab the $100,000 first prize at IEM Season XVI Winter.
2021 CS:GO IEM Season XVI Winter Betting Odds
Gambit Esports +250
Team Vitality +300
G2 Esports +400
Heroic +500
Ninjas in Pyjamas +800
FaZe Clan +1400
Virtus Pro +1400
Astralis +1700
ENCE +2000
Fnatic +2000
Team Liquid +3300
OG +3300
BIG +5000
MOUZ +5000
GODSENT +20000
TYLOO +50000
This iteration of Gambit Esports has been together for 13 months now. They lost to Natus Vincere in the semifinals of the PGL Major Stockholm two weeks ago, but they have been the most impressive team all year. Gambit Esports swept OG to win the IEM XVI held in the summer, and they bested Virtus Pro to claim the IEM XV World Championship in late February.
Team Vitality is led by the back-to-back HLTV Player of the Year in Zywoo. He is just the third player in CS:GO history to be named the top player in the sport multiple times, and he is aiming to become the first individual to win the honor three times. His play led to Team Vitality winning IEM XV Beijing and the Blast Premier last fall, but they have come up short in big events. They crashed out of IEM XVI Cologne before the quarterfinals and haven’t made the finals of a top tier event yet in 2021.
G2 Esports shocked the CS:GO world last October with their acquisition of Niko. His buyout was reportedly $1 million, and he is reportedly making $2.4 million annually. However, G2 has yet to win a major with their new star, leading to the organization making a coaching change this week. This team could be poised for a breakout at this tournament.
Despite losing former star Es3tag at the end of last year, Heroic has remained competitive in the CS:GO scene. They bested Gambit Esports in a thrilling five-game series to claim ESL Pro League Season 13 in April, and they made it to the semifinals of ESL Pro League Season 14 in the summer.
Ninjas in Pyjamas haven’t won a major CS:GO event in over four years, but they might be ready to break that drought. They broke the bank to acquire two of the best players in the world in dev1ce and Es3tag, and Es3tag will be making his debut at this event after being acquired from Complexity Gaming. This team has a very high ceiling if they can come together.
We’ve seen FaZe Clan make a lot of changes to their lineup in order to find a winning combination in recent months. They have focused on adding veterans with something to prove, bringing in players like Kjaerbye, Coldzera, Twistzz, and Karrigan. The two former players are no longer on the roster though, indicating that there has been plenty of trial and error.
The last team to watch is Virtus Pro. Thy have completely revamped their roster in order to become competitive once more, and they were one of the top teams in CS:GO earlier this year. Sanji and Yekindar are playing well, so this team has a shot at overcoming the odds to win IEM Season XVI Winter in Sweden.
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