We are more than halfway through the Group Stage in the ESL One: Road to Rio qualifying events. The chalk has largely held up in both Europe and North America, but we have seen some top teams struggle. Evil Geniuses are in real trouble of not making it to the knockout rounds in NA, while Fnatic is now in a little bit of a pickle too in Europe. They will both be out to make statement victories this weekend.
Europe
Ninjas in Pyjamas -180
Complexity +143
This line is a little perplexing considering where these teams stand in Group A. NiP are atop the table with a 3-1 record, and their round differential is the best in Europe right now. Meanwhile, Complexity are at the bottom of the standings with a 1-3 mark and a -36 round differential.
NiP’s lone loss in this event came against Astralis. Although they lost that series, the play of Plopski was encouraging, as he finished with a rating over 1.00 in every game. Complexity have won at least one game in every series thus far, but three straight Game 3 losses is pretty discouraging for any team.
Astralis -570
Heretics +390
The greatest team in the history of CS:GO will be looking to move closer to one of the two automatic spots into the ESL One: Road to Rio out of Group A. Astralis did fall to Fnatic last weekend, but they bounced back with victories over Vitality and NiP as we saw some great play out of Magisk. Magisk is usually overshadowed by his teammate Device, but he posted a rating over 1.50 in Astralis’ last two games against NiP, coming up with some clutch performances. Heretics may be 3-1 too, but there’s a reason this team is currently ranked outside the top 40 on GosuGamers.
Fnatic -225
Team Vitality +176
This is a must-win match for Fnatic. They are tied with Team Vitality in fourth place at 2-2, and a loss would put them behind the eight ball in their bid to make it to the knockout rounds. Incredibly, of the six games they have lost, they have won at least 13 rounds in each game, so it’s not like they have been getting dominated. That luck will turn in this series, as Vitality don’t have near the same talent as their counterparts.
North America
100 Thieves -195
Cloud9 +154
The winner of this match will ensure themselves of a place in the knockout rounds, and the winner of this series will likely grab the No. 1 overall seed out of Group A. While Gen. G currently have a slight round edge on both these teams, they are underdogs against Evil Geniuses, so the winner of this series will be in a very good spot.
It will be interesting to see how 100 Thieves fares this weekend. They parted ways with head coach Kassad earlier this week, and ImAPet will replace him. It’s unlikely he does anything to switch things up in this tournament, but there’s a chance he has noticed a few things that will lead to adaptations from the Thieves.
Evil Geniuses -190
Gen. G +150
If Evil Geniuses don’t win this match, they won’t qualify for ESL One: Road to Rio. That would be quite the disappointment for the team that many consider to be the second-best squad in North America. Their only victories have come against teams that have already been eliminated, so this is a great spot to bet Gen. G. While the latter team is still getting its feet wet in this game, the Geniuses shouldn’t be favored by this much.
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