The best CS:GO teams in Europe have been at it for almost three weeks now. Qualifying for the ESL One: Road to Rio event has been intense. ESL One: Road to Rio is set to be the most lucrative tournament in the history of CS:GO when it takes place in six months with a prize pool of $2 million, and every team wants a piece of that pie. Most of the 16 European teams taking part in the qualifying will participate in the Rio major, but they will be slotted in at different levels depending on how they perform over the next week. Each team wants one of the three coveted Legends spots, as that will automatically put them in the last stage of the competition. Additionally, the top four teams in Europe will receive at least $10,000 for their finish this weekend.
Astralis -280
G2 Esports +214
It’s no surprise to see Astralis as a sizable favorite against G2 Esports in the upper bracket. Astralis dropped their first match to Fnatic, but they won six straight matches to finish atop Group A, beating Ninjas in Pyjamas to ensure themselves of the top spot.
Astralis have won more majors than any other team in the history of CS:GO. They were the first team to win the Intel Grand Slam, and they shined over the tail end of 2019 with victories at IEM XIV Beijing, ECS Season 8, and the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final. However, they have yet to win a major tournament in 2020. They were very underwhelming in the BLAST Pro Series: Spring opener, and they couldn’t make it past the semifinals of the IEM XIV World Championship or ESL Pro League Season 11.
Meanwhile, G2 were pretty fortunate to be placed in the upper bracket. They finished 4-3 in Group B, but they were able to win a three-way tiebreaker with North and GODSENT to get an automatic bye. This organization has played well so far this year with an impressive win in the BLAST Pro Series: Spring event over OG, and they upset Team Liquid on their way to the IEM XIV World Championship Grand Final.
You have to give the edge to Astralis in this series though. Astralis are the most complete team in CS:GO, and their chemistry is incredible. Dev1ce is the superstar, but the other four players are able to carry when need be as seen by Magisk’s MVP performance at last year’s IEM Katowice event.
FaZe Clan -150
Ninjas in Pyjamas +120
This line is a little puzzling given what we saw from these two teams in the Group Stage. FaZe Clan may have been in the easier group, but they smashed their competition over the last three weeks. FaZe went a perfect 7-0 in Group B, easily cruising to the top spot in qualifying.
Ninjas in Pyjamas went 6-1 in Group A with a loss to Astralis. They looked very sharp with the best game differential in the group, but this team needed to play in to reach this stage. NiP have lost to FaZe Clan in six of their last seven meetings over the last year, so it’s hard to have faith in them at this short price.
FaZe have not been as dominant as many hoped since building a superstar team, but Rain and Niko are still two of the best players in the world, and Olofmeister is a crafty veteran. They have the talent edge and the head-to-head edge against NiP, and we expect them to make the most of those advantages.
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