BLAST Rising 2021 betting predictions – Thursday, May 20

Esportbet brings you a pair of free Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks for Thursday’s BLAST Rising 2021 bouts. Here are our best bets for Young Ninjas vs Natus Vincere Junior and Double Poney vs Nordavind.


Young Ninjas made it through to the group stage with an impressive 2-0 record and 64-35 map differential. Natus Vincere Junior were slightly less convincing, going 2-1 with an 80-88 map record.

Despite what those numbers might suggest, we have to consider that NaVi Jr had to play in a much tougher group that featured Double Poney, Budapest Five and SINNERS Esports. Thus, their performances could be valued higher than Young Ninjas’.

These sides last met just two days ago, when Ninjas won 2-0 with 16-14 on Vertigo and 16-5 on Inferno. They also won both of the previous two meetings in emphatic fashion.

Considering their strong head-to-head record, it makes sense to view Ninjas as the favourites, but the latest CS:GO betting odds are far too low for us to take a shot with them. NaVi Jr have the tools to win this match and were somewhat unlucky not to do so on Sunday. At the very least, the Ukrainians should force a tight series.


Double Poney cruised through the group stage with a perfect 2-0 record and an equally impressive 64-26 map differential. Noradvind had to work a bit harder to make it into the playoffs, finishing their group at 2-1 with a 84-40 map differential.

We talked about Double Poney in our Flashpoint Season 3 betting preview for Wednesday. There, we noted that this team is good enough to compete with Astralis, so it’s only reasonable to expect DP to do well against a second-tier team such as Nordavind.



Although there is a slight chance Double Poney won’t put in too much work to prepare for this bout, they don’t really need to. They are good enough to win 2-0, but we’re happy with the odds we’re getting on the moneyline market.