by ESB brings you free betting predictions for three VALORANT Champions Tour 2024 EMEA Kickoff bouts on Wednesday, February 21. Here are our selections for Team Liquid vs KOI, Team Vitality vs Gentle Mates, and GIANTX vs Karmine Corp.
BBL ESPORTS vs NATUS VINCERE VCT BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | BBL +286 at BetOnline | NaVi -416.67 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 21, 2024 | 14:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/valorant_emea) |
Natus Vincere replaced Mehmet “cNed” İpek with Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks in October, bringing the former FunPlus Phoenix roster back together in a bid to find more stability in the 2024 season. Even though replacing just one player might not seem enough for NaVi to bounce back from what was a very mediocre year, ardiis could be the missing piece that will bring this project together.
BBL Esports didn’t win much last season. They placed seventh in the VCT 2023 EMEA League and didn’t reach the world championship. The Turkish squad did win Superdome 2023 Egypt, so they’re in good form, but this doesn’t change the fact that BBL don’t have the talent of other top VCT EMEA teams.
Natus Vincere might be a hit-or-miss team, but they shouldn’t struggle to beat BBL Esports, who are one of the weakest teams in the VCT 2024 EMEA.
Natus Vincere -1.5 maps
TEAM LIQUID vs KOI VCT BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Liquid -454.55 at BetOnline | KOI +300 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 21, 2024 | 17:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/valorant_emea) |
Team Liquid have picked up the former Apeks trio Enzo “Enzo” Mestari, Georgio “Keiko” Sanassy, and James “Mistic” Orfila, who will link up with Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen and Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin to form a competitive lineup.
Apeks’ core played well in 2023 but fell apart at the final hurdle and lost the VCT 2023 Ascension EMEA to Gentle Mates. But that was more a case of Gentle Mates finding traction, so failing to make it though Ascension doesn’t take away from how good Apeks were throughout the season.
KOI had a disappointing run through the VCT 2023 season, showing no progress from February up to the VCT 2023 EMEA Last Chance Qualifier in July. In a bid to find more success, KOI rebuilt the lineup at the start of February by signing Grzegorz “GRUBINHO” Ryczko and offering Kamil “kamo” Frąckowiak and Tobias “ShadoW” Flodström to permanent contracts.
KOI’s roster seems like it was put together last-minute and doesn’t look strong. The situation behind the scenes, with numerous arrivals and departures of players since November, also can’t be great, so it’s easy to doubt this team.
Team Liquid -1.5 maps
TEAM VITALITY vs GENTLE MATES VCT BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Vitality -303.03 at BetOnline | GM +225 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 21, 2024 | 20:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/valorant_emea) |
Team Vitality have created a strong lineup for the VCT 2024 season with the signing of Emil “runneR” Trajkovski, Kimmie “Kicks” Laasner, Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel, and Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko. Unfortunately, trexx will not be able to play in VCT 2024 EMEA Kickoff, with Tomas “Destrian” Linikas taking his place.
Gentle Mates ascended to the VCT EMEA by defeating Apeks in the VCT 2023 Ascension EMEA and have kept all five players and both coaches on the roster. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering how dominant Gentle Mates were in the second division of the European VALORANT esports ecosystem. Still, it’s also tough to say how they will stack up with EMEA’s elite squads.
Gentle Mates looked incredible at the end of the 2023 season, so the talent is there. Considering they’re up against a new roster, there is reason to believe that Beyazıt “beyAz” Körpe and co. can win against a weakened Team Vitality.
