IEM Rio 2024 group stage betting tips – Monday, October 7

Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 kicks off on Monday, October 7, with the first round of the group stage. Here are our Counter-Strike betting picks for all round one fixtures, with esports odds courtesy of top esports bookmakers for gamblers from United States.

FaZe Clan and FURIA Esports last met in May, when FaZe won 13-7, and barring any surprises, they should have an easy time beating FURIA on Monday. Even though FaZe have not looked great over the last few weeks, they have outperformed FURIA, who only produced solid games against weaker opponents.

Still, FaZe Clan have not looked very convincing in their recent wins, even against teams of similar quality as FURIA. So, while this is their game to lose, Finn “karrigan” Andersen and co. should not be favoured that heavily in a best-of-one series.

MOUZ have been very up and down this season, and they reached a new low last month when they placed 17th-20th at ESL Pro League Season 20 with defeats against Complexity (twice) and Imperial Esports. PaiN Gaming, unlike MOUZ, have not once contested a podium in a significant event this season, but they are in great form.

Despite the recent hiccups at ESL Challenger League Season 48: South America, Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt and co. have been posting promising results with a top-eight finish at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne and a fourth-place finish at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2.

Considering MOUZ’s shaky form, this is an excellent opportunity for paiN to claim another big scalp.

Imperial Esports reached the final 12 at ESL Pro League Season 20, which is commendable, but they did not have to beat any great teams – besides the shaky MOUZ. Since then, Imperial have produced mediocre results in domestic competitions, which does not inspire much confidence.

Natus Vincere are notorious for slow tournament starts, but they are the current no.1 ranked Counter-Strike team in the world and in exceptional form.

The quality difference between the two teams is significant enough to justify a wager on Natus Vincere to cover a 4.5-round handicap.

Team Liquid and Complexity have met twice since August, and both series ended in favour of Liquid. Most recently, Liquid crushed Complexity with 13-7 on Anubis and 13-2 on Nuke in the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs, and according to the Counter-Strike betting sites, this fixture should end similarly.

Complexity have found some success lately; however, the majority of their significant victories came against struggling sides, such as FaZe Clan, MOUZ, and Astralis. Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski can play at a high level, but they do not seem to be able to overcome their regional rivals.

G2 Esports reached the semifinals in Malta and last week added a gold medal from BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024, which explains why they are one of the leading candidates to win Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024.

HEROIC, on the other side, have not come close to accomplishing anything even remotely as impressive. Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski and his crew did well during ESL Pro League Season 20, but overall, they have not shown much over the last month, even against weaker opponents.

Besides the evident quality difference, there is also a map pool gap, as G2 Esports have a better win rate on six of the seven maps in the rotation. This should be an unwinnable match for HEROIC.

Like the fixture preceding this affair, the favourites are priced at much shorter odds for a good reason. Team Vitality’s ranking has dipped slightly over the last month due to their fifth-eighth-place finish at ESL Pro League Season 20 and a semifinal appearance at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024; however, the Bees are still no.3 squad in the world.

9z Team have been making some noise in international events lately, yet they have not won or come close to winning a big event. Don’t expect any surprises on Monday.

Virtus.pro and The MongolZ last met during ESL Pro League Season 19 when the Russians won with a reverse sweep. The rematch is expected to be just as close but slightly favouring MongolZ.

The Mongolian squad travel to Rio de Janeiro following a strong showing at ESL Pro League Season 20, where they placed top-12 after a close defeat against Eternal Fire. Virtus.pro also made some noise in Malta (13th-16th), but all that is overshadowed by their loss against HEROIC in the playoffs.

The MongolZ should be favoured, but this has the potential to be a very competitive game.

Eternal Fire reached the ESL Pro League Season 20 finals just three weeks after claiming a silver medal from BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2, which helped them reach no.7 spot on the global Counter-Strike standings. And with results like that, it is fair to expect the Turks to do well in Rio.

Astralis have also had their moments this season, but way back in April-June when they made the semifinals of four consecutive S-Tier tournaments. Since then, their form has dipped, although things could get better once Casper “cadiaN” Møller gels with his new teammates.

With an experienced in-game leader, Astralis have the potential to start contesting big trophies. But they are not quite there yet.

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