by ESB’s free Counter-Strike betting tips for Wednesday, December 13, focus on the opening four bouts at BLAST Premier World Final 2023. Here are our picks for Cloud9 vs ENCE, Team Vitality vs Natus Vincere, FaZe Clan vs Heroic, and MOUZ vs G2 Esports, with odds courtesy of GG.Bet.
CLOUD9 vs ENCE CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Cloud9 -204.08 at BetOnline | ENCE +159 at BetOnline |
| When: | December 13, 2023 |10:00 GST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/esl_dota2) |
The final S-Tier Counter-Strike 2 tournament of the year kicks off with a clash between Cloud9 and ENCE, who last met at Gamers8 2023 in August when ENCE won 2-0. That was before the roster changes that followed on both sides.
Cloud9 enter BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 without any CS2 tournament titles to their name; however, they made the semifinals of BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 at the end of November. The team have looked much better since Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov joined, but they still have a long way to go.
ENCE made two significant changes last month with the signing of coach Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński and in-game leader Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander. Although promising additions, ENCE got off to a rough start with the Danish captain and are 2-2 over their last four, with losses against HAVU and Apeks.
ENCE’s past results don’t inspire much confidence, but it’s not like Cloud9 are known for their consistency. This is C9’s game to lose, but ENCE are good enough to show some resistance.
Over 2.5 maps
TEAM VITALITY vs NATUS VINCERE CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | VIT -333.33 at BetOnline | NaVi +247 at BetOnline |
| When: | December 13, 2023 |10:00 GST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/BLASTPremier) |
Team Vitality looked very shaky in their first Counter-Strike 2 tournament (Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023) in October, when they placed 13th-16th. But after the unconvincing performance in Australia, the Bees bounced back in style and won BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 at the end of November.
Natus Vincere have not accomplished nearly as much on the game’s new version. They placed ninth-12th in Sydney and two weeks back exited BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 in fifth-sixth place. In NaVi’s defence, they’ve played a few close games against tough opponents, but that doesn’t change the fact that NaVi are 2-4 since transitioning to CS2.
Natus Vincere have enough talent to be competitive, but until they start showing something, we’ll continue to fade them.
Team Vitality -1.5 maps
FAZE CLAN vs HEROIC CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | FaZe -454.55 at BetOnline | Heroic +321 at BetOnline |
| When: | December 13, 2023 |16:00 GST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/BLASTPremier) |
With three consecutive S-Tier tournament victories in October-November, FaZe Clan established themselves as the strongest Counter-Strike 2 team in the world. And although they couldn’t make it four in a row at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023, FaZe Clan are still a force to be reckoned with.
FaZe Clan head to Abu Dhabi with an incredible 18-2 record since the scene transitioned to Counter-Strike 2. Their only two defeats came against GamerLegion (15-19) and Team Vitality (0-2), who beat them in the closing game of BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023.
Due to the recent roster drama, Heroic enter BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 as a bit of an enigma, as they have to field two stand-ins, Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss and Jason “salazar” Salazar. We’ve yet to see this roster play an official game; however, the core placed second last at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023.
Heroic should be able to do some damage, but it’s tough to believe they can derail FaZe Clan. Despite losing Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken to Team Liquid, FaZe are the superior team.
FaZe Clan -1.5 maps
G2 ESPORTS vs MOUZ CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | G2 -156.25 at BetOnline | MOUZ +124 at BetOnline |
| When: | December 13, 2023 |19:00 GST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/BLASTPremier) |
Since the arrival of Nemanja “nexa” Isaković, G2 Esports have not looked good. They are 2-2 with the Serb back on the roster with wins against Fluxo (2-1) and Sprout (2-1) and defeats against Aurora Gaming (0-2) and Guild Eagles (1-2).
And despite losing against much weaker opponents, G2 Esports are priced as favourites to defeat MOUZ with Counter-Strike betting sites. That might have to do with MOUZ’s recent roster change, which saw the departure of David “frozen” Čerňanský. Still, with Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin joining the team, MOUZ haven’t lost much quality.
We have to consider that MOUZ have struggled recently, with defeats against Apeks (16-19) and FURIA Esports (0-2). But that’s hardly a good reason to have them priced as underdogs for this match.
This looks like a 50-50 bout at best, so we’ll happily side with MOUZ at the offered CS2 betting odds.
