by ESL Pro League Season 17 kicks off on Wednesday, February 22, with the opening games of Group A. Check out our best bets for MiBR vs Fnatic, Cloud9 vs Evil Geniuses, and G2 Esports vs Eternal Fire, with odds courtesy of the best esports bookmakers for gamblers in United States.
FNATIC vs MIBR CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Fnatic -500 at BetOnline | MiBR +333 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 22, 2023 | 16:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch, YouTube |
By finishing ninth-12th at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 earlier this month, Fnatic made it inside the top 10 on the global CS:GO ladder for the first time since August 2020. Even though Fnatic didn’t show anything remarkable in Poland, we’re mostly interested in their commanding victory against MiBR (16-11, 16-9).
Since that loss, MiBR have played 16 official matches and won all but one (1-2 vs Complexity) and have successfully qualified for Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 and Paris Major American RMR. The Brazilian squad are in excellent form – in contrast to Fnatic, who haven’t played a match since IEM Katowice – but MiBR’ have only played within their region, facing mostly weaker teams.
So, their hot streak doesn’t mean that MiBR are any better prepared to defeat Fnatic on Wednesday. They might put up a fight, but we expect another comfortable sweep for Fnatic.
Fnatic -1.5 maps
FNATIC vs MIBR CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | C9 -909.09 at BetOnline | EG +500 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 22, 2023 | 19:30 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch, YouTube |
Cloud9 didn’t leave a very good impression in Poland, finishing IEM Katowice 2023 in 13th-16th place with just two wins against IHC Esports (16-5) and ENCE (2-1), continuing the Russian squad’s streak of disappointing results. But no matter how bad Cloud9 have looked over the last few months, even their iffy record can’t compare to Evil Geniuses’.
The North Americans have been on a steady decline for months and recently reached a new low at NA RMR Closed Qualifier, where they placed eighth with defeats against TeamOne (0-2), MiBR (0-2), and yur (16-19). To put it into perspective, Evil Geniuses haven’t won a game against a team ranked 10th or better in the global CS:GO standings since October 2022, when they upset FURIA Esports (16-14).
Even had EG performed better recently, it would be hard justifying fading Cloud9, who might have slipped in Poland but are still a stacked Counter-Strike team that will go off once they find some traction. Until Evil Geniuses introduce drastic changes, betting against them is the only right decision.
Cloud9 -11.5 rounds
G2 ESPORTS vs ETERNAL FIRE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | G2 -5000 at BetOnline | EF +950 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 22, 2023 | 19:30 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch, YouTube |
G2 Esports celebrated a long-overdue Big Event victory in Katowice, where they showcased one of the most dominant runs we’ve seen in a while. And not only did G2 Esports win the event, they did it by defeating all of the main title candidates, including FaZe Clan (2-0), Natus Vincere (2-0), Team Liquid (2-0), and Heroic (3-1).
One good tournament run doesn’t mean much, but G2 Esports have been playing exceptionally well since missing out on the IEM Rio Major, and their IEM Katowice title only solidified them as the current best team in the world.
Eternal Fire will have a huge mountain to climb on Wednesday as they have to show up despite not attending an S-Tier event since ESL Pro League Season 16 in September 2022. The Turkish squad are in solid form, with 13 wins from their last 16 outings, but not a single fixture was against a top-tier team.
In the form they’re currently in, G2 Esports shouldn’t be losing – or come even close to losing – games like this.
