Friday’s CCT Central Europe Series #4 best bets – 16/12/2022

ESB returns with coverage of the CCT Central Europe Series #4 round of 16 on Friday, December 16. Here are our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tips for 9INE vs Apeks, GamerLegion vs MASONIC, 1win vs HONORIS, and BIG vs Young Ninjas, with betting odds courtesy of BetOnline.


Apeks had a minor slip-up during the CCT Central Europe Series #4 group stage when they lost against Dynamo Eclot (1-2), but they were pretty convincing in the remaining three bouts against 00 Prospects (2-0), eClub Brugge (2-1), and ex-Finest (2-0). With those victories, Apeks are now on a run of nine wins and just two losses since CCT Central Europe Series #4 Closed Qualifier, with their only other loss coming against AVANGAR (0-2) last week.

Like Apeks, 9INE enter this match in solid form, having won all but two of their last seven outings. That run includes wins against Team Falcons (2-0), 777 Esports (2-1), HAVU (2-0), eSuba (2-1), and ECSTATIC (2-0), and two defeats against Into The Breach (1-2), and GamerLegion (1-2).

Form-wise, 9INE and Apeks look evenly matched, and we wouldn’t say that one roster is significantly more talented than the other. Apeks have a better win rate on all maps but Nuke (0% – 62%), but we’re looking at marginal differences and a smaller sample size of maps played.

Although Apeks look slightly stronger, this should be a close affair, so we’re taking over 2.5 maps at +104.

GamerLegion last met with MASONIC during Elisa Invitational Fall 2022 at the end of October, when they won 2-1. Since then, GamerLegion have played 15 games and won just seven. However, five of those 15 outings came from Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major Challengers Stage, where GamerLegion won against 9z Team and Team Vitality but lost against Bad News Eagles, FURIA, and Cloud9.

MASONIC hold the same 7-8 record over their last 15 fixtures, but they didn’t have to play at the Major, nor did they have to face any top-tier teams. Their toughest opponents were Into The Breach, which tells a lot about how unconvincing MASONIC’s 7-8 record is.

The Danes have not shown anything over the last three weeks that would convince us they can defeat GamerLegion. This should be a quick 2-0 for Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and his crew.

1win have not played an official match since ESL Challenger League Season 43: Europe at the end of November, when they lost against Sprout (0-2) and Bad News Eagles (1-2). With those losses, 1win are 5-5 across their last ten outings, which includes some solid games, but eight of those fixtures happened in October, so we can’t do much with those figures.

HONORIS are 6-4 across their last ten matches, but unlike 1win, HONORIS have been active this month, having played eight games. Even though the Poles didn’t look very good in their recent two outings against Los kogutos (1-2) and Iron Breach (0-2), they’re at least actively playing, which should give them a fighting chance against a stronger team.

HONORIS are also more efficient on Ancient (67%-50%), Overpass (46%-25%), Nuke (70%-62%), and Inferno (67%-0%), making it hard to doubt them. 1win’s Denis “deko” Zhukov is in good form and can quickly spoil HONORIS’ plans, but this looks like another competitive series that should go the distance.

As the latest CS:GO betting odds suggest, this is BIG’s game to lose, and there isn’t much to suggest otherwise. Even though Young Ninjas have been playing well for their standards, this is still a match between an academy roster and the current no.15 team in the global CS:GO rankings.

Even though we can’t praise BIG too much for their recent showings, that’s only relative to the expectations. BIG’s last competitive appearance happened at the end of November when they reached the finals of Elisa Masters Espoo 2022, fighting through teams significantly stronger than Young Ninjas.

On the other side, the Swedes haven’t found much success outside of winning WePlay Academy League Season 6, and the Ninjas didn’t look half as convincing during the CCT Central Europe Series #4 group stage, which they ended with a 3-2 record.

Young Ninjas can be competitive against lesser teams, but BIG should be too much to handle. Expect a 2-0 sweep for the German squad.


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