IEM Katowice 2022 betting picks – Tuesday, February 15

Esportbet brings you free Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks for three Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2022 Play-In Stage bouts. Here are our selections for Copenhagen Flames vs Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Wisla Krakow, and OG vs Renegades, with top odds courtesy of BetOnline.


Fnatic enter IEM Katowice 2022 looking for the organisation’s first S-Tier tournament title since ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe in April 2022. Even though Fnatic are one of the underdogs, they have the talent to make some noise in Poland. Still, the black-and-orange have not achieved anything noteworthy this year, with early exits from Funspark ULTI 2021 and Pinnacle Winter Series #1.

Copenhagen Flames are in a similar spot, as a team that can be competitive but are without any results that would back those claims up. They placed top eight at Malta Vibes Knockout Series #5 in January, top four at Pinnacle Winter Series #1 at the start of the next month, and crashed out of ESL Challenger League Season 40 Europe in ninth-12th place earlier this month.

Results-wise there isn’t a lot to separate Copenhagen Flames and Fnatic, but the latter have a much higher ceiling and are far more experienced playing on LAN. Still, while we expect Fnatic to win, they are still a bit shaky, and Flames are no slouches, so expect a closely contested affair.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are priced as heavy favourites for this bout by the esports betting sites, which makes sense knowing that this is the current sixth-highest rated team, while Wisla Krakow are complete outsiders, priced at +100000 to win the title. Still, this is a best-of-one (Bo1) match between a team that needs to win and the home crowd favourites, who have nothing to lose.

What’s more, NiP are still without Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, and they have not looked good without the Danish in-game leader. Admittedly, the Swedes won against Natus Vincere (2-1) at the start of February, but NiP are still 3-7 across their last 10 outings and 3-4 on the year, with two wins against BIG.

Ninjas in Pyjamas should win despite their shaky form, but we don’t expect them to stomp Wisla Krakow. The Poles are 7-3 across their last 10 and have looked competitive recently. We like the outsiders with a 4.5 round advantage.

Adding Nemanja “nexa” Isaković as the new in-game leader in January was clearly a smart move by OG, who won BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 last week with four wins against Astralis (16-8, 16-8), MiBR (16-8), and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1). So things are looking up for OG, but they still have a lot to prove to be considered one of the contenders for the IEM Katowice title.

Renegades enter IEM Katowice 2022 as heavy underdogs to go all the way. That makes sense considering they’ve not attended a high-profile tournament since July, when Renegades crashed out of Intel Extreme Masters XVI Cologne in 13th-16th place.

Although Renegades can be dangerous, it seems highly unlikely that they’ll manage to hold their own against the world’s best teams, especially since their last official match was in November. So not only are Renegades rusty, but they’re also individually weaker than OG. Bo1s can be unpredictable, but this should be a very one-sided affair.