Ninjas in Pyjamas vs ENCE betting tips – ESL One: Road to Rio

NINJAS IN PYJAMAS vs ENCE ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREVIEW

ENCE and Ninjas in Pyjamas will meet in the opening fixture of Week 2 at ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe in what promises to be a thrilling bout between two Nordic rivals.

It’s been a while since ENCE were considered a major threat in the CS:GO esports scene. The Finns were one of the top five teams in the world rankings for most of 2019, they have endured a steady decline since replacing Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen with Mikka “suNny” Kemppi as in-game leader back in September.

Some of ENCE’s best results since the that roster switch include top-six finishes at ESL One: New York 2019 and Intel Extreme Masters XIV – Beijing and a silver medal at CS:GO Asia Championships 2019. Outside of that, they have left a lot to be desired.

ENCE’s decay has become even more obvious since the turn of the year. They failed to qualify for IEM Katowice, finished last at both ICE Challenge 2020 and DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020, and ended their ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe venture in the group stage with a 1-4 record.

Despite all their struggles, however, ENCE kicked off their ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe campaign with an upset win over Fnatic. Although both maps went down to the wire (16-14, 16-13), it was a huge achievement for a team that had not beaten a top-10 side since their win over mousesports at last year’s CS:GO Asia Championships.

While ENCE deserve plenty of praise for taking down the ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe champions, they needed to back it up with a strong display against Team Heretics in their second fixture of the group stage. But sunNy and company managed to win only 11 rounds against France’s third-ranked side, so it is hard to gauge their form leading up to Tuesday’s clash.

Ninjas in Pyjamas started their Road to Rio with a 2-1 reverse-sweep against Team Vitality, who edged a win on Overpass (16-14) but deteriorated on Nuke (12-16) and Inferno (4-16). Besides the first map, it was a very one-sided fixture.

Although NiP are some way off the top teams, it’s hard not to be excited about this young roster. They are playing great CS:GO and although they might lack the firepower of the big boys in the scene, their strategy is on point. With Björn “THREATH” Pers at the helm, this squad is bound to develop and contest titles at some of the biggest CS:GO esports tournaments.

NINJAS IN PYJAMAS vs ENCE ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO – EUROPE BETTING PREDICTIONS

Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE last met in late March at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe. The Finns came out ahead (2-1) with a 36-34 aggregate round score on that occasion, which suggests these two sides match up nicely.

This bout can go either way. While ENCE managed to edge out Fnatic last week, Ninjas in Pyjamas have looked the more impressive side. They might need some more time to develop before they can make a dint in the big events, but their approach to games is very tactical and clean.

ENCE’s loss to Heretics showed they cannot be trusted, so we are backing Ninjas in Pyjamas to come out ahead.