Sashi Esports put together a new all-Danish Counter-Strike roster last month and have since won ComeOn Nordic Showdown, YaLLa Compass Spring 2024, and HellCup #9. They carried that form into the Elisa Invitational 2024 Spring main stage, beating ENTERPRISE (2-1), ex-Preasy Esports (2-1), and Gaimin Gladiators (2-0).

ENDPOINT haven’t been nearly as successful so far this tournament. They barely made it through the Contenders stage and were just as shaky in the previous stage, ending it with a 3-2 record. However, since the final match of the main stage, ENDPOINT have won three of six games played, beating MOUZ NXT, Sampi, and PARIVISION.

Sashi Esports’ explosive form explains why they’re expected to win on Wednesday, but it’s tough to argue they’re that much stronger than ENDPOINT. At $3.00 with esports betting sites, ENDPOINT are the obvious choice.

BLEED Esports added Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad and Tim “nawwk” Jonasson to their Counter-Strike roster last weekend, marking a significant upgrade on Vladan “VLDN” Radevi? and Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov. While there is still a question of synergy, BLEED Esports look far better with the new additions.

Gaimin Gladiators are in decent form, having won six of their last eight series, yet most of those victories came against lesser teams. It is an improvement for the Gladiators, who had a rough start after the roster came together in April, but they still have a lot to work on.

BLEED Esports are a bit of an enigma with two new members, but they boast far more quality than Gaimin Gladiators, and it should show on Wednesday.

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ECSTATIC and EYEBALLERS enter the fourth round of Elisa Invitational Fall 2022 with just one win to their names against Sashi Esports (2-1) and Hotspurs (2-1), respectively. And even though both teams still have a chance to make the playoffs, their recent performances have been largely underwhelming.

Besides their victory against Sashi, ECSTATIC have lost against Into the Breach (1-2) and SAW (0-2) and enter this bout with four consecutive defeats. That streak includes three losses at IEM Road to Rio European RMR A earlier this month, when they had to admit defeat to G2 Esports (0-2), B8 (16-19), and forZe (0-2).

EYEBALLERS’ record (3-2) looks better, but their three wins came against lesser opponents during the Svenska Elitserien Fall 2022 Regular Season, where they won against 00 Prospects (16-7), Lilmix (19-16), and MARSK (16-8). Moreover, EYEBALLERS have won nine of their last 15 outings, but even those victories came against weaker squads.

As evident from their recent showings, ECSTATIC and EYEBALLERS are not in a good spot, and while you could defend ECSTATIC as a stronger team, mainly due to their victory against ENCE (2-0) at the end of September, their overall record is just as bad as that of EYEBALLERS. This is a 50/50 match, so we have to side with EYEBALLERS at outsider odds.

Due to financial problems, Team Finest had to disband their CS:GO and Valorant divisions last week, leaving Aleksander “hades” Miskiewicz and his crew in an uncertain spot. But perhaps getting cut from Finest will help the international roster step up as they look to make a name for themselves and get picked up by another organisation.

But Team Finest haven’t achieved much this season, so it’s hard to expect them to produce anything spectacular. Notably, they’ve lost seven of their last ten outings, while their only wins came against Esports Club Kyiv (2-0), Illuinar Gaming (2-0), and Into the Breach (2-0).

On the other side, Sprout are 4-6 over the same stretch, which might look bad, but they had to play against significantly stronger opponents during IEM Road to Rio European RMR A last week. And yet, Sprout ended the RMR with a phenomenal 3-1 record, beating forZe (19-17), Team Spirit (16-12), and B8 (2-1). Their only loss came against the defending Major champions, FaZe Clan (1-2).

It’s clear that Sprout are a class above ex-Finest and shouldn’t afford to lose this bout. But Sprout might feel fatigued after a rough schedule, and they likely won’t care too much about Elisa Invitational now that they’ve made the Major.

Sprout should win, but we expect them to put in a bit less effort, which should help ex-Finest win at least one map.

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Both Elisa and ENCE have stated that their respective organizations intend to collaborate on the production of content while also investing in esports competitions and regional scenes in Finland.

There was no disclosure of either the financial intricacies or the duration of the partnership.

“Elisa’s long-term investment into the Finnish esports landscape has been an inspiration to ENCE, especially regarding the CS:GO Academy programme,” ENCE’s CEO Mika Kuusisto said.

“We want to continue pioneering and developing the esports ecosystem along with other parties, which has made the collaboration with Elisa a natural fit. “

The two parties only declared that they are going to focus on strengthening the overall ecosystem and scene of esports in Finland. Neither of them involved in the collaboration disclosed any additional details regarding the alliance.

In addition to being one of the most well-known telecommunications companies in Finland, Elisa is well-known for its support of esports on a local, regional, and even international level. ESL Gaming, GRID, and Relog Media are just a few of the well-known esports organizations that have collaborated with this company in the past.

Elisa also organizes and runs its very own competition, known as the Elisa Esports Masters Espoo, which is scheduled to take place later this year. This tournament will serve in an official capacity as an affiliate event for the ESL Pro Tour.

The Elisa Masters ’22 tournament will feature 12 famed teams from all over the world competing for a prize pool of $200,000. This will be a big milestone, serving as the largest esports event ever held in Finland.

The top team will not only take home the $200,000 in prize money but they will also be given a spot in the Play-In Stage of the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2023 tournament. The event will take place from the 18th through the 20th of November 2022 at the Espoo Metro Arena.

ENCE is a European esports organization that is most well-known for its achievements in the games Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Starcraft. Serral, one of the team’s Starcraft 2 players, is presently considered to be amongst the most successful players in the industry. In addition, the ENCE CS: GO team is now regarded as the 10th best CS:GO roster worldwide, although the organization just made major changes to the roster.

?Apeks seem to be in good form and have been playing well over the last couple of months. In April, they finished top four in the IEM Dallas open qualifiers, where they lost only one series against the PGL Major Antwerp quarter-finalists Copenhagen Flames (1-2).

Apeks have since played 13 official matches and won all but three, losing to BIG (0-2), GamerLegion (1-2), and again Copenhagen (1-2). Their next opponents, Into the Breach, have achieved far less, yet they’re on a run of 13 wins and only two losses.

Admittedly, most of ITB’s wins came against lesser squads, but they’re at least winning and are in great shape. The British squad are not an A-tier team, but they’re good enough to win a map, especially if they force Apeks onto Vertigo or Nuke.

Apeks to win at $1.61 with GG Bet is an appealing bet, but we’re after a higher payout, so we’ll take a shot at Apeks to win 2-1 on the correct score market.

?Esports Club Kyiv are far from the best team at Elisa Invitational Spring 2022, but they’ve had their moments this month. Most notably, the Ukrainian squad played surprisingly well in the IEM Dallas European Qualifier, where they took a map from Copenhagen Flames (1-2), defeated Fnatic (2-1), and even took 11 and 13 rounds from the eventual champions, MOUZ.

Since then, EC Kyiv haven’t done much, winning three of their next five outings. However, we got to see how good they can be, so it makes sense for the esports betting sites to price them as the favourites.

777 Esports have not produced any noteworthy results lately, and their last official match happened on May 2, when they won against Foxed Gaming (2-0). Before that, 777 were on a five-game losing streak, so not only is their form very questionable, but they are also a bit ring-rusty.

Even though we don’t believe EC Kyiv are much better talent-wise than 777, we haven’t seen enough from the Norwegian squad to bet on them. Kyiv to win the first map with at least three rounds to spare is a good play.

?AGO and SAW will clash on Tuesday in the ESL Challenger League Season 41 Europe decider match. It will be a rematch from the opening round of Group C, which AGO won (2-1) with 11-16 on Nuke, 16-10 on Ancient, and 16-13 on Vertigo.

AGO have since lost against Falcons Esports (0-2), whereas SAW picked up a forfeit win against Copenhagen Flames, earning them one last chance to reach the playoffs. Interestingly, even though SAW lost the last match, they enter this bout as $1.77 favourites, but that’s not surprising.

SAW are stronger, but they had an off day the last time they met with AGO, so it’s fair to expect a better showing from the Portuguese squad this time out. Still, AGO have shown enough for us to believe this won’t be a one-sided affair, and there are stats to confirm that.

AGO are much stronger on Dust II, Mirage, and Ancient, while they share a 50% win rate on Inferno, so no matter how the map veto goes, the Poles should be in a good spot to win at least one map. A 2-1 victory for SAW is the most likely outcome, but we’ll play it safe and settle for a bet on over 2.5 maps.

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?Sharing a 2-1 record, Into the Breach and hellslayerz are just one series away from locking in a spot in the playoffs, and one of the two will get there on Wednesday when Jesper “JW” Wecksell and co. clash with the British squad. This will mark the first meeting between the two CS:GO rosters and their biggest challenge yet.

Into the Breach have looked good this tournament, but they have only won against Savage and Young Ninjas. Similarly, hellslayerz have produced very dominant victories, but against MAD Lions and BIG Academy.

Even if we compare the individual talent, there isn’t much to set the teams apart. We would give hellslayerz a slight edge in that department, but not enough for us to recommend a bet on them at the offered CS:GO betting odds. Owen “smooya” Butterfield and his crew are good enough to upset the Swedes, but we’re happy with the price we’re getting on overs.

?BIG Academy surprised many by making it to this stage, but they only won against ENTERPRISE esports (2-1) and 00 Prospects (2-0), two of the weakest teams in the tournament. That’s not to say that KOVA had to beat significantly stronger opponents to go 2-1 up, but they did not disappoint with their wins against Astralis Talent (2-0) and Anonymo Esports (2-0).

BIG Academy enter this match as underdogs with a weaker roster, but they have some things going for them, namely a better win rate on Overpass (80% v 29%), Inferno (56% v 12%), and Dust II (62% v NA). However, their win percentage across the remaining seven maps is worse by 30% or higher.

Map veto will be very important for this match, but even if the Finns are forced on an unfavourable map, they have enough firepower to make something happen. This is KOVA’s match to lose.

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MAD Lions lost their opening two series of the tournament last month against hellslayerz (1-2) and Lilmix (0-2) but bounced back with a clean victory against Savage (2-0) last week to keep their heads above the water. Meanwhile, Ex-DREAM Gaming kicked off Elisa Invitational 2022 Spring with a 1-2 defeat against Tricked Esports, added a 2-1 win against ENTERPRISE esports, but they lost their most recent series against Young Ninjas (1-2) last Tuesday.

Result-wise, it’s hard to separate MAD Lions and the former DREAM Gaming squad, but you can’t argue with the esports betting sites pricing MAD Lions as the favourites for this bout. Despite their shaky performances, MAD Lions field a much stronger roster that just hasn’t found their footing yet.

But even though MAD Lions have not looked as good as many expected them to in the opening rounds of the tournament, the European mix performed well in the games leading into this one, winning three straight against Savage (2-0), SKADE (2-0), and Into the Breach (2-0). Some may argue that it’s too soon to trust MAD Lions, but Thomas “TMB” Bundsb?k and co. have shown enough for us to trust them to cover the map handicap.

MASONIC and Young Ninjas have never met before, so it’s tough to say how this match will play out. But even though we don’t know how these two Scandinavian squads match up, we would prefer to be on the side of Young Ninjas.

MASONIC are 2-1 with wins against Lilmix (2-0) and Astralis Talent (2-0) and a defeat against 777 Esports (1-2), whereas Young Ninjas share the same record with wins against 00Prospects (2-0) and ex-DREAM Gaming (2-0) and a 0-2 defeat against Into the Breach. Clearly, Young Ninjas had a much easier schedule, but there is nothing that would suggest MASONIC deserve to be priced at only $1.44.

Admittedly, MASONIC have shown slightly more of late, but this match is very close to 50/50, so we have to side with Young Ninjas at plus money. Young Ninjas with a map handicap is a safer alternative bet, but at lower betting odds that don’t offer as much value.

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?Astralis Talent have yet to find any success this tournament, having already dropped the ball against MASONIC (0-2) and KOVA (0-2). ENTERPRISE esports are in the same position, as they lost both of thier bouts against BIG Academy (1-2) and ex-DREAM Gaming (1-2).

It’s clear that Astralis Talent and ENTERPRISE esports are not good enough to compete for the title, but even though it’s hard to feel excited about either team, we would prefer to be on the side of Astralis Talent for this match. Admittedly, they’re not strong, and we don’t expect anything significant from the young Danes, but they have shown before that they can be competitive with wins against AGO, Tricked Esports, and Young Ninjas in March.

As a match between two struggling teams, this one can get messy, but we have yet to see anything from ENTERPRISE that would suggest that they’re stronger. The top CS:GO betting sites are paying around $1.83 on Astralis to win, and that looks good enough.

?Into the Breach have improved significantly since the addition of Owen “smooya” Butterfield, who has quickly emerged as the team’s top player. The British AWPer is averaging a 1.34 performance rating and has proven to be extremely tough to deal with for other squads at this level of play – and we don’t expect that to change on Thursday.

Tricked Esports have won both of their Elisa Invitational bouts; however, they only had to face Anonymo Esports and DREAM Gaming, and they still dropped a map in both series. On a more positive note, Tricked Esports are 10-1 across their last 11, so they’re in great form.

Tricked Esports come off as a more well-rounded team, but Into the Breach have a much higher upside and can easily dominate this match. This is a 50/50 match, so we’re on smooya and his crew to take down Tricked and lock in a spot in the Elisa Invitational Spring 2022 playoffs.

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?Anonymo Esports have managed only two wins from their last ten outings, yet they’re still priced as heavy favourites against KOVA. That makes sense, knowing that the Finns have been just as unconvincing of late, with only one win from their last six.

Moreover, Anonymo already defeated KOVA at the end of March (2-0), with 16-11 on Inferno and 16-14 on Ancient. Still, they’re not a good bet at $1.55, nor would we feel comfortable betting on them with a map handicap.

Anonymo nearly lost on Ancient last time out even though they were 12-3 up before the switch, and they have not improved one bit since. That is not to say that KOVA have shown any notable improvement, but they should have at least one map in them. At the offered CS:GO betting odds, it makes the most sense to pick over 2.5 maps.

?MASONIC lost against 777 Esports (1-2) last week, albeit they won 13 rounds on Vertigo and 14 on Ancient, so it’s fair to say that that game could have easily ended the other way. Still, that’s hardly worth celebrating, knowing that 777 Esports are not that strong.

Lilmix lost their Elisa Invitational opening series against Anoynmo Esports (0-2) but bounced back with an emphatic 2-0 sweep of MAD Lions last Tuesday. The Swedes needed overtime to overcome MAD Lions on Overpass (19-16), but it was smooth sailing on Ancient, which Lilmix closed out with 16-9, largely thanks to their strong T-side (4-3) performance.

Based on what we have seen from MASONIC and Lilmix recently, the latter come off as the stronger team, mainly because MASONIC have not scored a single notable victory in months. It could be a close one, but we’re on Lilmix at outsider odds.

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777 Esports made it past KOVA (2-0) last week with 16-11 on Nuke and 16-4 on Overpass, which was a very unexpected result, knowing that 777 lost against KOVA (0-2 and 8-16) just a week prior. However, even though it’s nice to see a team claim a revenge win, that performance doesn’t suggest that 777 Esports are now any better or more capable than they were throughout March.

It’s hard to be overly excited about 777, but you can say the same for MASONIC, who are nothing more than a second-tier team. Still, they’re in excellent form and enter this bout with an 8-2 record across their last ten outings and an even more impressive 26-6 record since the start of March.

Admittedly, MASONIC have not beaten a single good team over that stretch, but if you can hold an 81% win percentage over +30 outings, you have to be doing something right. Talent-wise, these two teams are evenly matched, so we have to side with MASONIC, who have shown better form.

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Into the Breach are not the most consistent team, but they showed some flashes of greatness last week when they won against KOVA (2-1), 00Nation (2-0), and took a map from AVANGAR (1-2). It’s very evident that ITB have a lot of work ahead of them before they’ll form a strong synergy and start producing good results, but they have Owen “smooya” Butterfield, and that’s (sometimes) enough to win at this level of play.

Young Ninjas are 3-3 across their last six outings with wins against 00 Prospects (2-0), 00 Nation (2-1), and x-Gamer (16-13) and defeats against Copenhagen Flames (0-2), MAD Lions (1-2), and Endpoint (1-2). That’s hardly an impressive record, but Young Ninjas deserve a thumbs up for stealing a map from MAD Lions and Endpoint.

Into the Breach are still a bit shaky and Young Ninjas are not as bad as they seem, but at the offered CS:GO betting odds, we have to side with the Brits. Not only do they look better, but Into the Breach also have an ace up their sleeve in smooya, who can go on a rampage and solo carry this game.

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?Anonymo Esports demolished HEET (16-5, 16-7) last week to kick off their Elisa Invitational Spring 2022 campaign with a bang, but they were not nearly as impressive over in Pinnacle Cup III, where they lost against 4glory Esports (0-2). Still, there is a good reason why the Poles are expected to win against Tricked Esports on Wednesday.

These two teams clashed just under two weeks ago, in the first round of Pinnacle Cup III, when Anonymo won 2-0, with 16-8 on Mirage and 16-4 on Nuke. But interestingly, the team that eliminated Anonymo from the tournament (4glory) lost against Tricked (0-2) on Sunday.

On Monday, the Danes continued with strong form and took down ECSTATIC (9-16, 19-17, 16-13), proving that they’ve found their stride. A couple of wins doesn’t mean much, but these two squads are evenly matched talent-wise, so we wouldn’t underestimate Tricked’s recent resurgence.
At $2.25, Tricked Esports are a great bet to keep their streak going and take revenge on Anonymo Esports.

?BIG Academy won against ENTERPRISE Esports (2-1) in the tournament opener but have since not played a single match. Hellslayerz, on the other side, edged past MAD Lions (2-1) with 16-12 on Inferno, 10-16 on Ancient and 19-16 on Mirage to lock in their 10th official victory (10-1).

But despite their impressive record, we’re not sold on hellslayerz, and while they might do well at this level of play, this roster has no future. It’s not like you can praise BIG Academy either, but they’ve done reasonably well against teams you could consider equally as strong as hellslayerz.

The Swedes should come out ahead, but we wouldn’t exclude the possibility of a three-map series. Esports betting sites are paying better than evens for over 2.5 maps, so it’s worth a look.

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