Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come. It’s the conclusion of the group stage, and only two more teams can join Heretics and Movistar Riders in the playoffs.
Group B Decider: Nordavind vs Syman Gaming
In Cyber.Bet Cup Day 4 Syman Gaming had an incredibly rough game against Heretics. The very first map was incredibly one-sided. Syman looked lost on Vertigo as they were losing round after round. It looked like the same will continue on Overpass, but to their merit, they were able to make it very competitive and hold their ground till the very end. Nordavind had an easier match on their hands. Their opponents had to field a stand-in, and they had the opportunity to play 2 of their best maps.
Heading into the veto, Syman’s most recent performances have elevated their map pool. They currently host 3 maps on which they have a 100% win-rate (And here we’re referring to Inferno, Dust 2 and Train). On the other hand, they are yet to win a single map on Nuke or Vertigo over the past 5 officials they have played. Lastly, one can also notice that Mirage and Overpass are their mid-tier maps.
Nordavind has an excellent opportunity to punish Syman, and that is on either Nuke or Vertigo. Furthermore, Overpass is by far their best map, which could be the thing that sees Nordavind making playoffs. But once they have to go to an Inferno or Dust 2 game, things can get tricky for Nordavind. They do have the advantage of picking a comfortable map, but once Syman’s pick, they might have difficulties.
This bo3 should be a lot closer than NAVI Junior versus Syman Gaming. These are two rosters that rely on individuals to perform. One of which, Jesper “tenzki” Plougmann has been having an incredible tournament, becoming the highest-rated player with a 1.35 rating. If he can continue with his form, he could be the X-factor that carries Nordavind over the edge.
Group A Decider: Hard Legion Esports vs NAVI Junior
The big problem for a team like NAVI Junior is their inexperience. It is still a roster that is being built, with new possible additions down the line. What they have shown us are their capabilities. Players like Kirill “Gospadarov” Gospadarov are incredibly explosive once they have the chance to shine. On the other side of the coin, you have Hard Legion. A team that’s arguably regaining some of their form, but rather slowly. Recently they’ve been playing a lot against CIS opposition and they’ve been prone to struggle against them. The same could be stated for NAVI Junior as they had the same problem facing Mustang Crew.
One thing is evident about the two teams; they don’t have a real stronghold of a map. In that sense, their map pool is somewhat mediocre. At least a team like Hard Legion has a broader success on maps, averaging 58.75%. As for NAVI Junior, that number is 41,63%. This is also excluding the map of Nuke which both teams have as their most common ban. Hard Legion can use their tactical superiority on maps like Overpass and Train, but on the latter, NAVI Junior have found increasing amounts of success. NAVI Junior can hope to go for simpler maps like Dust 2 or even Inferno to gain an edge, but winning this bo3 will not be an easy task.
With that being said, Hard Legion has been showing signs of improvements. Even though they’ve been losing to higher-calibre CIS opposition, they always successfully beat the team below them.
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*Odds are subject to change.
