HellRaisers and ex-Ethereal will lock horns for the first time since October, when Ethereal won 16-14 on Dust II and 16-8 on Nuke. Even though Ethereal does not exist anymore, this is still the same core of players that caused serious damage to Dmitriy “jR” Chervak and his crew, so it’s strange to see them priced as the underdogs here.

HellRaisers and ex-Ethereal share the same 4-1 record in their last five outings against teams of similar quality, which suggests we are in for a tight series. Since HellRaisers are very unpredictable and at times inconsistent, we will side with ex-Ethereal at better odds here. Be sure to check multiple top CSGO betting sites to find the best prices.

If we go by the results these teams have produced during the group stage alone, Sinners Esports should win with ease. That is reasonable to expect since Sinners are also in great form (9-1) and hold a better win rate than Project X on all seven maps currently in the rotation.

It’s worth noting, however, that Sinners faced mostly weaker sides of late, so their numbers are a bit inflated. Project X – while a weaker team on paper – can have their moments, as seen in their wins against Lilmix (2-1), Lyngby Vikings (2-1) and Team Unique (2-0) which leads us to believe the Ukrainian squad are a bit underrated at these odds.
Sinners seem like the most likely victors, but Project X won’t go down without a fight.

Vulkan Fight Series

?9INE enter this match on the back of two 1-2 losses against ex-Ethereal and Lilmix, meaning they’re only one defeat away from an early elimination. The same holds true for Team Unique, who didn’t win a single map in their losses against Lyngby Vikings and Project X.

Unique have produced only three wins since late October, and even those came against Saints (twice) and HONORIS. That is significantly worse than 9INE, who have bested the likes of Nordavind, Movistar Riders, LDLC, HellRaisers and other solid tier-two teams during that stretch.

9INE can be somewhat inconsistent at times, but this is still their game to lose. There is good money in backing the favourites to cover the line.

Demacia Cup 2020

?After topping their group ahead of Oh My God, Rogue Warriors, Shu Da Xiong Gaming and HMG, FunPlus Phoenix are now set to face their toughest challenge of the tournament. Top Esports secured a comfortable 2-0 sweep when these teams last met in July, and it’s difficult to imagine this fixture will play out any differently.

Top have kept their roster intact, whereas FPX have added Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon to the top lane as a replacement for Kim “GimGoon” Han-saem and Kim “Khan” Dong-ha. This should make FPX deadlier, but until we see a bit more from them, Top should remain the favourites in these meetings.

?Suning made quite a statement with their runner-up finish at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, so it is reasonable to see them priced at such low odds. Although it is highly likely they will try out their new ADC Xie “Jinjiao” Jin-Shan instead of Tang “huanfeng” Huan-Feng for this match, that shouldn’t harm their overall quality too much.

ViCi are a team with potential, but that’s all they can offer for now. They did not make any notable additions to the team during the offseason and even lost their best-performing player from the last League of Legends Pro League (LPL) split, Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo, to Bilibili Gaming.

There is a world where ViCi win one map, but we don’t expect much more from them. An outright bet on Suning is a solid pick, even at the short odds.

CasterMuse StarLeague Season 4

?The first thing that caught our attention here is the huge gap in the odds at most StarCraft II betting sites. Not only will this match be played as best-of-one fixture, but Jang “Snow” Yoon Chul lost to Lee “Sacsri” Yah Hoon only two weeks ago.

What’s more, Sacsri is extremely effective against Protoss (60.95% win rate), whereas Snow has not been too successful when facing Zergs of late. At these odds, Sacsri to win is great value.

GG year 2020

?Out of six head-to-head bouts in 2020, Ivan “Vanya” Chepurnov’s only defeat so far came in a best-of-one clash in July. He has since triumphed twice with 3-0 in October and 2-0 in November. Vanya usually does well against Terran (62.67%), which is significantly higher than Mykhailo “Kas” Gaida’s 57.08% win rate against Zergs.

Everything is pointing towards another easy win for Vanya, but there is some value in siding with the outsider. At $2.77, the esports bookmakers are implying Kas has only a 9.06% chance to win, which is too low even in a best-of-three series.

Kas proved with his 2-0 sweep of Dmytro “DIMAGA” Filipchuk (Zerg) on Monday that he is not to be ignored. If that match is any indication, the 32-year-old Ukrainian just might produce another upset.

Esports multi bet tips for Thursday, December 24?

Vulkan Fight Series

?SG.Pro enter this contest with a 0-2 record at the tournament. Despite their lack of success, the Russians deserve some respect for their close series with ESPADA and Budapest Five, who both seem stronger than Winstrike Team.

Like SG.Pro, Winstrike are still searching for their first points following two painful defeats against VP.Prodigy and Natus Vincere Junior. With those losses, Winstrike are 1-5 in their last six outings and hold a 33.3% win rate since late September.

Winstrike’s recent results are equally as uninspiring as SG.Pro’s, so they should not be priced at such short odds. Winstrike also field only three players on their active roster, so it makes more sense to side with SG.Pro to win at least one map.

?The latest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting odds suggest this should be a close bout. This might be true, but we don’t expect to see any high-level performances from either side.

Lyngby Vikings enter this match on a three-game losing streak, while Project X have managed two wins in their last three outings. However, two of Project X’s wins came against Team Unique and EC Kyiv, which is hardly better than Vikings’ three-map series against Illuminar and LDLC.

This match could go either way, so there might be some value in backing the outsiders, but over 2.5 maps is a safer bet at a good price.

KeSPA Cup 2020

?Nongshim RedForce (formerly Team Dynamics) enter this match as underdogs, which makes some sense given their lacklustre run through the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) 2020 Summer. Even so, they should be better prepared for this season with the addition of jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho and support Kim “Kellin” Hyeong-gyu.

On the other side, Afreeca Freecs seem to have downgraded their roster with the signing of Bae “Bang” Jun-sik as a replacement for Jin “Mystic” Seong-jun. They effectively lost their best player and replaced him with someone who has spent the last two years in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS).

Afreeca Freecs don’t seem to have any significant advantages in this matchup. Their best player is support Son “Lehends” Si-woo, who should keep the bottom lane somewhat stable, but we are a bit concerned about how the team will deal with Kellin and Peanut. Nongshim RedForce are overpriced at these odds.

?Outside of replacing Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun with Lee “Effort” Sang-ho in the support slot, Liiv SANDBOX (previously SANDBOX Gaming) have opted to keep their 2020 roster intact. We don’t see that as an issue since SANDBOX improved towards the end of last season, but a star signing wouldn’t hurt.

DRX endured quite a turbulent off-season and now field a completely new roster. Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok all left the team in November, which forced DRX to rebuild their LoL squad with mostly academy players.

DRX might still do relatively well this season with the help of coach Kim “SSONG” Sang-soo, but until we see a bit more from them, we have to side with Liiv SANDBOX.

?Nongshim RedForce’s best player seems to be their new jungler, Peanut, who should do well against Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon, the only remaining member of DRX’s old roster. Shutting down Pyosik would force DRX to rely on their bottom lane to deliver, and while Son “Becca” Min-woo and Jeong “BAO” Hyeon-woo boast a strong synergy, they’re not experienced enough for us to believe they can carry their team.

This match seems like Nongshim RedForce’s to lose. As long as Peanut and his crew continue playing with the same fire they have up to now, we don’t believe DRX can cause them any major issues.

Esports multi bet tips for Wednesday, December 23