StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 Main Qualifier Betting Predictions

Welcome to the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 Main Qualifier Betting Predictions.

This is the first stage of the major, the top 8 teams are going to advance to the New Legends stage.

In this post we will try to give you a good overview of the first part of the tournament also called "Challenger Stage". We will take a detailed look at the first matchups, check out the teams map pools and give betting advice aswell as giving you the minimal odds you need to bet the teams.

Since most lines have been online for quite some time now value is hard to find and you will either have to wait for the favorite to get more steam right before the match to bet the underdog or for the map vetos to come out.

We will most likely post our bets on short notice in our discord-server and on twitter, so join and follow if you don't want to miss out.

You can find an overview of all bets we took for this stage in this post.

More info about all participating teams and detailed information about the tournament structure can be found here.

Vitality vs Syman

Going into our first matchup we are going to be starting with Vitality taking on Syman. Heading into this matchup everyone can assume that Vitality are the clear favourites but here is why, they are currently the 2nd best team in the world, this can depend on the zywoo factor but compared to Syman who are only really somewhat of a dominant force within the CIS scene it doesn’t paint a very positive picture for their hopes against Vitality.

Another thing to consider is that Syman never played at international stage

Syman however have been accused of throwing potential matches so that is one thing to point out.

However in the sense of them losing this game this just adds to that.

The closer we get to this game the odds on Syman may get better. Maps for this game don’t really make a difference in my opinon and I would probably leave this game a miss due to the odds not being good enough to bet on either team.

Pick/Ban Stats for Syman

Pick/Ban Stats for Vitality

Looking at this it will most likely end up at dust2 or overpass, both maps on which syman will have a hard time vs tier1 opposition.

Our betting advice: SKIP

NRG vs Dreameaters

Nrg, a team that has a history of struggling on Lan, is currently ranked #6 in the world by HLTV will face off vs Dreameaters a CIS underdog which qualified themselves via the MINOR PLAY IN beating INTZ in the upper bracket.

Nontheless they showed problems at finishing games choking several leads in their games in the cis minor and at the play in. Similar to Syman it has to be considered that Dreameaters never played at international stage (except the minor play in) before.

Meanwhile NRG cruised through the NA minor and qualified with ease under a new IGL. They had some time now to practice with this new roster and they will hopefully show their potential at the major.

Frankly speaking there are several tiers between these teams and it's probably expected for Dreameaters to lose, but on the right map they could upset as their players are decently skilled.

For this match we are going to wait for the veto and see if NRG plays into Dreameaters comfort zone, if that is the case we might consider a bet on them at 4+ odds.

Pick/Ban Stats for NRG

Pick/Ban Stats for Dreameaters

Our betting advice: Looking at these it will most likely end up on dust2, inferno or mirage from which inferno and dust could be decent bets at current odds.

To see if we bet on Dreameaters join the discord.

Tyloo vs G2

Going into the G2 and Tyloo matchup first off lets take a pause and appreciate this matchup stylistically, the French team are generally known for their aggressive playstyles which is more on the economic side with their force buys and upgraded pistols. While Tyloo they are pretty much aggressive no matter what.

Obviously the scene has developed and the higher level teams have gotten used to countering the tyloo style of play so its really coming to the point where tyloo need to step this up a notch to really be relevant with this play style. The aggression has to be calculated and controlled, its obviously a very useful too in their tool box and they need to use this attribute to the best of their ability. Similar to say how Connor Mcgregors fighting style revolves around using that left hand, not the best example but Tyloo need to use this aggression and not let it go to waste. Because if done right they can make G2 uncomfortable and not let them play their own game and with the French players of KennyS and Shox having a similar type of playstyle we may see G2 play into it which frankly may actually favour the Chinese.

However if Tyloo cant get the momentum and the ball rolling it could potentially be a roll over by the G2 side. We saw this happen last time they met at IEM Katowice where Tyloo were able to take the first map but they could not get started on the 2nd and 3rd and they never came back from there losing both maps dominantly.

I think this is definitely going to be an interesting matchup in the sense that tyloo have had a little bit more time to prepare with their new roster if they can get over their communication issues and workout a way to calculate the aggression I think people would disagree but they would wipe the floor with G2.

Pick/Ban Stats G2

Pick/Ban Stats Tyloo

Our Betting Advice: I think in this situation Tyloo would actually be a very good pick, opening match of the tourniement and a best of 1 scenario and with pretty decent odds it wouldn’t be too bad for an upset pick.We are thinking that taking tyloo at odds of 3+ is worth a 0.5u bet.

North vs Intz

Valde and his boys at north will be facing INTZ for who it will be the last event with their starplayer kNg (who will play for mibr after the major). kNg already mentioned several times that he will leave his former team on good terms and wants to gift a good major run to the squad he departs.

The brasilians, at several occasions showed that they perform way better on lan as online, which we only can hope looking at their recent online loses to singularity and lazarus in the EPL relegation. The team relies heavily on their starplayer kng and their risky plays working out. If they don't get into the game they often look lost.

North also had a pretty hard time since their starplayer valde took over the role as IGL. Their road to the major was so rocky that they nearly would not have qualified and are only in berlin thanks to them winning their last chance match at the minor-playin after having lost 0-2 to cr4zy and mousesports.

From the past we also know that north often has a problem with matchups where they are big favorite and are expected to win.

Pick/Ban Stats North

Pick/Ban Stats INTZ

Our Betting Advice: With all that in mind the odds for INTZ to win the bo1 look pretty juicy with 4.0 - 5.0 on some sites. Everything above 3.8 should be value but you should be able to get way better odds.

We would advise not to bet spreads on this game since its either INTZ finding into the game and being able to win it or them not finding into the game and most likely not covering any spread that is worth taking.

Furia vs Hellraisers

Furia a team that surprised with their aggressive playstyle which caught many teams off guard when they broke into the scene will face off vs a Hellraiser roster that is weak compared to their former days.The new roster has not shown anything that would make me believe in them to make it far in the qualifier.

The only factor that could be considered for them is time as they had time to prepare for this event and could surprise by fixing their mistakes, but so will have others.

Pick/Ban Stats Furia

Pick/Ban Stats Hellraisers

Our Betting Advice: At current odds the bookmakers are giving us,I don’t see anything that’s worth taking, the Hellraisers odds are just not good enough and we at Plusev have shared our pickem for this stage on our website and have chosen to go with Furia as a darkhorse to go 3-0. However if HR odds keep getting higher we will consider a bet at odds of 3.1 or better.

Mouz vs Forze

Next we are going to look into Mouz vs Forze. On the one hand we have a very individually stacked mouz roster lead by Karrigan that finished in 1. place at the eu minor after a slow start only dropping their opening game vs NoChance in a bo1.Behind Vitality mouz are the 2. best team attending and are expected to qualify to the next round .On the other hand we have Forze from the CIS region a team that have grinded their way up with solid online results and impressed at the CIS-Minor by not dropping a single map. But we haven't seen them on a lan stage so far vs higher tier opposition as they had visa issues and couldn't attend IEM Chicago, so its uncertain if they can keep the level they showed online so far up on much more skilled teams on LAN.

Pick/Ban Stats mousesports

Pick/Ban Stats forze

As for the map this bo1 will end up on,it should end up on a map both teams are comfortable on since their mappools overlap.

Our Betting Advice: On the right day I can see Forze beating mouz in a bo1, I would suggest betting forze at 2.5+ odds

Avangar vs Complexity

Avangar have dropped off lately after being a competitive force over 2019, the addition of Adren didn’t help them getting back on track so far. On the flip side we have Complexity which have not played an official game in over one month and are a big question mark for this major. On paper they look ok, yielding talent like their newest addition oBo the youngest player to attend a CSGO major so far. They have the potential to be dark horse at this major depending on the progress they have made in their 1 month absents.

In the past Col surprised us at the London major 2018 making legend status.This could repeat if teams underestimate them again.

Pick/Ban Stats Avangar

Pick/Ban Stats Complexity

Our Betting Advice: For now we wouldn't bet anything in this match, some bookies have avangar at 1.66 though which is tempting given how much of an unknown COL is.

Cr4zy vs Grayhound

Grayhound and Cr4zy, a very interesting matchup. You got the up and coming Cr4zy squad all full of so much potential we have seen them performing online but now we finally get to see what they do on lan, obviously with the likes of Nexa and hunter its crazy what potential this roster has for some creative CS.

On the other side of the spectrum you have greyhound who have been slowly but surely working their way up the Asian and Oceanic scene which normally gets looked down upon but I think this is the event which Grayhound have the opportunity to show how well the scene is developing with CSGO as a whole.

I think this matchup has a lot of points to prove in the sense that Cr4zy are looking hot they have been beating the right teams and they have finally gotten themselves to the major. Now is the chance for them to show that they can be the next Ence so to speak.

On the greyhound side they are looking to show the rest of the world that its not just going to be Renegades up there, this is their chance to show its finally possible for another team to consistently perform out of the oceanic region.

I think however its more in the realms of the unknown and Grayhound having experience at this stage and even though they went out 3-0 they could have easily won some of those matches and took vitality to the limits.

Pick/Ban Stats Cr4zy

Pick/Ban Stats Grayhound

Our Betting Advice: This matchup has some upset potential maybe not as much as the Tyloo game but with the odds not being great for Cr4zy its not really worth going on them. I think bo1 environment it is worth to have a bet on Grayhound at odds of 3.5 or better.