DraftKings CS:GO ESL RTR Thursday Cheat Sheet

GAMES (EDT)

• 7:00 a.m. Syman vs. Winstrike
• 10:30 a.m. NiP vs. Vitality
• 2:00 p.m. G2 vs. Heretics

Syman vs. Winstrike

This is pretty much a fifty-fifty match between Syman and Winstrike in the quarter-finals of ESL One: Road to Rio CIS. Syman actually have a 4–0 map record against Wintrike historically, but Winstrike have definitely improved a ton since their last meeting back in October. Winstrike also holds the advantage in the map veto, with Syman sitting on a zero percent win rate on Nuke and Vertigo, two of Winstrike's stronger maps. El1an and Hobbit are definitely the stars of this team, but depending on how Syman chooses to approach the map veto, a player like Lack1 or bondik may be able to outscore Hobbit. Both of these guys have actually outscored Hobbit on Vertigo so far, with Lack1 having been particularly impressive with 0.79 kills/round and a 1.15 K/D ratio on the map.

On the Syman side, it is n0rb3r7 who stands out at $7,000 over Keoz at $8,400. The latter is an excellent aimer who has the potential to score really well, but his price has been jacked up quite a bit due to the limited match history on DraftKings. mou is also an interesting play, especially if we end up going to a decider, where Train is likely to be played.

• Syman Players to Target: n0rb3r7 ($7,000), mou ($8,000)
• Winstrike Players to Target: El1an ($9,000), Hobbit ($7,400) / Lack1 ($6,000)

NiP vs. Vitality

NiP will face off against Vitality in the lower-bracket after a losing a super close game against FaZe. NiP came out on top against Vitality by a score of 2–1 in the group stage, in a match where both teams took each other's map picks. NiP opted for Overpass instead of Vertigo, and considering how strongly they have proven to be on this map, it would be surprising to see them go back to it once more against Vitality. One thing has been consistent throughout all three of their past meetings with Vitality, and that is what Nuke has been Vitality's map pick. This is a map where nawwk has performed really well, and he dropped 28 frags with plus-10 K/D differential in their last meeting with Vitality. Plopski had yet another excellent performance against FaZe, and he isn't a bad player to match up with nawwk since they play most sites together. 

On Vitality, it is the ZywOo show as usual, and he is the only guy on this Vitality team who you can really trust to deliver the goods. Out of the others, it may be worth taking a chance on RpK at just $5,000, with misutaaa having some potential if we end up on Inferno as a decider.

• NiP Players to Target: nawwk ($7,000), Plopski ($7,200)
• Vitality Players to Target: ZywOo ($9,600)

G2 vs. Heretics

G2 will take on Heretics in a lower-bracket French derby. G2 are coming off a loss to Astralis, while Heretics took care of North to advance in the lower-bracket. Heretics have been one of the surprises of 2020, with Maka establishing himself as one of the most exciting newcomers. However, at $10,200 he needs to go ham in order to give us enough of a return. If you believe in the Heretics upset, it may actually be worth taking a chance on a guy like Nivera or Lucky, instead.

On the G2 side, it is kennyS and huNter- who are the most appealing, with the latter being one of many solid plays in the $7,000 range. AmaNEk is always going to be a tempting play when he is priced this low in a favorable matchup, as well.

• G2 Players to Target: huNter- ($7,600), kennyS ($8,800), AmaNEk ($5,400)
• Heretics Players to Target: Nivera ($7,800), Maka ($10,200), Lucky ($6,800)