Their 2-0 victory against Natus Vincere – despite being the underdogs according to several esports betting sites – earned them their third win in three consecutive CS:GO events.

They won Intel Extreme Masters XVI Katowice in February, sweeping G2 Esports 3-0 to walk away with $400,000 of the US$1 million prize pool.

FaZe continued their dominance in ESL Pro League Season 15, defeating ENCE 3-1 in the grand final. That performance earned them another $190,000, also making them the first team to secure a spot in the BLAST Premier World Final 2022.

The American team have been perfect this year, finishing the Spring Groups as joint winners with OG Esports and Team Vitality. Their incredible run so far has put them as the No.1 CS:GO team in the world, displacing NaVi.

With the victory against NaVi, FaZe recorded their first-ever win in a CS:GO Major title. The diversity in their roster has also made them the first international team to win a Valve tournament.

Although the series ended in a sweep, it was no easy matchup for FaZe. Despite getting an early 12-5 lead in the first map, Inferno, they came very close to losing the map if it was not for the timely intervention of in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen.

Karrigan managed to force overtime after getting three kills in a two-against-four situation, and FaZe successfully brought it home, winning the map 19-16.

On Ancient, which was NaVi’s pick, FaZe got off to a bright start and did not once give their opponents an opportunity to fight back. They had a 10-2 lead at one point in the round, but it eventually ended 16-10.

There were plenty of bright spots and inspiring plays from everyone on the FaZe roster. But their standout player was H?vard “rain” Nygaard, who has been a member of the team since 2016.

Rain and Karrigan are the longest-serving members of the team and are the only ones left from the 2018 squad that blew a 15-9 lead to lose to Cloud9 in the ELEAGUE Boston Major grand finals in 2018.

For his brilliance, rain was named the MVP of the tournament. He had the best rating (1.24 of 2.0) in the tournament despite being the second-best FaZe player in the grand final. Helvijs “broky” Saukants showed out in that series with a 53-37 K/D and a plus-minus of 16.

For their efforts, FaZe walk away with $500,000 of the $1 million prize fund. They also earn direct qualification to the BLAST Premier World Final, but since their slot was already safe a long time ago through the ESL Pro League, the three teams will now be selected from the global leaderboard.

FaZe will participate in Intel Extreme Masters XVII Dallas, scheduled to commence on May 30. Although they have secured a spot in the World Final and are not exactly in dire need of circuit points, they will be playing for pride and the addition of $100,000 to their overall winnings this year.

Winning that event would get them level with NaVi, who currently hold the title for the longest streak of tournament victories in a calendar year. In 2021, the Ukrainian esports organization won five consecutive tournaments from July to November.

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ENCE have looked very good this Major, and there is no telling how far they can go. This is a solid, well-rounded team capable of playing a very high level of Counter-Strike, and their results would confirm that.

ENCE have beaten FaZe Clan in a best-of-one (Bo1), won against Heroic (2-1), and have dropped just one game throughout the tournament. But that one loss came against Copenhagen Flames, who came out of nowhere and now threaten to steal the spotlight once again.

We have to acknowledge that Copenhagen’s road to the playoffs was very easy. While the Flames won against Bad News Eagles, ENCE, and Imperial, they lost against Spirit and FaZe – so, technically, they’ve yet to defeat a really strong team.

Moreover, Copenhagen struggled against Imperial, where it seemed like nerves were getting to the players, who are pretty young and inexperienced. That alone might be the difference-maker in this match.

The Danes defeated ENCE last time out, but it was in a Bo1. Now they have to show up in a Bo3 on the big stage, which is where ENCE should have an edge due to their LAN experience and overall consistency.

This promises to be an exciting match between two of the world’s top CS:GO teams, but even though both are considered elite-level squads, the esports betting sites heavily favour the defending Major champions. Priced at $1.36, NaVi are the clear favourites, and even though we can agree that they are the most likely victors, those odds seem a bit off.

At $3.00, Heroic’s implied probability of winning is just 33.3%, which is very low, knowing that Heroic won against NaVi (2-1) in April. Moreover, Heroic’s only three defeats across their last 10 outings came against ENCE (twice) and the in-form Team Spirit.

Admittedly, Heroic are known for choking in playoffs, and they didn’t look too clean in their match against Team Vitality (1-2), but they can put up a fight and are underrated at $3.00. NaVi should win, but unless they switch gears and start playing at 100%, there is a good chance we will see a three-map series.

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Ninjas in Pyjamas will take on the IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League 15 champions, FaZe Clan in the first quarter-final for the PGL Major Antwerp. Ninjas in Pyjamas became the fourth team to qualify for the Champions Stage as they ended their Legends Group Stage with a 3-1 record. Whilst FaZe Clan qualified as the fifth team out of the Legends Group Stage with the exact same record as the Ninjas.

The Ninjas kicked off their event with a dominant win over Vitality 16-4 and then carried their strong momentum into their game against Cloud9 where they won 16-14, winning both of their best-of-one series. Although they were in such good form, the Ninjas were humbled when they were easily disposed of by NaVi in two of the three maps when NaVi won 2-1 in their first best-of-three. Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to shake off the big loss to NaVi quite quickly and destroyed FURIA in quick fashion 2-0 in their most recent game. If the Ninjas perform the same way that they played against NaVi they will be out of this Major quick-smart, so no one should need to tell this roster that this could be one of their most important matches of their CSGO careers.

FaZe Clan got their PGL Major off to a rocky start by losing 8-16 to ENCE, but since that first loss FaZe Clan have won their last three series against Bad News Eagles 16-4, Cloud9 16-8 and Copenhagen Flames 2-1, to qualify for the Champions Stage. Even though FaZe Clan have won three series in a row, they were far from impressive in their most recent series win over Copenhagen Flames where FaZe Clan started very slow losing the first map 16-13 and even though they won the second map 16-13, FaZe Clan nearly threw a 12-3 half time lead but managed to hold on 16-13. They then went on to win the third map 16-6 with relative ease. If FaZe Clan make the critical errors and give the Ninjas the same opportunities that they gave Copenhagen Flames they could lose this series, quickly.

The no.7 ranked team in the world, NiP, take on the no.1 ranked team in the world, FaZe Clan in what sets up to be the first of four cracking quarter finals. We will be taking the overs in the total maps market with top betting sites.

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The hottest form team in the PGL Major is the Russian team Spirit who take on the top ranked Brazilian team in FURIA in the second quarter-final of the Champions Stage. Spirit went undefeated in the Legends Stage and were one of the first two teams to qualify for the Champions Stage, whilst it took FURIA five series to secure the last qualification position in the Champions Stage.

Spirit have been ultra-impressive in Antwerp going back as far as their first four games in the Challengers Stage where they won three of their four series, with their only loss coming in overtime against G2 17-19. In the main event Spirit defeated FURIA 16-12, Heroic 16-12 and Copenhagen Flames 2-1. The first time that Spirit looked to be rattled was when they lost the first map in the Copenhagen Flames series 16-10, but they put any doubts quickly to bed by taking map two 16-8 and map three 16-6 to win the series. There is no doubt that Spirit have been the surprise packet from the Major so far, but who knows how far they can really go.

FURIA came into the PGL Major with high hopes and high expectations after they breezed through their RMR and have been dominating the Americas Counter Strike scene over the past few months, but those hopes and expectations have taken quite the hit after their Legends Stage performances. They lost 12-16 to Spirit in their first game where Spirit were dominant in the first half. The Brazilians then went on to beat Liquid 16-9 and BIG 16-10 where FURIA were definitely the better team but then were dismantled by NiP 2-0 in their first best-of-three series. FURIA may have found something in their last best-of-three, where they defeated the no.5 ranked team in the world, G2 Esports 2-1 to secure the last place in the Champions Stage.

Spirit owns the most recent series win over FURIA, being the best-of-one in the Legends Stage. We believe that $2 odds for Spirit to take this series are overs, therefore we will be backing them to take out this series with GG Bet.

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Team Spirit and Natus Vincere had perfect outings in the Legends stage to secure the first two spots in the playoffs. ENCE, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FaZe Clan finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, leaving three available slots among six teams at the end of Round 4 matches.

Heroic booked their passage with a win against European counterparts Team Vitality. It was a closely contested affair, as Vitality evened the series 1-1 after a hard-fought match on Overpass.

Heroic, who were the slight favorites on several esports betting sites, got the job done on Inferno.

Vitality attempted an incredible comeback despite going down 14-5 in the map. They won the next seven rounds to bring the score to 14-12, but Heroic managed to stop the bleeding early enough to avoid losing the series.

Although it is not the result Vitality hoped for, especially with the big-name signings at the beginning of the year, they fought hard in the tournament.

The second team to clinch one of the remaining three spots available was FURIA. They are the only non-European team remaining in the competition.

The American team secured direct seeding to the Legends stage after finishing atop the standings in the American Regional Major Rankings. But they struggled to assert their dominance in the early rounds in Antwerp, going 2-2 in the Legends stage, with their fate decided by a Round 5 matchup.

Despite a bright start to the series, winning Vertigo 16-12, FURIA were facing elimination after losing Inferno to G2 Esports.

On the final map, Ancient, G2 had a good lead after the first half with a 10-5 record. Led by Andrei “arT” Piovezan, FURIA executed an inspired comeback, finishing the map 16-11.

Unfortunately for G2, who made it to the 2021 Stockholm Major, their journey in Antwerp came to an end with that loss.

Copenhagen Flames claimed the last spot in the playoffs after a convincing series sweep over Imperial Esports. The first game was played on Imperial’s map pick, Inferno, with Copenhagen claiming a dominant 16-2 win.

Things got a lot closer on Vertigo, as Imperial were not looking to go out easily. The game finished 15-15 in the regular period, but the Flames saw out the game in overtime.

Proceedings in the tournament will resume on May 19 with quarterfinal matchups. Top-seeded Team Spirit will play the eighth-placed FURIA in a best-of-three single-elimination match. Whoever wins will advance to the semifinals and will square off against the winner of the FaZe-NiP matchup.

In the remaining quarterfinals, ENCE will take on the Flames and Heroic will square up against the Stockholm champions, Natus Vincere.

One of the eight teams left will walk away with $500,000 of the US$1 million prize pool and direct qualification to the 2022 BLAST Premier World Final. The second to eighth-placed teams will also receive points for the global leaderboard.

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?Copenhagen Flames qualified straight into the Legends Stage of the PGL Major by winning the European RMR B finishing undefeated at 3-0. The Flames’ results have been up and down lately and therefore their ranking has been hovering between a low of 18th and a high of 12th in the world rankings this year. A very good result at the Major could be what the team needs to boost their confidence and ranking.

Bad News Eagles had to go through the Challengers Stage after they finished in seventh place in the same RMR as Copenhagen Flames. During the Challengers Stage they were able to secure their Legends Stage qualification after taking down MiBR in a very competitive win-or-go home best-of-three 2-1. For BNE, making the Legends Stage is a massive achievement so anything that they do now will only add to this achievement.

We suggest taking the overs in the total rounds market, where the line is currently set at 26.5 rounds.

?Heroic qualified for the Legends Stage by winning the European RMR A finishing undefeated at 3-0. Outside of their underwhelming performance at the ESL Pro League 15 where they finished 9th-12th, Heroic have not finished outside of the top four in any event that they have participated in this year, so we expect to see Heroic getting through the Swiss rounds and going deep into the PGL Major in Antwerp.

Team Liquid had to go through the Challengers Stage after they could only manage a fifth place finish in the Americas RMR. On their way to the Legends Stage, Liquid took down their North American counterparts, Complexity 2-0 with relative ease. Liquid then caused one of the biggest surprises of the whole event so far, taking down Astralis 2-0 to qualify for the Legends Stage and knock the Danish giants out.

We think Heroic will get the job done here, so we will be taking them at the rounds handicap of -3.5.

?Cloud9, who were known as Gambit and Players in the last few months, will begin a new era in CSGO at the Legends Stage of the PGL Major in Antwerp. They will enter on a three game win streak and the roster has won six of their last seven series over the past seven weeks. Cloud9 (as Players) finished second in the European RMR B behind Copenhagen Flames, but they finished undefeated at 3-0 to qualify straight into the Legends Stage.

Outsiders were just able to qualify for the PGL Major finishing in the last Challengers Stage qualifying spot in eighth, in the European RMR A. Outsiders were one of the four teams that were ranked inside the top 10 in the world that participated in the Challengers Stage, and they along with G2 and ENCE did what they had to do qualify for the Legends Stage, whilst finishing in the 3rd-5th position.

This could one of the best matchups in round one, with both CIS teams coming up against each other and both are ranked in the top 10 in the world. However, we will be taking the favourites, Cloud9, at the rounds handicap line of -2.5.

?Ninjas in Pyjamas finished third in the European RMR B to qualify straight into the Legends Stage of the PGL Major. Since adding Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin back in March of this year, the team has won 11 of their last 14 series finishing 3rd-4th at both of the ESL Pro League and European BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. The Ninjas will be looking for another solid performance at the PGL Major as their 5th-8th place finish at the PGL Major Stockholm last year was the best result the organisation has recorded at a Major event.

Vitality had to go through the Challengers Stage to qualify for the Legends Stage after they could only manage a sixth place finish in the European RMR A. Although they only managed sixth in the RMR, Vitality came out looking like a refreshed team as they only needed three series to go 3-0 and qualify in the top two from the Challengers Stage. Vitality have slipped outside of the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since June of 2021, so they will be a team on a mission in Antwerp.

This is another cracking game that we believe could go either way. Therefore, we will be taking the overs in the total rounds market.

?The top-ranked team in the world and the winner of both IEM Katowice 2022 and ESL Pro League 15 will kick off their PGL Major event against the team they beat to win ESL Pro League, ENCE. FaZe Clan haven’t been unbeatable, however; even though they have won the past two S-Tier events, they only finished third in the European RMR A to qualify for the Legends Stage. FaZe will have to be on their game because most of their losses in their most recent events have come from their opening three matches.

ENCE will begin the Legends Stage as the third ranked team in the world, after they finished in 3rd-5th in the Challengers Stage winning their qualifying series 2-1 over Bad News Eagles. Since losing to FaZe Clan in the grand final of the ESL Pro League, ENCE have only lost three of their last 12 series and they won the European BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. ENCE will be out for some early revenge against FaZe and they will want to keep up the winning form they will take out of the Challengers Stage.

We will be taking the overs in the total rounds market, where the line currently sits at 26.5.

?FURIA won the Americas RMR to qualify straight into the Legends Stage. FURIA has recorded some great results this year where they finished 3rd-4th at ESL Pro League 15 and they finished second in the NA BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. Now with FURIA currently sitting in seventh in the world rankings, they may still be a bit of a dark horse for a lot of people to go deep in Antwerp and they have definitely have the talent to do so.

Team Spirit snuck into the Challengers Stage by finishing eighth in the European RMR B in the last qualifying spot. Through their run in the Challengers Stage, Spirit took down Imperial, Eternal Fire and Astralis and took G2 to one overtime even though they lost to G2. Not many people expected Team Spirit to get through to the Legends Stage, but since they are playing some great Counter-Strike, they may surprise some more people in the Legends Stage as well.

FURIA will want to get off to a winning start, so we will taking the favourites at the rounds line.

?The qualification process for BIG has been one of the longest for any team at this Major, as they had to qualify for the European RMR through a Closed Qualifier that they won and then they had to go through the European RMR B where they finished second, qualifying them straight into the Legends Stage. The last S-Tier event that BIG participated in was the ESL Pro League 15 where they could only manage 13th-16th place, so this Major will be another step up from what they have been competing in.

Imperial finished third in the Americas RMR which gained them the qualification into the Challengers Stage. After they lost two of their first three series, Imperial had to win two in a row to make the Legends Stage and they did exactly that beating two of their Brazilian counterparts 9z and MiBR in back to back series.

Both of these teams will be entering their first or second S-Tier events for the year, so there this could be a very interesting best-of-one. We will taking the unders in the total rounds market, as this match could be a quick one either way.

?NaVi have lost their number one ranking in the world to FaZe over the last few months after they weren’t able to make a single grand final at either IEM Katowice or ESL Pro League 15, two events that FaZe went on to win, bumping them down to second in the world. This NaVi roster will be out to defend their PGL Major crown after they won in Stockholm last year, whilst also trying to regain the number one ranking in the world. Unfortunately for G2, they could be in the way of a very locked-in NaVi in their first round one matchup.

G2 were only able to finish fifth in the European RMR B to qualify for the Challengers Stage and many people didn’t know if they would make the Legends Stage, but they were nothing short of outstanding in their three series. Although they were pushed into one round of overtime against Spirit, they were still very impressive throughout the Challengers Stage. If this version of G2 continues to show up in the Legends Stage, they will be very hard to beat.

We will be taking the favourites at the -2.5 rounds handicap, currently $1.90 with GG Bet.

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Although 16 teams have to participate in the Legends Stage, eight already secured their spots through the regional rankings. To complete the list, 16 teams in the Challengers Stage have to fight for the remaining eight spots.

Team Vitality and G2 Esports have jumped off to an incredibly early start, winning their first three games to advance to the Legends stage. The first team to secure qualification was Vitality, after their 2-1 win over ENCE in the advancement match.

It was a pretty easy run for Vitality, as they did not face much resistance from their opponents. The 2021 BLAST Premier lower-bracket finalists made quick work of Complexity Gaming in their first game of the tournament.

The best-of-one match was played on Inferno, and Vitality torched Complexity, allowing only one kill. It ended 16-1 in favor of Vitality, having the fastest finish in the first round.

The European team continued to assert their dominance in the competition, beating Astralis 16-8 in Round 2. Although they played on a different map (Mirage), there was no slowing down Vitality.

Forze were the only team that managed to win a map against Vitality, but it was not enough to stop their momentum. After losing Nuke, the French team took Dust II and Mirage, thereby securing the no.9 spot in the Legends standings.

SEE ALSO: ESB’s Counter-Strike esports betting guide

G2 Esports wasted no time in securing their qualification next, after another impressive 3-0 run in the Challengers Stage. They had wins against Team Liquid and Team Spirit in the first two rounds before seeing off ENCE in the advancement game.

ENCE were not willing to go down easy, as they put up a good fight in the game. Despite their attempted comeback, G2 made sure to put the series to bed on Mirage.

With both teams qualifying for the Legends Stage, there are only six more slots left to fill. While there are 14 teams left in the Challengers Stage, only 12 have a shot at advancing to the next round.

Renegades and 9z team failed to win a single game in their three outings, making it impossible for them to secure a place in the next round. In fact, their participation in the competition has come to an end as they will not be featuring in the fourth and fifth rounds.

Team Vitality and G2 Esports have joined Heroic, BIG, Cloud9, Copenhagen Flames, FURIA Esports, Faze Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Natus Vincere in the Legends Stage. All 10 teams now await the final six teams before Legends action kicks off on May 14.

Everyone is fighting for a piece of the US$1 million prize pool, as well as circuit points for the 2022 BLAST World Final. The winner gets $500,000 of the prize fund and secures direct qualification to the World Final.

Note that Faze Clan, regardless of their performance in this tournament and other Pro Tour events, have already secured their spot at the World Final with their display in ESL Pro League Season 15. They defeated ENCE 3-1 in the grand final of that event to secure a BLAST World Final 2022 seed.

Nonetheless, there are seven slots left to be filled, and another participant will be revealed after the Antwerp Major is played to a conclusion on May 22. Action in the Challengers Stage will resume on May 11, and the final six teams will be known after the Round 5 matches on May 12.

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?The first best-of-one series for the Challengers Stage will have the no.11 ranked team in the world, Team Vitality, taking on the no.22 team in the world, Complexity.

Team Vitality have been underperforming throughout the start of 2022 after they added two new players to their roster in Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Emil “Magisk” Reif. Many people thought that this Vitality roster would send them up the world rankings and win them a lot more events. However, the roster has only been able to manage a 9th-12th at IEM Katowice and a 13th-16th at ESL Pro League 15 in their two S-Tier events they have participated in so far.

Complexity have also made roster changes since the turn of the year, where they changed their whole roster with five new players joining them back in February of this year. The results over the year so far have been mixed but when it comes to best-of-one series Complexity have shown they can be quite dangerous. The team has won their last five best-of-one series since February.

We are looking at the total rounds line of 26.5, where the over at $1.83 looks the play.

?Bad News Eagles and Eternal Fire recently met in November of 2021 where Eternal Fire won 2-1 in a best-of-three series. This series is the battle of the new up-and-coming rosters in European CS:GO esports scene.

Bad News Eagles begin the PGL Major winning seven of their last 10 series over the last two months, winning three of their last five best-of-one series. Bad News eagles did win the TWR Eastern European Masters (BLAST Premier Qualifier), they then went on to push Ninjas in Pyjamas to a 2-1 loss in the European Spring Showdown two weeks ago.

Eternal Fire have had a mixed run of results throughout 2022 where they were unable to qualify for the IEM Dallas 2022 through the second open qualifier but they did manage to beat Fnatic and OG to qualify for the Challengers Stage of this event. With some close losses to Vitality and Copenhagen Flames on their resume, it is easy to see why there are such high hopes for this team going forward.

This will be a very tight series, and the odds suggest that also with only 10c separating the two teams in the match betting. We are taking Bad News Eagles at the head-to-head price, purely based on the form they have brought into this event.

?The match between G2 Esports and Team Liquid will be the highest ranked teams to battle it out in the Challengers Stage after they both could only manage to finish 5th place in their respective RMRs.

G2 Esports have only played four series since their dismal 17th-20th place finish at ESL Pro League 15 back in the middle of March. Considering they only beat 71st ranked Sangal and 28th ranked Bad News Eagles as their two wins in the Swiss round two and three games, it doesn’t show that they have hit a whole lot of form. G2 will be one of the biggest watches for many in this PGL Major as they could be on the verge of a roster shake-up if they fail to impress here.

Team Liquid have made some steady progress and climbed up the rankings since February of this year when they added the three new players to their roster, Richard “shox” Papillon, Josh “oSee” Ohm and Nick “nitr0” Cannella. Team Liquid have climbed from 59th in February to now sit as the 13th ranked team in the world rankings. If Team Liquid continue their good run of form into the PGL Major they may surprise a lot of people and go very deep in Antwerp.

We will be taking the outsiders at the win betting market in this one to cause a bit of an early boil over. Team Liquid at $2.37 with GG Bet is a good bet at a very enticing price.

?Imperial and Team Spirit will provide one of the toughest matches we may see in round one, with both teams coming into the Challengers Stage on decent win streaks with three matches for Imperial and five matches for Team Spirit.

Imperial finished third in their PGL Major RMR and they won their IEM Dallas 2022 Closed Qualifier meaning that they have won six of their last eight series throughout those two qualifiers. Imperial have won four of their last five best-of-one series showing that they are a dangerous team in a best-of-one series against anyone. Imperial would have to be a big smokey to go deep into this PGL Major.

Team Spirit snuck through to the PGL Major Antwerp finishing in 8th position to make it to the PGL Major in Antwerp. Team Spirit have 50/50 record over their last six best-of-one series over the last two months so best-of-one series may not be there strong suit.

We will be taking Imperial in this one to win. The betting sites may have this one wrong here, so we are happy to take Imperial at the $1.83 head-to-head price.

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As you would expect at one of the biggest events of the year, the top 10 teams in the ESL world rankings will all participate in the Antwerp PGL Major. The top esports betting sites have made top three teams in the world the top three in the outright betting with FaZE Clan at $2.62, Natus Vincere at $3.00 and Cloud9 at $6.00. Our best bet for the PGL Major comes from those top three in the market.

BEST BET – FaZe Clan

The number one team in the world will enter the 2022 PGL Major Antwerp as the favourite in the tournament win market. For FaZe Clan, 2022 has been an incredible year already with the organisation taking home over $630,000 in prize money from the four events they have entered. FaZe Clan have been ranked in the top five in the world since the start of March this year, after their IEM Katowice win, and they have been the top-ranked team since April 11, after their ESL Pro League win.

Since FaZe Clan added Robin “ropz” Kool to their roster in January of 2022, they have looked like a new team. The 22-year-old has been massive for them so far, bringing two trophies to the organisation in the first four months since his signing, whilst also adding a MVP at ESL Pro League 15. He is currently averaging a 1.17 rating out of 2 from the 49 maps he has played, which sits at the top of the average ratings for FaZe.

FaZe Clan have shown they can start events slow, as they were off to scratchy starts at both IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League 15, but by the time the playoffs and sudden death series roll around, we see the best of this outstanding roster. So if FaZe do start slow or lose an early series, don’t be too worried, because they will make sure they are firing on all cylinders at the pointy end of this event.

Best Roughie – ENCE

ENCE will be the team on everyone’s mind when the 2022 PGL Major begins. They have played some really good CS:GO in their last two events, lifting their ranking to fourth in the world. ENCE have produced some outstanding results; they finished second in the ESL Pro League when losing to FaZe 3-1 in the final, and they won the EU BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, amassing $100,000 in prize money from just those two events.

ENCE’s highest-rated player and one of the real up-and-comers in the world is Lotan “Spinx” Giladi. “Spinx” is averaging a 1.17 out of 2 rating over the past three months for ENCE. The 21-year-old put the team on his back during the ESL Pro League, where he was involved in over 70% of the teams kills over their 24 maps. If ENCE are going to win the Antwerp PGL Major, then they will need “Spinx” to keep up his great form, but they will need more help from the rest of the roster. We believe that $17.00 in the outright betting at GG Bet is well overs for the form team in Europe.

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?Bad News Eagles, formerly Team BLINK, enter this match as $2.75 underdogs, which isn’t too surprising considering we have yet to see them compete at this level of play, nor have they beaten any notable opponents since forming the team in February. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the tools to deal with Entropiq.

We have to remember that this is a best-of-one (Bo1) match, meaning upsets will be common, especially in games like this one where the underdogs field a lot of firepower. Moreover, Entropiq are not exactly a top-tier team, even though they produced a few solid results at ESL Pro League earlier this month.

Individually, Entropiq are stronger, but they don’t deserve to be priced as $1.40 favourites. This is the same team that lost against ECSTATIC (1-2 twice) and SAW (1-2), so it’s fair to question why esports betting sites are pricing them as such big favourites. Entropiq are still the most likely victors, but the value is with Bad News Eagles.

?HEET and SINNERS Esports will clash on Thursday for the first time since Thunderpick Bitcoin Series 2022 in February, when HEET won (2-1) with 13-16 on Inferno, 28-26 on Vertigo, and 19-17 on Nuke. As the final score suggests, that match was extremely close and could have easily ended the other way.

SINNERS played well against HEET in their most recent meeting, and they were just a couple of rounds away from walking away from the series with a 2-0 sweep, so it doesn’t seem fair for the CS:GO betting sites to price them as $2.25 outsiders.

Admittedly, HEET have shown better form over their last five outings (5-0) than SINNERS (3-2), but they’ve faced much weaker opponents in that stretch. A bet on SINNERS to win is appealing, but we prefer overs (27.5) at even money.

?ENCE made the finals of ESL Pro League Season 15 just over a week ago and enter the European RMR as one of the hottest teams. However, while ENCE have achieved the unthinkable in Germany, we would take their success with a grain of salt.

With all due respect, ENCE had a very easy road to the finals, mainly because all of the top CS:GO teams underperformed. They still deserve recognition for their accomplishment, but we don’t believe ENCE are as good as they might seem.

Team Spirit have not been too active of late. They participated in the European RMR qualifiers in March, and before that they won Malta Vibes Knockout Series #6 – way back in February. Moreover, the Russians don’t have a single official match on their record over the last month, so they might be a bit rusty.

Still, we would not sleep on Spirit, who have a roster more than capable of going toe-to-toe with ENCE. We don’t expect to see Spirit upset ENCE, but we don’t expect a complete blowout either.

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With that result, they will be the first non-Brazilian South American to feature in the 2022 Major.

Earlier this year, the team lost two important pieces of their roster, one of who is a Brazilian. However, it seemed like things have panned out well for the team so far as they embark on a record-setting journey. The team is currently made up of two Argentines, two Uruguayans, and a Chilean.

Their journey to the 2022 Antwerp Major was not an easy one, as they started the American Regional Major Ranking rather poorly. They lost their first two games MIBR and Evil Geniuses before turning things around.

Despite their slow start, they went on a spree, winning their last three games of the Swiss Stage. In the 6th-8th place decider bracket, they exacted revenge against Evil Geniuses to advance to the next round.

After the first two maps were evenly split, 9z approached Overpass with a vengeance. Although it was a closely-contested battle, they eventually beat paiN 16-14.

Their qualification was guaranteed after a mauling of paiN, who was their only obstacle from reaching the Major. Impressive performances from Franco “dgt” Garcia, David “dav1d” Maldonado, and Luca “Luken” Nadotti made the difference for 9z.

Reverse sweep completed! @9zTeam is the final Americas team to qualify for #PGLMajor

@LuknCSGO
@dgtcsgo
@dav1dcs1
@maxgzez
@roxfps pic.twitter.com/vSlgTMFVEe

— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) April 15, 2022

The South American mix was determined to extend their winning streak to five series’ and they achieved that with a sweep. They had their way with paiN on Mirage, but it was a different story on Dust2.

PaiN was determined to not go down easy, forcing overtime in an attempt to steal a map. However, 9z maintained perfect composure and closed out the game 19-17. Although they were the heavy esports betting favorites on GGbet esport bookmaker with a moneyline odd of $1.14, their victory did not come easy.

Although 9z have qualified for Antwerp 2022, they had no share in the $50,000 prize pool. It was shared among the first four teams, with first-placed FURIA taking half of the pot.

The event was completed in four days, and teams will have some time to rest up and prepare for the Antwerp Major coming soon.

What teams made the cut for the PGL Antwerp Major 2022?

Earlier in the week, Imperial Esports secured their spot in the competition with a 2-1 series victory over Party Astronauts. They were the third team that qualified from the American RMR, behind FURIA and MIBR.

They have done it! @imperialesports are the third team to secure #PGLMajor Antwerp spot

@linfnx
@FalleNCS
@fer
@Boltz
@vini_csgo pic.twitter.com/K32wBDjk9e

— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) April 13, 2022

Imperial Esports, Complexity Gaming, and Team Liquid are the three other teams that made the cut, finishing ahead of 9z in chronological order.

Complexity, Liquid, and 9z will compete in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Contenders Stage, while Imperial and MIBR will compete in the Challengers stage. Added to their $25,000 share of the prize pool, FURIA will compete in the Legends Stage.

The tournament will kick off May 9, with 24 teams fighting for a piece of the $1,000,000 prize pool and points for the Pro Tour and BLAST Premier.

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