Our tipster Michael Lee returns with his esports betting previews for the first round of Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023. Today he looks at FaZe Clan vs Evil Geniuses, Cloud9 vs Grayhound, and Team Liquid vs Astralis, who will clash on Monday, May 29.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, May 29th 2023
FaZe Clan vs Evil Geniuses
IEM Dallas 2023
FaZe Clan and Evil Geniuses will meet in round one of IEM Dallas 2023 Group B in what should end in a very comfortable victory for FaZe Clan, despite their poor performance at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023.
At the Major, FaZe Clan failed to live up to the expectations and exited the tournament in the first round of the playoffs when they lost against Heroic. It was another tournament in which FaZe Clan failed to produce a deep run, but this is still one of the world's strongest CS:GO squads.
Earlier this year, FaZe Clan won ESL Pro League Season 17 and the Intel Grand Slam, which is a good indication of how good they can be. Although we haven't seen FaZe play at the same level for months, I have no reason to doubt their chances to defeat Evil Geniuses.
Evil Geniuses are nowadays a third-tier team, and that's generous. They've not only failed to win a single tournament in 2023 but EG have even struggled in lesser competitions, including ESEA Cash Cup, where they compete against semi-pro teams.
This is a best-of-one series, so there is a chance where Evil Geniuses perform better than expected, but I can confidently say that FaZe will defeat EG and not let them reach double digits.
Under 25.5 rounds
$2 (2 Units)
Cloud9 vs Grayhound
IEM Dallas 2023
Cloud9 are one of the favourites to win IEM Dallas 2023, whereas Grayhound are priced at 101.0 to claim the trophy. The outright betting odds alone should be a good indication of this match's balance of strength.
Cloud9 won Brazy Party at the start of the month and reached the semifinals of IEM Rio 2023 at the end of April. Even if we look further back, Cloud9 have achieved a lot this season – their only two poor tournament performances happened at IEM Katowice 2023in February (13-16th) and at the European RMR, where they missed out on their chance to qualify for the Major.
Grayhound qualified for the Major via the Asia-Pacific RMR, but they didn't accomplish much and exited the tournament in 17th-19thplace. In their previous two S-Tier appearances – ESL Pro League S17 and IEM Katowice 2023, the Australian squad suffered a similar fate and crashed out in 21st-28th and 21st-24th place, respectively.
I was tempted to bet on Grayhound with a +6.5 round handicap because this is a BO1 series, and because Cloud9 aren't very consistent. But Cloud9 are way too strong for me to believe Grayhound have a realistic chance to keep up.
Cloud9 -6.5 rounds
$1.90 (1 Unit)
Team Liquid vs Astralis
IEM Dallas 2023
Team Liquid made the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 playoffs, but exited the event in the quarterfinals following a 0-2 loss against Apeks. Even though reaching the playoffs at a Major is no small feat, Team Liquid haven't had to show much to reach that point.
In the Challenger Stage, Liquid defeated Fluxo, Complexity, and Grayhound. Then it made it past the struggling Natus Vincere, 9INE, and Into the breach, so it's more than fair to say that Liquid's road to the Paris Major playoffs was easy and not too impressive.
Astralis didn't even make the Major and have struggled to perform this season. Their success was limited to only lesser events, including Brazy Party (second) and CCT South Europe Series #4 (first), so even though Astralis have the brand name, their performances in 2023 are just not it.
Still, we're getting a very similar offer on the teams for this match, which is fair. Astralis have been improving, whereas Team Liquid haven't produced anything remarkable and if we compare the teams, it's difficult to pick a favourite.
I expect a very close match, so I'll gladly take over 26.5 rounds at 1.83.
Over 26.5 rounds
$1.83 (1 Unit)
