Michael Lee is back with his betting tips and predictions for three Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches in Copenhagen Flames vs Eternal Fire, Heroic vs K23, and Fnatic vs Apeks, who will clash in the Pinnacle Winter Series #1 quarter-finals on Tuesday, February 1.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, February 1st
Copenhagen Flames vs Eternal Fire
Pinnacle Winter Series #1
Eternal Fire enter this match on a five-game winning streak with wins against BLINK (2-1), LookingForOrg (2-0), 1WIN (2-1), Tricked Esports (2-0), and Dignitas, who they beat 2-1 on Monday. However, while Eternal Fire have been very efficient in their recent fixtures, things will get much more challenging for them on Tuesday, when they meet Copenhagen Flames.
Copenhagen Flames are 1-1 since the start of the year, with one win against Young Ninjas (2-0) and a 0-2 defeat against forZe, who defeated them on Tuesday in the second round of Malta Vibes Knockout Series #5. But even though the Flames have not looked very good recently, this is still the former top-10 team in the world.
Seeing Copenhagen Flames as the underdogs for this match is somewhat confusing, but it does make sense since they have played only two games since December, and they did not look very good in either of them. Still, the Danes are a much better and more well-rounded team than Eternal Fire, who solely rely on İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş and Özgür "woxic" Eker to do all the work.
And let's not forget that even though Eternal Fire are on a five-game winning streak, they have not beaten a single good team, so their record is a bit misleading. Copenhagen Flames to win at 2.00 is a bet I can't pass on.
Heroic vs K23
Pinnacle Winter Series #1
K23 stunned Sprout in the first round of the Pinnacle Winter Series #1 playoffs to pick up their seventh win across the last nine games. Since K23 crashed out of Funspark ULTI 2021 just over a week ago, they won against Ungent, GamerLegion, ECSTATIC, SKADE, SINNERS, MOUZ NXT, and Sprout.
They struggled a bit against HEET (0-2) on Thursday, but K23 could have won that match, so overall, they look to be in great form. But K23 will get put to a proper test on Tuesday, when they meet with the current no.5 team in the world, Heroic.
Priced at 1.33 to defeat K23, the Danes are expected to breeze into the semi-finals, but I don't believe they will be as dominant as the bookies want us to believe. There is no denying that Heroic are a class above K23, but they hadn't played a single official match since December 15, when they crashed out of BLAST Premier: World Final 2021, meaning Heroic have been out of action for a month and a half.
The fact that Heroic haven't played an official match for so long makes me very concerned about whether they will play as well as we know they can. If K23 and Heroic met midway through the season, you would bet on Heroic without any questions, but I don't believe this is the right call here.
Ring rust is a factor and is very noticeable in these top-tier teams. So while I still believe Heroic should win, K23 should have an excellent chance to win at least one map. Take the outsiders with a +1.5 map handicap!
Fnatic vs Apeks
Pinnacle Winter Series #1
Fnatic have played only two games in 2022, and they lost both; against Astralis (1-2) and BIG (1-2), which isn't very convincing, but I wouldn't criticise them too much for losing those bouts. They might have lost them, but at least Fnatic had some warm-up matches after a nearly two-month break, which should help them perform better on Tuesday when they take on Apeks.
Apeks are riding a six-game winning streak which may sound very good, but if we look at the quality of the teams they have won against, their record becomes far less spectacular. Over the six games, Apeks won only against One Tap, GMT, BLINK, SKADE, and Endpoint.
So while Apeks might be in great form, it remains to be seen whether that will carry them over an individually much more talented team such as Fnatic. Even though Fnatic has not achieved much with their new roster yet, this is easily one of the top-10 teams in the world; Apeks should be happy if they break inside the top-30.
It may sound risky taking Fnatic to win 2-0, but realistically, Fnatic can only lose if they shoot themselves in the foot.
