Michael Lee returns with more Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports betting previews and predictions for three PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR matches. Today, he looks at Party Astronauts vs Isurus, Complexity vs Team oNe, and Evil Geniuses vs paiN Gaming, who will clash on Monday, April 11, in the first round of the PGL Major Antwerp NA qualifiers.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, April 11th
Party Astronauts vs Isurus
PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR
Party Astronauts enter PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR straight off their short and largely unsuccessful run through ESL Pro League Season 15, where they went 0-5 and were one of the four teams that finished the tournament without a single point.
Their only notable achievement of the tournament was taking a map away from Group C winners, Movistar Riders, which is nothing to write home about, but it's still something. Party Astronauts reached double digits in the remaining four series only once, against BIG on Dust 2 (10-16).
Isurus did not attend ESL Pro League but instead competed in Aorus League 2022 Season 1: Brazil, where they made it to the finals but lost against Case Esports (0-2). That run to the grand finals was also Isurus' only noteworthy achievement of the year besides the silver medal from RedZone PRO League 2022 Season 1 in January.
Isurus are by no means one of the top teams attending the North American RMR, but we wouldn't say that Party Astronauts are that much better. Just because they qualified for ESL Pro League doesn't mean that they're a superior team, so it's hard to explain why they are 1.36 favourites to win this match.
Party Astronauts had a chance to practice against some of the world's top teams, which should work in their favour, but we're getting 3.00 on Isurus, and that's way too high, especially for a BO1 match!
Complexity vs Team oNe
PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR
Like Party Astronauts, Complexity competed in ESL Pro League earlier this month, and even though they as well failed to qualify for the playoffs, Complexity still played well. They finished Group D in fifth place with a 1-4 record, which isn't excellent, but they had a few close series.
Complexity nearly won a map against Heroic (9-16, 14-16) and had chances to defeat Natus Vincere (13-16, 14-16) and Astralis (16-13, 10-16, 14-16). Complexity won only one match (against Evil Geniuses), but they proved that they could compete with some of the world's top CS:GO squads.
Team oNe did not travel to Germany and instead competed in Ace North American Masters: Spring 2022, where they reached the semi-finals and lost against paiN Gaming (0-2). That marked their third tournament top-four of the year, after a third-fourth-place finish at Fragadelphia 16 in March and a runner-up finish at Mythic Winter Cup 2022 #2 in February.
These two rosters last met in December, when Complexity (then Extra Salt) won with 16-13, 16-11, and with the improvement ex-Extra Salt core has shown since joining Complexity, I expect another one-sided match.
Complexity -4.5 Rounds
$1.80
Evil Geniuses vs paiN Gaming
PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR
Evil Geniuses and paiN Gaming will meet on Monday for the first time since PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR qualifiers on March 14, when Evil Geniuses won 16-14, 16-8, and according to the odds we're getting on this match, we should see a similar result.
Evil Geniuses enter American RMR fresh off their disappointing performance at ESL Pro League, where they did not win a single series. EG did get placed into a very tough group with Heroic, Astralis, Natus Vincere, AGO, and Complexity, so their lack of success isn't indicative of their lack of quality or that they will struggle in the American RMR.
But we can't ignore that EG clearly weaker than all teams in Group D and their only map win came against Complexity, who beat them 10-16, 11-16, 10-16.
PaiN Gaming are not one of the top teams in the region, but this is still a strong team relative to the opponents they'll face in this tournament. Their list of achievements in 2022 isn't too impressive, but paiN have not placed worse than third in all of their last five tournaments, and they won Ace North American Masters: Spring 2022 last week.
Last time out Evil Geniuses and paiN Gaming played a very close series, and I expect to see something similar on Monday. Over 26.5 maps at 1.85 is a bet I'm happy to take.
