We're back with more great esports betting tips from the online world of CS:GO and Dota2. We take a look at the key match ups for the day from ESL One Brimingham 2020 as well as Home Sweet Home Cup 5. Check out our esports betting tips for Thursday May 21st below.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, May 21st
TNC Predator vs BOOM Esports
ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: Southeast Asia
TNC Predator and BOOM Esports will meet for the third time this year during the opening day of the ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: Southeast Asia, where TNC will look to break the spell and defeat BOOM for the first time since March 2019. The first meeting of 2020 between BOOM and TNC came in February at StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3 Southeast Asia Qualifier, where BOOM came away with a narrow 2-1 win. They built on that success and defeated TNC for the second time back in April during BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia, where BOOM won 2-0. Although BOOM won this match twice before, it was not so much because BOOM are the stronger team, but rather because TNC are really struggling with their performances.
Since TNC won MDL Chengdu Major in November, their showings were nothing short of disastrous. Despite fielding one of the most stacked rosters in SEA Dota2 scene and boasting a very rich history of international success, TNC's recent performances look very similar to results a second-tier team would produce. The fact of the matter is that TNC have won 15 out of their last 38 games played and none came against a top-tier team, besides their 2-1 win against Fnatic at the DreamLeague Season 13. BOOM, on the other side, are not a team you would praise too much for their accomplishments, but their recent showings are far better than that of TNC.
On paper, TNC are the stronger side, but that does not justify these odds. Not only have TNC proven they can be very inconsistent with their performances, but they also already lost to BOOM just over a month ago. This match seems like it can go either way, which is why we will side with the underdogs to extend their H2H record to 3-0.
BOOM Esports to win
$2.30
Geek Fam vs Reality Rift
ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: Southeast Asia
Geek Fam recently won Cyber.bet Cup: Spring Series - SEA without losing a single match and will now look to grab another title at the ESL One Birmingham. Throughout the Cyber.bet Cup, Geek Fam defeated Cignal Ultra (three times), T1 and Team CR while dropping only one map, however, even that came against Cignal in the final fixture of the group stage. Before their dominant run through Cyber.bet Cup, Geek Fam also participated at BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia, where they made it to the lower bracket finals but lost to TNC Predator.
Reality Rift also participated at BTS Pro Series: Southeast Asia, but failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs, where they lost to BOOM Esports. They compensated their poor showings through BTS with a strong run towards the end of Hephaestus Cup, albeit failed to secure any notable placement, due to their poor streak in the early stages of the tournament. Overall Reality Rift have been all over the place with their performances, showing a mixture of shaky and impressive results - as we could have expected from an online format. On a more positive note, Reality Rift have never before lost to Geek Fam. Out of their three meetings, two ended in a stalemate, while the most recent one that happened at BTS in April ended with Reality Rift winning 2-1.
Geek Fam can be regarded as a slightly stronger team, but that does not justify them being priced at such low odds. Sure, they are have won Cyber.bet without losing a single match, but they did not face any strong opposition. Furthermore, Reality Rift have won 8 out of their last 10 matches and faced teams of similar quality. In all fairness, Reality Rift are not as bad as they are portrayed to be and should win at least one map.
Reality Rift +1.50 maps
$1.69
c0ntact vs Syman
Home Sweet Home Cup 5
C0ntact Gaming are coming into the match after a disappointing run through ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where they did not win a single match, even against much weaker sides such as Movistar Riders and GODSENT. Syman, on the other side, had a slightly better time at RtR, where they won three matches (against Espada, pro100 and Natus Vincere), but failed to defeat Hard Legion, Winstrike and Nemiga, who are not really strong teams, which is slightly concerning and indicates Syman's win over NaVi was nothing more than a fluke - which it was. Both Syman and c0ntact are entering this match with stand-in players. C0ntact are (still) playing with their coach, while it's yet unknown who will replace kreaz at Syman but considering he has been averaging 0.90 HLTV rating over the past three months, almost any other player will be an upgrade.
Although c0ntact failed to win a single match at RtR, they at least won a couple of maps against way stronger teams and overall looked much more consistent and solid compared to Syman, who have nothing to show for outside of their fluke win against NaVi. Bet on c0ntact to bounce back and start their Home Sweet Home campaign with a win.
