Betting Guide CS:GO

IEM Beijing 2019 is part of the 14th season of Intel Extreme Masters. The event will take place in Beijing, China and will be the 4th IEM event in the region. The 1st one happened in the days of 1.6 back in 2009. IEM Beijing is the 2nd Intel Extreme Masters event for CS:GO in China. Compared to the previous event in Shanghai during 2018, there haven’t been many changes. The prize pool remains the same and so does the number of teams. The one big difference is the quality of competitors. IEM Beijing has 5 teams that are top 10 in the world, whereas Shanghai only had 1. With that said, expect to witness another high-level event from the 7th to the 10th of November.

IEM Beijing 2019 Schedule & Format

IEM Beijing is due to take place from the 7th – 10th of November. As in previous IEM tournaments, the teams will be split into two groups of 4. The best 2 teams out of each group will make it to the playoffs. As always, all the matches are going to be bo3’s. The only exception being the grand final which will incorporate a bo5.

IEM Beijing 2019 Prize Pool

Just like other Intel Extreme Masters event, the prize purse here consists of 250,000$. The one major difference including a direct invite to next years’ IEM Katowice if the team takes the first-place finish.

125,000$, IEM Katowice 2020 invite 50,000$ 25,000$ 25,000$ 8,500$ 8,500$ 4,000$ 4,000$

IEM Beijing 2019 Betting Prediction

Astralis

Astralis has had a decent run in the past two months. Another major title, sprinkled in with some top 4 finishes in various events. You could make the argument that Astralis have reinvigorated themselves and look to start a new era. For a brief moment, they where the number 1 team. But this triumph didn’t last too long. By skipping StarSeries, they allowed a new foe to rise to the top – Evil Geniuses. That should give the players the motivation they need to continue to grind. This period of theirs is still a far cry from their most dominant runs in 2018 but it’s really not as bad as the summer of 2019.

How are the odds looking for Astralis? As always, they have the highest percentage of succeeding in this event, based on their ranking. But if we’re considering IEM Beijing betting opportunities, it’s hard to consider Astralis as a de facto winner. Especially with a team like EG in the mix. Watch out how they perform at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen to get a better idea of their form.

Evil Geniuses

The players of Evil Geniuses had a roller-coaster of a month. At the end of September, they had an amazing win against Astralis, denying them a trophy in ESL New York and claiming it themselves. Right afterward they bombed out of Dreamhack Masters Malmo. Then in the offline environment of ESL Pro League, they’ve dropped maps to eUnited and complexity. People began doubting them and that performance in NY. But in StarSeries they have secured another grand final appearance and most importantly a title. This time with stiffer opposition in a tougher format.

The two clear favorite for IEM Beijing are undoubtedly Astralis and EG. Both are looking very solid an either can contest a grand final appearance. Depending on how the brackets are distributed, that should be our grand final. But before we get there, EG should have no issues defeating opponents in their group. A good opportunity for some IEM Beijing betting.

FaZe Clan

The FaZe roster was in need of some changes. These much needed changes came with the likes of broky and coldzera. That’s an upgrade in firepower, because NEO and Guardian haven’t been that great in their last months of FaZe. But that alone can’t really save this roster.

They are in need of a real IGL, not just a star who believes he can fit the role. For instance, at ESL One New York, the team didn’t have a good showing. Yes, it’s early to judge, but bombing out of the event must have not been part of their agenda. As a matter of fact, coldzera had one of his worst performances in the big apple. But there are some good pieces in this team. Olofmeister seems to have turned a corner and is performing much better individually. And the youngster broky has shown a lot of potential in his first couple of games.

FaZe is yet to show any significant signs of improvement. The all-out bo3 games might allow FaZe to secure a map win in some of the bo3’s, but they are not looking in good shape. The advice for IEM Beijing betting would be with map handicaps for FaZe. Nuke is still their wildcard, on which they punish their opponent’s maps and expect to see them have tight games on Train.

ENCE

ENCE wasn’t even supposed to compete in this event. Weeks before the event could begin, Liquid have pulled out due to a difficult schedule. That’s great news for ENCE. They have yet another opportunity to prove the squads worth. Because this could go down as one of the worst roster moves in the history of Counter-Strike. Considering this roster had no contention for the top, they achieved great things. Now it’s been one disappointing tournament another. Obviously, the players are aware of their current situation as allu addressed it on twitter.

Since Berlin major started 37 days ago: 8 days at home 29 days either traveling or at events. Lineup change inbetween. Going throught 6 maps in 8 pcw days. Its been quite a ride. Give us all the hate you can. We will prove you wrong. Peace 🙏 — Aleksi Jalli (@alluCSGO) October 2, 2019

FaZe and ENCE seems to be in the same boat. Changes after the big roster-mania haven’t given them any results. Maybe a whole month of practice from Dreamhack Masters Malmo to IEM Beijing has made a difference. But they are definitely no dark horse. IEM Beijing betting should be done with extreme caution.

Vitality

Speaking of roster moves, Vitality have made one themselves. As you may know, after the Berlin Major, Vitality traded NBK for shox. At first glance, that has to be a boost in firepower. But in reality, shox seems to occupy a similar fragging grade as NBK. Yes, you might have seen the clips on Reddit of shox and ZywOo winning amazing clutches. But alas, there is still a heavy load on ZywOo’s shoulders. Even though Vitality has already lost in StarSeries I-League Season 8, ZywOo is the highest-rated player with a 1.34 rating. In his team, the second-highest rating is with apex 0.97.

This Vitality roster had a great showing in Dreamhack Masters Malmo with a 2nd place finish. But after StarSeries i-League Season 8, it seemed like this team took a minor dip. With that said, they seem to be in a good position to leave their group. Considering in one group there has to be a Chinese team and FaZe or ENCE, Vitality should make it out without much difficulty. Apart from that, they could be a potential dark-horse for IEM Beijing betting.

Mousesports

Mousesports is a team untarnished by Septembers’ roster-mania. They’ve stuck through with this roster from March with a steady position in the top 10. They’ve kept their position by being good enough to qualify for the big events and the occasional finish in the playoffs. That’s about it. Pundits and analysts have been underwhelmed by their performance. With the talent in their roster, mousesports should be in the top 5 in the world. But from the recent StarSeries, you can notice that they lost numerous advantageous positions. Mistakes like that cost your rounds and karrigan’s leadership is yet to fix that issue.

Where does that put mousesports ahead of IEM Beijing? As we discussed earlier, mousesports is consistent at making the quarter-finals of big events. But nothing more than that. With the composition of teams in this event, they could be a potential dark horse like Vitality. If you’re willing on taking risks after mousesports make the playoffs, they could offer good great CS:GO Betting odds for IEM Beijing.

UPDATE: mousesports are no longer attending IEM Beijing due to visa issues and are being replaced by Renegades.

It‘s sad that we‘re not able to attend IEM Beijing due to visa issues. 😢 https://t.co/PBii9yiiI3 — mousesports (@mousesports) October 29, 2019

Tyloo and Vici

I think it’s fair to put both of these squads in a similar boat. They both pose a very aggressive style of Counter-Strike and in the past, they would get upsets against European or American opposition. But those days are long gone as nowadays the Chinese can hardly win a series against tougher opponents.

The one thing I would recommend is to look into potential handicap victories, especially on Tyloo’s or Vici’s map pick. That’s the only thing you should consider for IEM Beijing betting on one of these teams.