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Max Kulish's' DraftKings. DFS lineup picks for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on 2/18/21. He analyzes CS:GO slates and top targets for eSports DFS contests.
Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another edition of my Counter Strike: Global Offensive DFS picks. Today we will be focusing on Group A at the IEM Katowice. Katowice is arguably the premier event of the CS:GO calendar, major or not, so we can expect some crazy games this weekend. As always, I will do my best to give you the stats and info you need to build the best lineups possible for your GPP and cash game CS:GO contests on DraftKings.
Today I'll be bringing you my Counter Strike: Global Offensive DFS lineup picks, analysis, and advice for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Friday, February 19th, 2020 at 9:20 AM.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Maxadelphia as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions. Good luck RotoBallers!
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IEM Katowice 2021
Best of 3 Series
- Evil Genuises vs Astralis
- mousesports vs Gambit
- Team Spirit vs Heroic
- G2 vs BIG
Captain Plays:
sh1ro might not have been a name you expected to see here, but here we are. Since Gambit plays in the CIS region they haven't been as visible as most other teams during the course of the online era, so for those unaware; sh1ro is Gambit's main AWPer (sniper) which is something we always love to see when drafting captains (no coincidence the 3 highest-priced players on the slate are all AWP players). Over the last 3 months, he leads Gambit in rating (1.24) and posts a seemingly impossible .5 deaths per round. The main reason though I like sh1ro today is the matchup mousesports presents. Mouse just went through a roster change and changed their IGL (in-game leader) less than 10 days ago, and while they haven't been bad per se, there's clearly a lack of fluidity in their play currently; which is perfect for a sniper to take advantage of. One last endorsement for sh1ro: mouse's permaban is typically Gambit's first pick, so if the statistics hold true Gambit will likely select Vertigo as their map choice. Sh1ro has a 1.26 rating on Vertigo in the past 3 months, and in that same timeframe, mouse has gone 0-5 in their games on Vertigo.
syrsoN is another AWPer that has the stars aligning for him on Friday. For starters, syrsoN boasts a 1.17 career rating against G2 across 16 maps, and over the last 3 months, he leads his team in rating (1.16). One consistent we see in BIG vs G2 matches, is Dust 2 being played or picked. Both teams typically first pick it, so we can assume that the worst-case scenario would be Dust 2 being the decider 3rd map. In the 5 times BIG and G2 have played since summer 2020; Dust 2 was played in all 4 instances, with syrsoN going a combined +33 K/D in those 5 maps. However, despite all of that info, the biggest reason to play syrsoN is his AWP matchup against G2's kennyS. kennyS finds himself in a rough patch of form with a 1.00 rating over the last 3 months, and his last 2 performances include: 1-2 series loss vs Team Sprirt with a -15 overall K/D, and the match before saw kennyS have his worst EVER individual map - a 3-20 performance on Nuke against EG.
Other captain plays: Device, stavn, degster, G2 NiKo, ropz
Value Plays:
Ropz has continued to be one of the world's best players in the early stages of 2021, even with his team going through major changes. 2020's #7 overall player has come out firing to start 2021, posting a 1.32 rating in the IEM Katowice play-in event, .14 higher than his next closest teammate. All of mouseports had a bad series against Astralis, and that has really affected their pricing. If you need to save $400 you can go down to ropz's teammate, frozen, but I think I'm going to try and find the difference to get the best player on either team in my lineup at a discounted price.
TeSeS has been a model of consistency in terms of performance recently. Over the past 3 months, he is second on Heroic in most major categories behind Stavn. However, since TeSeS plays entry for Heroic, he isn't schemed to be put in advantageous positions around the map. 4 of his last 5 matches have seen him post between 51.5 - 53.5 DK points, and 4 of those 5 matches were against teams ranked higher in the world standings than Team Spirit. With all of the high priced AWPers on the slate, you'll need to free up salary somewhere, and TeSeS provides good bang for his price.
Other value plays: Hobbit, frozen, XANTARES, cadiaN, Xyp9x, Gla1ve
Top Stacks/ Team Picks:
Astralis is the obvious team to target in their match against EG. Astralis looked dominant against Mouseports in their first match at Katowice, and with their track record as favorites, it feels simply unwise to expect anything other than an Astralis victory. It is certainly worth noting, however, that EG has fared better against Astralis than most other teams, dating alllllll the way back to this lineup's very first event under the EG banner; IEM New York 2019, which saw EG beat Astralis in the grand finals 3-1. Obviously that finals victory was a long time ago but looking through their history playing each other, EG actually holds a 7-5 maps advantage over Astralis since becoming EG.
Other teams/stacks: Heroic, BIG
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More eSports DFS Analysis
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Readers of RotoBaller's eSports DFS articles have been winning money on DraftKings and FanDuel regularly. Some of them are winning contests daily and bringing in some serious cheddar. Check one out below and lots more here!
Did you read a RotoBaller article and win too? Send us your screenshots on Twitter @RotoBaller and we'll add it to our winners Hall Of Fame!
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