2018 IEM Chicago Betting Preview 3y2x5z

The 2018 IEM will host its first tournament in Chicago. They booked 2 venues in the span of 3 years. This year, however, the tournament will be played at the Wintrust Arena, and in 2019 and 2020 it will be moved to the United Center. 8e6w

2018 IEM CHICAGO WINNER ODDS: 6c3f4o

• Astralis – @ 2.3 odds
• Natus Vincere – @ 6 odds
• Liquid – @ 5 odds
• FaZe Clan – @ 8 odds
• MIBR – @ 6.5 odds
• Mousesports – @ 10 odds
• BIG – @ 23 odds
• NRG – @ 23 odds
• North – @ 15 odds
• Fnatic – @ 23 odds
• AVANGAR – @ 99 odds
• Renegades – @ 45 odds
• LDLC – @ 45 odds
• Luminosity Gaming – @ 30 odds
• eUnited  – @ 99 odds
• MVP PK  – @ 99 odds

As you can see from the list above, Astralis, Natus Vincere and Liquid are clear favorites in this tournament. However, the competition is going to be on very tough for these teams, as Intel Extreme Master managed to invite all of the best teams in the world at the moment.

2018 IEM Chicago Groups 1k4d5z

All of the first matches will be played in a best-of-1 format, and every match after that will be played in a best-of-3 format. In the end, the final match will be played in a best-of-5 series.

Winners of the first best-of-1 matches will go to the upper bracket, while the losers will have a chance to remain in the tournament in the lower bracket of the event.

Three teams in each group will advance to the playoffs.

GROUP A 2u4y

• Astralis
• FaZe Clan
• MIBR
• NRG
• North
• Renegades
• LDLC
• MVP PK

This is a pretty straight-forward group. I can not see anyone in this group win against Astralis. Furthermore, FaZe Clan has been solid as of late and I think that they have a chance to cement the 2nd spot in this group. In the end, everyone is probably expecting MIBR to be the third-ranked team in this group, but I do not think that they are capable of it. In my personal opinion, NRG has a chance in this group. They are coming off from a cs_summit 3 success, where Brehze was named as an MVP and NRG lifted the trophy. Furthermore, they are filled with talent and raw firepower and they can win versus anyone, especially if their main AWPer shows up.

GROUP B  6d2538

• Natus Vincere
• Liquid
• Mousesports
• BIG
• Fnatic
• AVANGAR
• Luminosity Gaming
• eUnited

This group will be a bloodbath. There is definitely going to be a battle between Natus Vincere and Liquid for that #1 spot in the group which leads directly to the semifinals. I feel like Natus Vincere is a bit stronger than Liquid, mainly because of how good s1mple and electronic duo has been lately. Zeus will definitely prepare something to stop twistzz and NAF from fragging. Everyone knows if Liquid gets going, there is no stopping him, especially Canadian talent, Twistzz.

There is going to be a huge fight for the third spot in group B. Mousesports made a roster change not so long ago, as they replaced Snax with their former player STYKO. STYKO can add a lot more to the Mousesports roster than Snax, mainly because he does not shy away from sacrificing himself in order for a team to win the round. He does not have to be a star player, he will help star players perform at their best, and I am sure we will see oskar back in his lethal form in this tournament. For me, Mousesports will grab the last spot and they will have their chance in the quarterfinals.

FIRST MATCH-UPS 5k6y4a

ASTRALIS – MVP PK 6y2155

Not much to clarify in this match. Astralis will dominate Asian roster. There are a couple of reasons why MVP PK stands no chance against Astralis. Mainly, they will lack firepower, and they barely play versus any tier 1 team, and we all know how easy Danish roster dominates other top contenders. Round handicap will fit great in this match-up.

ASTRALIS(-7.5) – 1.83 odds @ Betway

NORTH – NRG 3x2w4c

This is going to be a nail-biter. Both of these teams have been on a terror lately. NRG won cs_summit 3 not even a week ago, and they are definitely still fired up for this tournament. On the other hand, North did not participate in a LAN event for a while now. However, they will have a hard time versus North American team NRG. I feel like NRG will edge out North in this match-up, mainly because of how good they have been lately. Odds are also out of this world.

NRG TO WIN – 2.05 @ Betway

LDLC – FAZE CLAN 3q5m5z

French roster, LDLC managed to qualify for IEM Chicago 2018 through Betway shuffle. They managed to win the tournaments against 19 other teams. Furthermore, they have not faced a tier 1 team for a while now, as they managed to beat OpTic Gaming to qualify for this tournament. However, FaZe Clan is a no joke. They are a roster filled with raw firepower. All of their players are basically star players. On the other hand, they have been in a slump for a while now, and they are stepping up lately. Mainly, olofmeister and rain. Ever since Niko took the IGL role in the team, things are improving for the FaZe Clan. There is no way FaZe Clan can lose to LDLC, there is too big of a gap between these two teams, and odds are pretty solid.

FAZE CLAN TO WIN – 1.43 @ Betway

MIBR – RENEGADES 1b5q4n

This is a match-up between two teams who have been in a very bad form as of late. MIBR was eliminated in BLAST series a couple of days ago, as they were not able to win a single match in the tournament. This is a do or die moment for Brazilian based roster, and they have to step up if they don’t want to make any roster changes.

Renegades will participate in this tournament without their coach, kassad. His visa was not approved in time, and he will not be able to rally his troops in this tournament. Renegades will definitely have a chance in this match, especially because of the bad form MIBR found themselves in. Alongside MIBR form, Renegades is on a rise, as they won 4 out of 5 league matches. Round handicap has a great value in this match.

RENEGADES(+4.5) – 1.62 @ Betway

FNATIC – BIG 84i25

Swedish organization, Fnatic is in a terrible form this year. They are playing way under their possibilities. It seems like this team is ready for roster changes, simply because their best fraggers are not performing like they are able to. JW and Krimz have been really poor, and they are eager for a roster change. Big is coming off from a third-place finish at the cs_summit 3. They played good CS:GO but they fell short against some of the best teams in the tournament. At the moment, BIG is a much better team than Fnatic, and I can not see them losing this match.

BIG TO WIN – 1.63 @ Betway

NATUS VINCERE – EUNITED 4x315h

Just like Astralis match, there is not much to say about these two teams. Skill and strategy gap is huge, and there is no way that eUnited is able to present any type of a challenge to the Ukrainian side, Natus Vincere. This should be an easy handicap victory for Natus Vincere.

NATUS VINCERE(-4.5) – 1.54 @ Betway

LUMINOSITY GAMING – LIQUID 3a2p1j

Brazilian based organization managed to qualify for this tournament, while their opponents, Liquid got an invite from the hosts. Luminosity is based on a former Immortals roster, twin brother, HEN1 and LUCAS1, with the addition of yel. They are capable of beating anyone, but they mainly had to play lower tiered Brazilian teams, and it seems like they are falling off from radar this year. On the other hand, Liquid is always around the top, but they are barely on the top itself. They will always storm through the group stage, but they will struggle once they have to play the best teams in the scene. To conclude, this will probably be a training match for the North American organization.

LIQUID TO WIN – 1.32  @ Betway

MOUSESPORTS – AVANGAR 656m4f

German roster made a roster change not so long ago. They brought in their former player STYKO to the active roster and it will pay dividends. Their star player oskar needs someone to set up plays for him in order to perform at his best, and STYKO is capable of doing that. Mousesports will definitely climb the ladder by the end of this year, and they deserve a spot among the 5 best teams in the world, it is up to them to prove it.

AVANGAR is a Kazahstanian CS:GO organization who is trying their best to succeed in the industry. However, they have to play a lot of qualifiers in order to compete with the best. But, in their last LAN event, they ended up as the 3rd-4th team. EPICENTER 2018 was a very successful tournament for them, but realistically speaking, this is their peek. Mousesports will never want to end up as a 3rd-4th placed team in the event, they will always go for that #1 spot, and that is why Germans will win against AVANGAR.

MOUSESPORTS TO WIN – 1.41 @ Betway

CONCLUSION 5q4h6l

Intel Extreme Masters Chicago 2018 managed to attract a lot of high tier teams in the scene. Likes of Astralis, FaZe Clan, MIBR, Liquid, Natus Vincere and Mousesports are all taking part in this tournament as they will battle it out for a total prize pool of $250.000.

This is going to be a joy to watch, expect a lot of tight, thriller games, and get ready for 6 days filled with action.

Note: All odds displayed were at the time of writing