*Check back on this prediction before betting as my "advice" may change

COLOGNE is finally here! I am going to be doing these predictions in a different format as I think a overall consensus about the teams and their groups would benefit you guys a lot more than the normal format.

(Astralis, Dignitas, CLG, Gambit) (bo1)'s

The favorites in the opening group are obviously Astralis, who are going to be missing a key player of theirs: Kjaerbye. This 18-year-old is not allowed to be playing with his new team and must play under Dignitas as he played the qualification stages with them. As a result, Astralis have picked up the ex-SK player gla1ve who is by no means comparable to Kjaerbye in terms of fragging which may hurt Astralis, but he has improved his game a substantial amount over the past few years. By taking Kjaerbye out of the mix I can't see why Astralis would play Cobblestone as he was their fundamental player on that map. Overall though, Astralis has a towering 12-2 record against the three teams in Group A with a few exceptions being: CLG & Dignitas of whom are 3-11 against Astralis. Even with the loss of Kjaerbye I think that Gla1ve will be a competitor and at least get them out of Group A, I don't see that being a question.

CLG's lineup has been up in the air ever since they lost FugLy, and his replacement pita, CLG's prior coach and now in-game leader. The most alerting part about this is that even getting a five man roster occurred not too far from this tournament. So I would think that their preparation is not too extensive. Now CLG's crucial player for years was always jdm, and now that he's gone the kill pressure is put onto tarik, who has yet to show us a consistent "star" performance that CLG desperately needs. Shockingly CLG held up against Gambit in the group decider in Colombus, but I do not see CLG making it out without a miracle performance from koosta. A "miracle", very unlikely.

Dignitas is a bit of a wild card. They have been preparing for this tournament since their roster change in May and did not attend the "normal" tournaments that most other teams in this tournament did. Astralis will be ready for anything that Dignitas attempts to throw at them in their first matchup, but against CLG or Gambit I definitely give them the overdog but neither game is a guaranteed win by a long shot.

Gambit's recent performance has been concerning, making their way to COLOGNE by beating EnVy, OpTic, and G2. Their firepower was massively decreased when they lost wayLander. The only affair that this team needs to show in this tournament is raw skill. Their lineup meshes really well and they have tons of experience but that's not all you need to win against this tier of teams that they will be going up against.

(Na'Vi, FlipSid3, NiP, OpTic) (bo1)'s

NaVi's recent results have been pretty decent, winning their EL group and then placing second in three consecutive events. Na'Vi has been going through a few problems. First with GuardiaN not playing in his normal form, seized's Visa, and now flamie's illness. These performances are very impressive but they are not solid. They dropped a map each to Echo Fox and mouz during EL so they definitely have some flaws at the moment. Hopefully they have been preparing for this tournament and have at least acknowledged these dilemmas or else they won't go too far in this tournament with the preparation that most of the other teams have been getting. Na'Vi is 9-2 overall against FlipSid3 but the majority of the games are always close, FlipSid3 never lacks a good fight. On the other hand they have yet to play OpTic but I definitely favor Na'Vi in that matchup. Na'Vi are a lock to make the playoffs and end up with a good seed. They are the favorites of group B, and especially with the best-of-three lower bracket I don't see them getting knocked out here.

Ninjas in Pajamas is coming off of a tough break with multiple heart-breakers leaving them close to a few last place finishes. But despite the recent happenings, NiP has been pretty impressive this year so far. They are 4-1 against OpTic and 2-0 against FlipSid3 coming into Cologne. They have always been lucky with group draws, including this one. Even considering that their games against OpTic have been close and the improvement of FlipSid3 after their trade for wayLander they shouldn't face too many issues in the group stage. NiP will avoid a ton of possible contenders and may even get into the top eight, and likely proceed to play EnVy, VP, or Astralis for a semi-finals position. NiP could very possibly make it into at least the semi-finals and conceivably win it all.

Ever since OpTic picked up mixwell this team has been steadily improving and showing their worth with some close matches. They had a 14-16 loss against G2 and were up 14-13 in a match against NiP. They can definitely play in bo1's but I do not see them winning in a best-of-three decider. In this group stage they could place top 3, but anything higher will be difficult as 1&2 will most likely hold the positions of top 5 teams.

bondik for wayLander may have been the key for FlipSid3. They are finally showing up and gaining that contender mentality. For a period of time they were only considered as the "fillers" for tournaments, and showed nothing more. They mesh so well together, and they work so well under B1ad3's in-game leadership. They also just came off of a boot camp that started on July 1st in Germany so they will be prepared for the teams they will be facing in this group stage if it was productive. Na'Vi has always been the favorite in this matchup, but if a little bit of luck was given FlipSid3's way a bo1 upset is very do-able if they put up more than just a "fight".

(Liquid, EnVy, VP, mousesports) (bo1)'s

Right after the trade of koosta for jdm Liquid has proven their potential after a convincing show at the ECS Season 1 Finals. During this tournament they had s1mple as a stand-in, with him they managed to beat G2 in their opening match, played a close game against Luminosity, and ended losing a bo3 to the winner of the entire event, G2. The team has had around a week of boot camping after ECS before Pimp hops on the team. Liquid is a very strong team individually, and maybe the boot camp boosted their communication for a little something extra. This squad is definitely a contender in Group C and I do not think they should be underestimated. s1mple is definitely going to be showing off his raw skill and potential this tournament for future teams, combine this with Liquids wild card I can see them going into the playoffs if they are firing on all cylinders every day of the tournament.

mouz hasn't really been the "talk" like they were last year. They remain a team that has the potential but isn't consistent enough to convince people of their potential. Their roster could be up in the air very soon, maybe after this tournament depending on their performance. They do not play well when they are considered the "favorites". Although they will be playing VP in their opener of which they will definitely be considered the underdogs in a bo1.

VP has been having a "good" year, but it hasn't been up to their past standards. They are the most inconsistent top tier team there is at this moment of time, they could go out in groups, or could have an impressive run into the semi-finals, they are so hard to predict. TaZ on the other hand, has been playing extremely well, consistently. For 2016 VP has a record of 1-4 against mouz and have yet to play this new Liquid squad. Seemingly VP has been getting more spry the past few months and from what we know it seems like mouz is heading in the opposite direction they definitely have an oppurtunity to make it through groups.

2016 hasn't been too promising for the French men so far, but it seems that their are on the up and up ever since EL. After the signing of DEVIL for kio the team has had a rough time until now, over the last few games DEVIL has been stepping up and seems to be fitting into the top tier gameplay. They could finally be rebounding with KennyS's recent performances showing that his awping style is back and that again he is now the center of the team. EnVy is 1-4 against mouz this year, but with the new results from EnVy it is hard to determine the relevance of these statistics. Their main obstacle will be against the wild card, Liquid but once/if they get past them their bracket starts looking a little easier.

(SK, G2, Fnatic, FaZe) (bo1)'s

Luminosity, now known as SK are the defenders of Counter Strikes first $1,000,000 major. Since then SK has been seeming to be really full of themselves, and in turn were knocked out of group stages in Malmo. I could write a ramble about SK's resume but all I have to say is that it can't get much better than theirs. SK hasn't played FaZe since January and Fnatic since March. The only considerable recent statistics is from their matches against G2 (2-5). They are 0-2 on Overpass, 1-1 on both Train and d2, and 0-1 on cbble. These games have not been too promising, but I see SK stepping it up and out awping G2. They are both great teams but SK is more complete and have a lineup that meshes really well.

G2 is fresh off a victory at ECS Season 1 Finals of which top teams like VP and EnVy contended. shox will determine how their teams performance ends in this tournament. Whether he decides to show up individually, and his mid-round shot calling easily determines the outcome of a match. Shox and ScreaM must show up this event if they want to get anywhere past groups, and if they do I could easily see them in the semi-finals. After Ex6TenZ replacement the team has been showing monster results and has changed how their team plays completely. Unfortunately for them their group includes some major competitors and it would be hard to go with G2 to even make it out of groups.

Fnatic is very hard to make opinions on at the moment as their recent results are faded by Olofmeisters absence. They did not play "badly" without one of the best players in the world because of their close game against a on-point G2 team. Dispite what I said before they were thrown around on Overpass against G2 and lost 2-16, keep in mind G2 is considered the best at Overpass at the moment. I don't see Fnatic falling out in the opener, but it is always possible that they won't even make it out of the group stages alive. They are the all-time greats, and all-time greats always find a way to perform, and I believe that Fnatic will do so depending on how healthy Olofmeisters arm is going into this tournament.

FaZe is a roster full of money chasing individuals who chased the contracts. Ever since the trade of Maikelele for kio the team has seemed to be playing better than ever. The problem for them is that I don't see them winning a bo3. bo1, sure, that's possible, but I don't see them winning a bo3 against these teams. They are the opposite of NiP, they've got no luck this time.

Predictions:
A Astralis vs. Dignitas - My Odds: 75-25 - Advice: Small Dig
A Gambit vs. CLG - My Odds: 70-30 - Advice: Medium Gambit

B Na'Vi vs. FlipSid3 - My Odds: 65-35 - Advice: ICB FlipSid3
B NiP vs. OpTic - My Odds: 65-35 - Advice: Medium NiP

C Liquid vs. EnVy - My Odds: 55-45 - Advice: Medium Liquid
C VP vs. mouz - My Odds: 70-30 - Advice: Low mouz

D SK vs. G2 - My Odds: 70-30 - Advice: Low SK
D fnatic vs. FaZe - My Odds: 60-40 - Advice: Low FaZe

Predictions by: Profit Freak (Owner)

Cool, Cologne starts very very soon! I'm not gonna write much about every game because there are soo many. Hoping for some big money!


Two danish teams in the opening match! It looks like kjaerbye is not playing tomorrow, and that will make Astralis a bit weaker. Dignitas has not been playing that good recently but maybe they will step up now? This can go either way. But I think that Astralis experience in big tournaments will lead them to a win.

My odds = 60-40

My Risk = Medium

My bet = -

My Advice = Low+ Astralis




I don't even know why the odds are in favour of Gambit. Yea, they use to be good when needed but I don't think soo now. This should be a win for CLG.
The odds are very very good for a low bet on CLG

My Odds = 45-55

My Risk = Medium

My Bet = -

My Advice = Low on CLG



Nothing much to say about this match. Should be easy NaVi if they don't srew it up.

My odds = 70-30

My Risk = Low

My Bet = -

My Advice = Medium on NaVi



NiP use to tilt at their opening matches as we saw in Dreamhack against Dignitas when they lost 16-2 on Overpass. OpTic also won against Astralis (not in the same tournament), but around that time. Don't underestimate OpTic because they can surprise us. Pyth said that they have been practicing well, and I trust his words :)

My Odds = 65-35

My Risk = Low/Medium

My Bet = -

My Advice = Low/Medium on NiP



This match is a really 50-50 one. I would almost recommend to skip, but if you want to bet anyways, I would recommend to bet on EnVyUs

My Odds = 50-50

My Risk = High

My Bet = -

My Advice = Low EnVyUs


MORE COMING TOMORROW

No we are not inactive, there are just no worth while bets right now. Save your skins for Cologne!

Tomorrow is a big fat skip day. No matches worth betting on, if you want throw a few ICB's on underdogs but besides that I advise you not to bet anything higher. Cologne is in 3 days, save your skins for that. Sorry for the bad day today, it happens. Get ready to make some profit at Cologne.

*Remember we don't include ICB's in this as the point of them is to throw away your skins*

The correctly predicted matches are off of the "My Advice" section of each prediction for the day because sometimes the "My Bet" section is different for various reasons.

Matches Predicted: 2
Matches Predicted Correctly: 0
Win Percentage: 0%

Matches Predicted: 2
Matches Predicted Correctly: 1
Win Percentage: 50%

Overview:
Today was not a good day for us. The two matches we predicted today were terribly uncharacteristic of the overdogs. Spirit in both maps looked so strong early on but fell off later on, and VP having a terrible performance. They were playing like amateurs it was embarrassing. Taz was the only player that showed up in the finals, and everyone else was playing laly gag. Cologne is in 3 days, we will bring you tons of winnings. This is the only "bad" day that we have given you guys so far, but it is part of the betting business. If you would like to donate to us use the link below.

https://steamcommunity.com/tradeoffer/new/?partner=222980035&token=tEdWzoJQ