The second line of matches of the IEM Cologne 2021 group stage will be opened by Virtus.pro and BIG. According to bookmakers' estimates, this is one of the most equal matches. In principle, one can agree with this.
Recently, the bears have been on a total decline. You don't need to go far, let's take a performance at StarLadder CIS RMR 2021. Of course, you can shove it off into serious competition in the CIS, but VP had neither NaVi nor Gambit in the group.
BIG, too, being in a "suspended" state, already in this Cologne showed a willingness to win. Again, to write off the passage of the Germans to the group on a successful grid, but the winners are not judged.
Let's figure out what to expect from the confrontation between the CIS and Europe in the VP vs BIG match.
BIG shape
According to the tradition that has developed literally today, we begin the review of the match with the form of the team, which we have already observed. This is BIG.
Above, I have already recalled the "suspended" state of BIG, and in fact, this is true. All year BIG plays wherever possible, taking as many places as possible. The Germans do not have to play game practice and they are commended for that.
You can also praise them for their recent performance. She's pretty impressive.
BIG Recent Results
- Victory over mousesports with a score of 2-1
- Defeat FURIA 2-1
- Lose from SKADE with a score of 1-2
- Beat Sprout 16-8
- Defeat OG 2-0
If the victory in the first round against compatriots from Sprout raised no questions, then the victory over OG surprised me personally. I thought that OG would show a much better game at the tournament, but as we know after the fact, the Europeans were not ready for Cologne.
BIG cards
BIG is played wide.
The best map of the Germans is Dust II. With 27 games, 74% winrate
The worst team is Nuke. The Germans played 15 games there and have a win rate of 40%.
VP shape
Now we return to the "bears" that we hooked on in the announcement. The sixth team in the world today is not going through its best days.
We have already recalled VP's performance at StarLadder CIS RMR 2021, which turned out to be very revealing. Being in the group is clearly weaker, the "bears" won only 1 match and took the 9-10th place.
Before that VP took TOP-6 at IEM XVI - Summer, where the groups played well, but failed in the playoffs. In general, swing and swing again.
VP Recent Results
- Lose to Vitality 0-2
- Lose from 100PingGods with a score of 1-2
- Lose at Spirit 1-2
- Defeat K23 2-1
- Lost to Entropiq 2-0
Again, we can go back to stating the fact of VP stagnation. The results of past meetings are just visualizations.
VP cards
Since VP have been losing much more often than winning recently, the situation with card statistics is depressing.
The best VP card so far and the only one with a win rate above 50 is Inferno. VP played 13 maps there and have 63% of wins.
The worst card is Vertigo. With 5 matches, only 1 win.
At the same time, VP does not play Nuke and Vertigo.
Personal meeting history
Previously, the teams have played with each other more than once. Head-to-head statistics for the entire history of clubs in favor of BIG: 9 wins and 4 losses.
Match outcome
I think VP did a very thorough job and in Cologne they will show us the game they are capable of. Otherwise, the "bears" have very little chance.
Looking at the same card stats, BIGs are moving VP almost everywhere. Yes, you can add the level of the teams with which they both play, but the fact remains.
I will believe in VP's fundamental training prior to this championship. However, I'm still not sure if the bears were able to fix all their problems in such a short time.
Result: total +2.5.
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ESCWatch match
