Welcome to all esports and Counter-Strike 2 fans! From July 23 to August 3, 2025, one of the biggest tournaments of the summer is taking place — IEM Cologne 2025. Tournament began with the Play-in stage, in which 16 teams are participating. Among the matches of the final day of this stage, we highlight the VP vs HEROIC clash, which promises to be dynamic. While the teams are preparing, we will share our CS2 betting tips and match previews.
How the bookies view it: HEROIC favorite
Before diving into the betting prediction for the Virtus.pro vs HEROIC match at IEM Cologne 2025, let’s take a look at the favorite. The teams are nearly equal in strength, but the bookmakers give a slight advantage to HEROIC, who easily defeated MIBR 2-0 in the previous round. However, VP should not be underestimated, as they are motivated and well-prepared.
Vp form. What result can be expected from Virtus.pro
Our CS2 betting tips for the VP vs. HEROIC matchup begin with analyzing Virtus.pro form.
Vp is a well-known team that plays in many qualifiers and tournaments. Since 2023, they have played in three TIR-A tournaments. These were BB Playlist.Urbanistic, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A, and BB Playlist.Freeddom. At two of BB's "home" championships, Vp made it to the top 8, but at the European RMR, things were even less happy - top 14.
Then Vp made a breakthrough by winning ESL Challenger Katowice 2023. The victory there allowed them to qualify for the ESL Pro League Season 18.
Among the victories, CCT Online Finals #2 is also worth mentioning. They defeated Team Spirit in the grand final and earned $100 000, which is quite good.
Vp roster: FL1T, fame, Perfecto, electronic, ICY.
Before ESL Pro League S18, VP attended several tournaments but failed to reach high placements. Their opening match in S18 was against Team Liquid, and they won a hard-fought Bo3 series 2-1. They then faced G2 Esports and lost, despite putting up a fight and taking a map. This loss sent them to the lower bracket, where they beat Eternal Fire and once again defeated Liquid to reach the playoffs. However, they were eliminated after a surprising loss to 9z in their first playoff match, finishing 16th overall.
Just before BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, VP played and won DreamHack Atlanta’s ESL Challenger, beating Apeks 2-0 in the final. In BLAST Premier Spring Groups, they beat BIG and Cloud9, then defeated BIG again in the group final to qualify for the Spring Final.
At IEM Katowice 2024, VP had a poor showing, finishing in the top 20. At the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen, they placed top 2 in the European RMR A and qualified for IEM Dallas 2024.
At the Copenhagen Major, VP started in the elimination stage. After an initial loss to Imperial, they beat paiN and Heroic to go 2-1, but then fell to Eternal Fire and G2 Esports, resulting in elimination.
At IEM China 2024, they reached the main stage but again lost to G2, finishing 6th. Following that, they took part in ESL Pro League S19 (top 8), IEM Dallas 2024 (top 12), and BB Dacha (top 6). In BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2024, VP finished top 3 in Group B, reaching the playoffs and ultimately finishing top 4 after losing to NaVi.
At the Esports World Cup (EWC), VP started strong, beating Complexity Gaming 2-0, then defeating Vitality 2-1 in playoffs before falling to G2 and finishing top 4.
In 2025, they haven’t played many big events yet, but have shown up at top-tier tournaments: IEM Katowice (top 6), PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 (top 11), BLAST Open Spring and PGL Bucharest (both top 8), IEM Melbourne (top 16), and PGL Astana (top 11). The experience is there, but the results are still inconsistent. However, at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, they cruised through Stage 2 with a clean 3-0 record, securing their spot in Stage 3.
At Stage 3, Virtus.pro went 2-3 and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 9th-11th place. For VP, IEM Cologne 2025 is a chance to prove themselves and show that they can perform well at the professional level.
HEROIC form. What result can be expected from HEROIC
We continue our CS2 betting picks with an analysis of HEROIC’s form. In the 2023 season, Heroic looked very solid. They consistently participated in top-tier tournaments and were a serious force on the scene.
HEROIC showed a series of strong performances. Among their best results were 2nd place at IEM Rio 2023, top 4 at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and IEM Dallas 2023. The team also won the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 and finished top 3 at the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023.
Heroic roster: nilo, LNZ, yxngstxr, gr1ks, tN1R.
At IEM Cologne 2023, HEROIC were among the main contenders for the title. They reached the playoffs but couldn’t get past the first round, losing to Astralis 0-2.
At the Gamers8 tournament, the team debuted against Falcons. Overall, the match ended as expected, although the French team put up a fight, especially on the first map (Mirage — 22:18 in favor of Heroic). The second map was won by Heroic 16:10.
In their previous match, Heroic faced GamerLegion. Despite GL not looking very threatening, they managed to "stress out" the Danes and even took a map, but still lost in the end.
Heroic ended their Gamers8 run with a match against ENCE. The Danish club once again couldn’t beat the Finns and left the major at the top-4 stage.
In the 2024 season, Heroic faced many challenges and didn’t start the year as well as the previous one. They still attended top tournaments, but the results were slightly worse: top 16 at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, top 8 at IEM Chengdu 2024, top 28 at ESL Pro League Season 9, top 6 at IEM Dallas 2024, and top 8 at YaLLa Compass 2024. The series of championship appearances continued: Heroic played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 (top 12), IEM Cologne 2024 (top 20), and BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024 (top 16). In October 2024, Heroic were close to winning a title, reaching the final of Elisa Masters Espoo 2024, but lost to ENCE in the grand final.
In the Elimination Stage at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, Heroic defeated BIG and FaZe, going 2-0. In the match for playoff qualification, Heroic lost to MongolZ, then to Spirit. However, they managed to reach the main stage of the tournament after defeating the reigning world champions — NaVi. But in their first playoff match, Heroic lost to G2, who knocked them out of the championship race.
The 2025 season began for HEROIC with qualifiers and several S-tier tournament appearances. At BLAST Bounty Spring 2025, they finished in the top 8. Then came IEM Katowice 2025, where the result was even worse — the team finished in the top 20.
HEROIC performed best this year at A-tier tournaments, winning CCT Season 2 Global Finals and MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2025.
At IEM Cologne 2025, HEROIC are not considered the favorites but are capable of reaching the Group Stage and putting up a strong fight.
Recent head to head
The teams have played each other 11 times, with HEROIC winning 5 and VP winning 6. It cannot be said that the matchup at IEM Cologne 2025 is a principled rivalry, but it does determine the fate of the teams in the tournament.
Which maps does VP pick and ban most often?
Let’s analyze both teams map statistics in 2025 to make smart CS2 tips.
Strong maps
- Inferno: high win percentage (66.7%) with 18 matches played.
- Dust2: high win percentage (55.0%) with 24 matches played.
- Overpass: stable win percentage (100.0%) with 1 matches played.
Average results
- Mirage: average winning percentage (35.3%) with 18 matches played.
Weak maps
- Anubis: low win percentage (33.3%) with 9 matches played.
- Train: low win percentage (28.6%) with 7 matches played.
Which maps does HEROIC pick and ban most often?
Strong maps
- Mirage: high win percentage (75.0%) with 20 matches played.
- Anubis: high win percentage (62.5%) with 16 matches played.
- Train: stable win percentage (60.0%) with 10 matches played.
Average results
- Nuke: average winning percentage (58.8%) with 17 matches played.
- Dust2: average winning percentage (58.3%) with 24 matches played.
Weak maps
- Ancient: low win percentage (47.8%) with 23 matches played.
- Overpass: low win percentage (00.0%) with 1 matches played.
Predicted result of the match between VP and HEROIC at IEM Cologne 2025
There is no clear favorite in the Virtus.pro vs HEROIC match at IEM Cologne 2025, but both teams will give their all. For them, this is a chance to rise in the rankings and establish themselves at the highest level of CS2. In our opinion, based on recent results, HEROIC have been showing better gameplay and have more chances to win, but VP are not a weak team either. Fans can expect a tense and exciting battle.
Betting prediction: HEROIC wins.
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Monte
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