Match Prediction: FaZe - BIG | CS2 (CS:GO)
ESL One Cologne 2018The last meeting between the collectives took place in September last year during the European qualifiers for EPICENTER 2017. The FaZe Clan turned out to be stronger, but we should not take into account this result as a lot of time has passed since then by standards of eSports and both teams have already made some changes in their rosters.
BIG is a strong German collective which hold the 25 position in the world rating. Within last month the team managed to win ESEA Season 27: Global Challenge and take the 5-6 position at ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018. At ESL One Cologne 2018, the roster managed to surprise both their opponents and viewers - BIG, on their way to the playoff, defeated such collectives as MiBR and North, and at the playoff they won over G2 eSports.
Meanwhile, FaZe Clan hold the second position in the list of the best teams on the modern professional stage despite the fact that they perform with a substitute. Within last several months, the collective managed to become a champion at Intel Extreme Masters XIII - Sydney and ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018, and also to get to three best at ESL Pro League Season 7 - Finals and Esports Championship Series Season 5 - Finals. During the current championship, GuardiaN and Co passed the group stage with no difficulty and thanks to the they got right to the semifinals.
Bookmakers think that FaZe Clan are clear favourites of the battle and set the coefficient of their win equal to 1.2, while BIG’s triumph is evaluated as 4.5. We also think that KarrigaN’s team are in an optimal shape and only Natus Vincere and Astralis will provide competition at the tournament to them, especially if we take into account that fact that FaZe Clan have an extra motivator - if the guys win this championship, they will get a money reward of $1,000,000 (Intel Grand Slam).