Blast Pro Series Moscow Odds & Preview: Natus Vincere Enter as +225 Favorites
- BLAST Pro Series Moscow begins on September 13th with the grand finals taking place on September 14th
- A CIS Play-in between Forze and AVANGAR will determine the final team taking part
- Zeus of Natus Vincere will retire from CS:GO following the tournament
Blast Pro Series Moscow gets underway on September 13th and comes on the heel of the StarLadder Berlin Major. AVANGAR is coming off of a grand finals appearance at StarLadder Berlin but still needs to qualify for the group stage in a CIS Play-in against Forze.
Update: Team Vitality has dropped out of Blast Pro Series Moscow as they continue their search for a fifth team member. There is no longer a CIS Play-in as both AVANGAR and Forze will qualify to replace Team Vitality.
Blast Pro Series Moscow Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Natus Vincere | +225 |
| ENCE | +300 |
| MiBR | +340 |
| Team Vitality | +400 |
| Ninjas In Pyjamas | +800 |
| CIS Qualifier | +1200 |
*Odds taken 09/10/19
Roster Swaps Entering Moscow
What makes this event so difficult to predict is the large amount of roster moves that happened just this week. For MiBR, they’ve added kNgV to replace coldzera who stepped down a couple months ago. At the StarLadder Berlin Major, they played with their coach zews which led to them failing to qualify for the Champions Stage.
Team Vitality is still without a fifth player following their benching of NBK a couple days after their loss to AVANGAR at the Berlin Major. They were the second ranked team heading into the tournament but they surprisingly dropped matches to DreamEaters and Syman Gaming in the Challengers Stage.
The team has yet to announce who their fifth player will be and they’re just a few days away from competing at BLAST. Not a good sign for the French team’s chances.
Even ENCE, who are just behind NaVi at +300 have a huge question mark as their inconsistency continues to be a problem. ENCE found themselves on the easy side of the bracket at StarLadder Berlin but they got rolled over by the Renegades to end their tournament short. They will take part in BLAST with SuNny replacing Alexeib in their starting lineup.
Zeus’ Last Stand
Natus Vincere also have a roster move on the horizon but it’ll come at the end of BPL Moscow. Zeus announced that he would retire after BLAST and this is NaVi’s opportunity to send him out on top. Although NaVi enter as the favorites, they too are coming off a disappointing StarLadder Major. In the Legends Stage they dropped best of one’s to G2 and mousesports before being eliminated by NRG 2-0 in the Champions Stage.
AVANGAR Has Value as the Underdog
The only team entering the tournament with momentum is AVANGAR. Sure they still have to defeat Forze in the CIS Play-In to qualify for BLAST, but AVANGAR put a lot of people on notice after they made it all the way to the grand finals at StarLadder. That includes a best of one victory over Team Liquid, and best of three wins over G2, Vitality and Renegades.
This could be the perfect time for AVANGAR to win an event as every other team comes in with troubles or roster shakeups. Their biggest challenge should be NaVi who have a lot to play for in their last event with Zeus. I expect it to be a grand finals between NaVi and AVANGAR, at which point I’ll take the team with better value.
Pick: CIS Qualifier – AVANGAR (+1200)
Growing up, Matthew was in love with sports. So, following his undergrad, it only made sense to dive head-first into the world of sports media. Rather than sticking to traditional sports, Matt found his way to eSports and gaming. He also produces, edits and serves as an analyst for SQUAD.
