Blast Pro Series Moscow 2019 Opening Odds Ahead of CIS Play-In: Natus Vincere Listed as Slight Favorite

• Blast Pro Series Moscow starts September 13
• Can Na’vi win one on their home soil?
• Other threats to take the title in Russia

The fifth event of the year on the Blast Pro Series Circuit is set to take place September 13-14 in Moscow, and will have six teams battling it out for the $125,000 prize for first place and ten BPS points. At Blast Pro Series events each team plays each other once in a best-of-one series during the round robin stage of the tournament and the two teams with the best records advance straight to the Grand Final.

Blast Pro Series Moscow

*All odds taken 07/30/19

There will be some of the worlds top teams in attendance at Blast Pro Series Moscow, and since the world’s number one team, Liquid, won’t be attending it will be the first time in a while that we see another team hoist a trophy.

Na’vi are listed as the favorites heading into the tournament on what is home soil for the majority of the roster. Are they truly the right pick to win in the fifth BPS event of the year? Or does the money lie elsewhere?

Short Trip for the Trophy?

Though they haven’t played in a few of the big events over recent months, Na’vi are still listed as the favorites heading into Blast Pro Series Moscow coming off of a semifinal exit at ESL One Cologne where they fell to the eventual winner, Liquid.

Despite swapping out Na’vi mainstay, Edward, in favor of Boombl4, they showed that they are still a team that should be considered in the upper echelon in the world of Counterstrike, and are most definitely a threat to make a run at any given tournament.

The only thing with Na’vi is that they rely too heavily on their superstar, the world’s number one player in 2018, s1mple. He is maybe the best Counterstrike player of all-time if we’re talking about pure skill and puts on highlight reel plays seemingly every game. He can carry his team when they aren’t playing up to par, which happens more often than not, but to carry them for an entire tournament is different than just a few matches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFRyOl1RSl0

If the other players of Na’vi can pick up the slack and not put the entire weight of the game on s1mple’s shoulders, then they stand a very good chance of coming home with the title in Moscow. They will most definitely have the crowd on their side, so they will just have to use that to their advantage at the fifth Blast Pro Series event of 2019.

Other Threats, Better Bets?

There are only two other teams that I could see being able to outright win at Blast Pro Series Moscow, and they are Vitality and ENCE. Both are teams that have shown they are more than capable of winning tournaments and competing with the best of the best in the world of Counterstrike on more than one occasion. I think that each team stands a very good chance of taking home the title in Russia.

Throwback to #Madrid when @ENCE took home the trophy 🏆 and were finding gold confetti in their hair weeks after…

Just over 6 weeks to wait for the next lift #BLASTProSeries #Moscow #EZ4ENCE pic.twitter.com/4YFbDAn1nc

— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 30, 2019

Vitality has won two premier events on the year at cs_summit 4 and ECS Season 7 Finals, and has also placed top four at the last two big events in Cologne and Chicago. They share a similar problem as Na’vi though, as they put too much weight on the shoulders of their superstar, ZywOo. You could argue that he is the best player in the world, right on par with s1mple, and some might say he’s even better. If the other members of Vitality are able to have decent impact then they stand a good chance of winning out in Moscow.

ENCE had a pretty rough time at ESL One Cologne in early July, but bounced back to reach the finals of IEM Chicago.

ENCE on the other hand is a team that is usually pretty well balanced in the sense of they don’t fully rely on a superstar to carry them to victory, but rather work as an efficient unit to get the job done.

They had a pretty rough time at ESL One Cologne in early July, but bounced back to reach the finals of IEM Chicago. They did get stomped pretty badly by Liquid, but they still showed good form until they got to the finals. They are definitely a serious threat to win at Blast Pro Series Moscow, and with the added value they should at least be considered.

Pick: Vitality (+275)