CS:GO IEM Sydney 2019 Opening Odds & Picks; Liquid Listed as Slight Favorite

• IEM Sydney gets underway April 30
• Can Liquid Finally close out a tournament?
• Should FaZe be seriously looked at to go back-to-back in Australia?

One of the greatest tournaments of the year, IEM Sydney, kicks off from Down Under on April 30th. Sixteen teams will battle it out for the opportunity to walk home with the $100,000 first-place prize and the first trophy of IEM Season XIV.

Heading into Sydney, Liquid sit as the favorite despite coming off a loss at Blast Pro Series Miami to FaZe. Are they the ones you should truly be looking at to win it all in Australia, or are there other teams on the card that stand a better chance of hoisting the trophy?

Odds to Win IEM Sydney

*Odds taken 04/22/19

Will Liquid Bounce Back After Another Second-Place Finish?

Liquid have been the world’s number-two team for the better part of a year, but they haven’t really managed to win anything of note. I can’t think of another team, in any sport, that manages to finish second so consistently. They put the early-90s Buffalo Bills to shame. It’s actually kind of incredible.

Liquid finished second at back-to-back events to start 2019 — Blast Pro Series Sao Paulo and Blast Pro Series Miami — and that’s coming off of a 2018 that saw them take home silver seven times.

Yes, seven.

So even though they are the best team in North America and undoubtedly the second-best team in the world, I will always have my reservations about them actually coming out on top of a tournament.

Liquid should, without a doubt, be looked at to win IEM Sydney, but just be careful with putting too much of an investment on them to finish first. They have a tendency to crumble when they are in a final, regardless of whom they’re playing or how well they’ve played throughout the entirety of a tournament.

Can FaZe Go Back-to-Back in Sydney?

FaZe hasn’t quite looked like the FaZe everyone got to know throughout 2017 and the first part of 2018 for quite some time now. After benching IGL Karrigan, their superstar NiKo took over calling the shots and it hasn’t really worked all that well. They picked up AdreN to fill out the roster, and weren’t really playing up to their usual standard until Blast Pro Series Miami, where they ended up beating Liquid in the Grand Finals.

Now this was only a few weeks ago so they might be able to  ride the momentum into IEM Sydney, but it’s going to take a lot for FaZe to win back-to-back IEM Sydney titles.

Where they finish in Aus will depend on who else shows up other than their superstar. We saw a monstrous performance in Miami out of NiKo, which is nothing new, but Rain also looked like his old self, which hasn’t been seen for a while, and there were moments where the other three members we’re just snapping as well.

They were showing shades of their former selves in Miami and illustrated why they’re still considered a superteam despite a rough past few months.

For them to come out on top Down Under, they are going to need that same level out of everyone, not just NiKo. It’s really a toss up which FaZe we will see in Sydney.

Relative Longshots That Can Win

There are three other teams that I think can manage to come out on top at IEM Sydney: NRG (+600), mousesports (+650), and Renegades (+650).

NRG are coming off a pretty recent roster change that saw Tarik replace Fugly, giving them an instant upgrade. They are a threat to make a run at any tournament they attend, and now that they have more experience playing together on LAN, they may just be able to find their first title with this new-look roster.

mousesports are a team that is more or less brand new. Only keeping ChrisJ and Ropz on the roster, the German organization went out and added Karrigan, woxic, and frozen. So far they have seemed to be a pretty good team, and though it would be a surprise for them to win at their first big event together, they have the talent to do so.

Renegades are the team I would take a harder look at here, playing in their own backyard. The Boys have been playing phenomenally in 2019, led by the insane level of play by jks. He has legitimately looked like one of the best players in the world. Maybe having the entire crowd cheer them on might be enough to push them to find their first big trophy ever.

Pick: Renegades (+650)

Odds to Reach the Finals of IEM Sydney

Odds taken 04/22/19.

Who Will Reach the Finals of IEM Sydney?

There is no doubt in my mind that the two teams that end up in the finals of IEM Sydney will be made up of any of the five teams that I mentioned earlier. It will be a combination of any of the two of Liquid, FaZe, NRG, mousesports, and Renegades.

My best bet is a Liquid/Renegades final, and like I said earlier, I expect Renegades to find their first big title on home soil.

Picks: Liquid (+180) / Renegades (+325)