GG.Bet New York Invitational Odds & Preview

• The GG.Bet New York Invitational takes place August 3-7
• Is AVANGAR the best bet to win in NY?
• See the value picks to claim the final ESL One New York spot

Eight teams will be battling it out in New York from August 3-7 for a chance to claim the final spot at ESL One New York by winning at the GG.Bet New York Invitational.

Of the eight teams participating, seven of them are invites and one of them came through a qualifier. The group stage will be double-elimination with the top two from each group of four advancing to the playoff stage of the New York Invitational.

Heading into the event, AVANGAR has the shortest odds to win, but there are certainly other teams that should be looked at to come out on top in the Big Apple.

GG.Bet New York Invitational

*Odds as of 02/08/19.

Two Teams to Keep an Eye on in NY

With these types of tournaments, it’s always hard picking a winner. Usually the teams are all relatively close in terms of skill and accomplishments. But in this case, the top two teams in the table are definitely worth a closer look.

Both AVANGAR and forZe come from the CIS region and both are teams that have found some success in 2019.

AVANGAR has been going through a bit of a rough patch recently, fielding SANJI as a stand-in over the past few months since Krizzen stepped down due to health issues. They have had a few pretty good showings despite the change, most notably winning Dreamhack Open Rio back in April.

That said, they haven’t managed to find a top-four placing in close to three months, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in AVANGAR this time around.

On the other hand, forZe are coming in to the GG.Bet New York Invitational hot after winning the CIS Minor to book their spot at the Major in Berlin in late August.

They have shown that they can hang with some of the better teams in Europe, and they have managed to win maps over some of the best teams in the world of Counterstrike, including the world’s number one team, Liquid.

This forZe squad should be seriously considered to win in NY.

OpTic and BIG Should be Considered

There are two other teams that I could see realistically being able to take the New York Invitational, and they are OpTic and BIG.

OpTic managed to find a win recently when they took down Ancient at Dreamhack Open Summer, and they have had reasonably strong showings since that W. They have the talent to win once again in New York.

Their problem is consistency. If they’re able to maintain their A-game throughout the entire qualifier, they should be a serious threat to win.

Please welcome back some familiar faces to the CS:GO roster!

? https://t.co/MUnFFTN9aU#GOBIG pic.twitter.com/MOHYO4yxJB

— BIG #GOBIGANDSTAYHOME (@BIGCLANgg) August 2, 2019

BIG, on the other hand, are probably the biggest wildcard out of the teams that will be in attendance, mainly due to their roster change one day before the tournament begins, with smooya and nex coming off the bench. They have said the changes will take be effective immediately, so they should be showing their new-old look team right out of the gate, though Legija will be standing in for nex until his health issues are resolved.

Both should be at least considered to take the last qualifying spot at the New York, but I would think that the CIS boys will keep their winning ways and roll through the New York Invitational.

Pick: forZe (+400)