mousesports vs Team Liquid

ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018,

After the first round of best of three match-ups, Team Liquid and Team Mousesports have both made it through to the winners match of there group. The winner of this match will advance to the playoffs while the loser will face off against BIG for the 1-1 decider match for the other remaining playoff spot. If I'm being frank, both of these teams will make the playoffs, BIG does not stand a chance against whoever loses this game. I might write a tip on that game as well. But without a further introduction to what's at stake, let's dive in.

Mousesports :

With Mousesports currently hosting the stand-in of Legendary North American rifler N0thing, they aren't 100% where they could be in this event, however, I don't see the deterioration of the mentality of Mousesports even with a stand-in. Stand-ins typically allow the team to feel more relaxed and have more fun considering that they haven't practiced with the stand-in, anytime something works, the whole team is excited and ready for another round. N0thing is the perfect person for this Mousesports squad as a stand-in. He is charismatic, hyped up and is actually Ropz's favorite player of all time. Ropz being the lead Rifler in Mousesports, this event is especially special to him and I feel him wanting to prove himself more with his favorite player at his side. In the event so far, Ropz has a rating of 1.44.

Mousesports's map pool looks like this; Mirage is 17-9, Inferno is 12-7, Train is 10-6, Nuke is 7-4, Overpass is 3-3, Cache is 3-2, and Dust 2 is 2-2

Team Liquid :

Team Liquid is going to be the team that loses second place to Faze Clan in the grand finals of this event. They are a team that has developed there skillset with the addition of TACO. Every player of Team Liquid is playing how they should and doing their part in order for the entirety of the team to be successful. With the 2-0 win over BIG, Team Liquid showed much promise on their comeback potential, going down 5-10 each half of those two games, to then come back to win 16-14 on Cache and 16-11 on Inferno.

Team Liquid's map pool looks like this; Inferno is 14-7, Mirage is 13-7, Train is 6-7, Cache is 6-2, Nuke is 3-4, Overpass is 4-3 and Dust 2 is 3-2

Map Pick/Ban :

This is a best of three series, each team will ban one map, pick one map, and ban one more. The last map remaining will be the deciding map played if the series extends to it. Mousesports is going to have to take the fight from Team Liquid as they have to accommodate for the stand-in situation. Banning maps Inferno and Cache is the best idea. Team Liquid will ban out Nuke and Overpass. Leaving Mirage, Train, and Dust 2.

Final Thoughts:

Under normal circumstances, this is a complete 50/50 game and I would advise saving your money for a more clearly favored bet. However, I feel Mousesports has an edge to them in this event because of the X-factor that N0thing brings to each individual members of the team and how now Mousesports is playing with a more relaxed playstyle. They should have fun playing against a structured team like Liquid. With the odds being what they are, I suggest a lot bet on Mousesports to take it. My guess, Three maps will be needed to close out this one. Have fun!