forZe vs. Winstrike, Preview & Prediction - Free 2/8 CS:GO

Even though forZe is the better-ranked team in the CS:GO rankings, Winstrike is a favorite in this Best of 3 encounter when the rivals face each other in the Playoffs round 1 of the Snow Sweet Snow 1 on Monday. The winner of this clash will progress to the quarter-finals and meet FunPlus Phoenix, while the losing side will be eliminated.

forZe Team Stats and Latest Results

forZe opened 2021 with a couple of wins over Anonymo and HellRaisers at the DreamHack Open January 2021 Europe Closed Qualifier but lost the next two games to Spirit and Sprout. At this tournament, forZe beat Sinners, EC Kyiv, and EXTREMUM to make it to the playoffs. forZe won eight of the previous 15 matches.

During the last three months, forZe was above average only on Mirage (63.2% win rate), while they disappointed on Overpass (25.0%), Train (33.3%), and Dust2 (33.3%). forZe will be playing with a new lineup on Monday after they parted ways with facecrack (0.90 rating). At the moment, we don’t know the names of all five players that will face Winstrike, but we do know four of them: almazer (0.97), FL1T (1.14), xsepower (1.06), and Jerry (1.04).

Winstrike Team Stats and Latest Results

Winstrike qualified for this tournament thanks to victories over HellRaisers, Project X, OFFSET, Young Ninjas, and Tricked. They reached the playoffs after defeating PACT, EXTREMUM, and forZe, and now are looking for another win over compatriots forZe. Winstrike is 12 places behind forZe in the CS:GO rankings, but that didn’t stop them from beating them a few days ago and from getting a favorite tag in this one. Winstrike won 16 of the last 19 games.

In the previous three months, Winstrike was excellent on Mirage (75.0%) and Nuke (73.3%), while they were average only on Train. Since January this year, Winstrike is playing with the same squad that appeared on 29 maps with a record of 20 wins and nine losses. The lineup is made of NickelBack (1.10), Krad (1.08), Lack1 (1.10), El1an (1.27), and Forester (1.02).

forZe vs. Winstrike H2H Record

These rivals have met on one occasion before, and it was the aforementioned game earlier at this tournament when Winstrike secured a 2-0 victory.

forZe vs. Winstrike Betting Preview

I will ignore the fact that forZe is a higher-tanked team at the moment as I think that will change after this tournament. Winstrike has been red-hot lately and they already proved they are better than forZe, so I don’t think something will be different on Monday. Even though the odds could be higher, I am taking a win on Winstrike here.

The Pick: Winstrike to win (-185 @PINNACLE)