Heroic vs. NIP, Preview & Prediction - Free 4/8 CS:GO

The Scandinavian derby between Heroic and NIP will take place on Thursday when the rivals meet in the Play-In of the ESL Pro League Season 13. The winner of this duel will advance to the semi-finals, while the losing side will have to play in the quarter-finals against Complexity.

Heroic Team Stats and Latest Results

Heroic displayed dominant performances in the group stage of this tournament and recorded all five victories with a +38 round difference. The Danish team beat Renegades, BIG, FunPlus Phoenix, OG, and Complexity, finishing the phase at the top of the group with a maximum of 15 points. Before that, they secured a couple of wins over VOYVODA and Cloud9 to get a ticket for the DreamHack Masters Spring 2021. Heroic won 11 of the previous 15 matches.

Talking about the maps in the last three months, Heroic was invincible on Overpass (played four times) and was strong on Vertigo (83.3% win rate) and Nuke (80.0%), while they were below average on Train (40.0%). Heroic is playing with the same lineup since January 2021 and appeared on 35 maps with a record of 23 wins and 12 losses. The team members are cadiaN (1.15 rating), refresh (1.02), stavn (1.09), TeSeS (1.09), and sjuush (1.10).

NIP Team Stats and Latest Results

NIP also ended the group stage in 1st place in their Group B, but they didn’t have a perfect 5-0 record. Namely, the Swedish side lost the opening game at the ESL Pro League Season 13 to G2, but responded with wins over ENCE, FaZe, mousesports, and Vitality. NIP took part in the Pinnacle Cup 2021 but lost to HAVU, despite winning the opening map. NIP won eight of the last 14 games.

During the previous three months, NIP played well on Train (66.7%), Dust2 (60.0%), and Nuke (60.0%), while they failed to get a victory on Vertigo (played twice). NIP assembled its current squad in February this year and appeared on 31 maps with a record of 17 wins and 14 losses. The lineup consists of REZ (1.08), hampus (1.05), nawwk (0.99), Plopski (1.07), and ztr (0.92).

Heroic vs. NIP H2H Record

These rivals have met on three occasions so far, and Heroic leads the series 2-1. Heroic won the most recent encounter at the IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Europe in November 2020 after coming from behind.

Heroic vs. NIP Betting Preview

Including that latest H2H game, all three produced a maximum of three maps, and I expect to see more of the same on Thursday. These teams are in #12 and #13 places in the CS:GO rankings, respectively, so I think we’re going to have a tight duel that could go either way. That said, you can ignore the lower odds on Heroic and go with Over 2.5 maps.

The Pick: Over 2.5 Maps (-102 @GGBET)