SKADE vs. KOVA, Preview & Prediction - Free 5/24 CS:GO

SKADE is a massive favorite to defeat KOVA in the Swiss round 1 of the Spring Sweet Spring 2 on Monday. The Bulgarians are also one of the biggest favorites to make it to the playoffs and win the tournament.

SKADE Team Stats and Latest Results

One of the best-ranked teams at this tournament and one of only two top 20 sides, SKADE, didn’t need to go through the qualification stage as they received an invitation to join. SKADE was on a three-game winning run before losing to Young Ninjas at the BLAST Rising 2021, the loss that prevented them from getting one of the paid places. SKADE won 13 of the previous 17 matches.

Overpass (81.8% win rate) is SKADE’s most favorite map in the last three months, while they also played well on Inferno (77.4%), Train (72.7%), and Mirage (70.0%). On the other hand, SKADE failed to impress on Nuke (37.5%). Since February 2021, SKADE is playing with the same squad that appeared on 158 maps and recorded 112 wins and 46 losses. The lineup is made of SHiPZ (1.14 rating), dennyslaw (1.17), Duplicate (1.05), Rainwaker (1.10), and oxygen (1.04).

KOVA Team Stats and Latest Results

On the contrary, KOVA is one of the lowest-ranked teams at the Spring Sweet Spring 2, and therefore, massive underdogs in this match. The Finnish side needed even eight games to qualify for this tournament as they beat MASONIC (twice), hREDS, OFFSET, and Galaxy Racer. It would be surprising to see them reaching the playoffs here, but we will see how they’ll perform on Monday. KOVA won eight of the last 14 games.

In the previous three months, KOVA impressed on Nuke (84.6%), but they had a lot of trouble on Inferno (28.6%). KOVA assembled its current lineup in March this year and appeared on 60 maps with a record of 30 wins and 30 losses. The squad members are uli (1.09), pietola (0.91), Twixie (1.05), Spargo (1.03), and Airax (0.92).

SKADE vs. KOVA H2H Record

These teams have faced once so far, and SKADE won that clash at the Nine to Five 4 Dawn in September 2020.

SKADE vs. KOVA Betting Preview

I am backing SKADE to go deep at this tournament, so they shouldn’t have any problems defeating KOVA in the opener on Monday. I also think SKADE will need no more than three games to qualify for the playoffs, and that even stronger opponents than KOVA will not bring them down. I am going with SKADE to cover a -1.5 handicap.

The Pick: SKADE -1.5 Map Handicap (-147 @GGBET)