Vitality vs. Evil Geniuses, Preview & Prediction - Free 2/9 CS:GO

Vitality is a massive favorite in this Best of 3 encounter when they take on Evil Geniuses in the Group B lower bracket final of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021 on Tuesday. The winning side will progress to the Consolidation final and meet a loser of the duel between Complexity and G2, while the losing team will be eliminated.

Vitality Team Stats and Latest Results

Vitality lost the final game of 2020 as they fell short to Astralis at the IEM Global Challenge 2020 despite winning the opening map. They opened 2021 with a couple of victories over Complexity and Liquid at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020 but then suffered two defeats to Astralis and Natus Vincere. The French team recorded its third consecutive loss as Complexity destroyed them 2-0 in the opener at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021. Vitality won 11 of the previous 17 matches.

In the last three months, Vitality was strong on Inferno (77.8% win rate) and played well on Overpass (66.7%), while they were average on Dust2. Vitality assembled its current lineup in November 2020 and appeared on 20 maps with a record of 12 wins and eight losses. The team members are shox (1.12 rating), RpK (1.04), apex (1.01), ZywOo (1.31), and misutaaa (1.03).

Evil Geniuses Team Stats and Latest Results

Evil Geniuses are also in bad form of three straight defeats and it would be surprising to see them in the top 20 of the CS:GO rankings after this tournament. Before the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021, Evil Geniuses took part at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020 and DreamHack Open January 2021 Europe, but without much success. Namely, they lost four and won two games at both tournaments in total. Evil Geniuses lost six of the last ten games.

When it comes to the maps in the previous three months, Evil Geniuses won the only appearance on Mirage and Train, and were above average on Nuke (57.1%), while they failed to get a victory on Vertigo (played twice) and Overpass (played twice). Evil Geniuses are also playing with the same squad since November last year and appeared on 24 maps with a record of 11 wins and 13 losses. The lineup consists of Stanislaw (0.96), tarik (1.04), Brehze (1.04), Ethan (1.07), and CeRq (0.96).

Vitality vs. Evil Geniuses H2H Record

These rivals have met on five occasions so far, and Vitality is leading the all-time series 4-1. Evil Geniuses (then NRG) won the first-ever H2H duel, but Vitality won the next four, including the most recent one at the ESL One Cologne 2019 in July 2019.

Vitality vs. Evil Geniuses Betting Preview

Even though I am backing Vitality to get a win here because they have a better team at the moment, I am not sure they will have an easy job on Tuesday. That being said, I wouldn’t bet my money on the favorites to get a 2-0 victory due to bad form of late, but I am pretty sure they will end up with a win. Don’t risk with handicaps and opt for a straight win on Vitality instead.

The Pick: Vitality to win (-244 @PINNACLE)