Na’Vi, EG and mousesports Are Preparing for EPICENTER 2019

EPICENTER 2019 is right around the corner. Scheduled to take place between December 17^th – 22^nd in Moscow, the tournament is the final S-Tier CS:GO event of the year. It also provides some superb esports betting chances for those whose entertainment interests revolve around betting on CS:GO.

Prizes

EPICENTER 2019 offers $500,000 in prizes, being one of the most generous esports tournaments of the season. The money will be split among the 8 participants in the following way:

• 1^st place: $250,000
• 2^nd place: $120,000
• 3^rd – 4^th place: $40,000
• 5^th – 6^th place: $20,000
• 7^th – 8^th place: $10,000

Competitive Format

EPICENTER 2019 takes place in two stages. For the first stage, the teams compete in two groups of four and play Bo3 matches in a double-elimination format. The winner of each group advances to the Semifinals. The 2^nd and 3^rd place teams advance to the Quarterfinals.

The Playoffs Stage is played in the single-elimination format and it includes Quarterfinals, Semifinals and a Grand Final.

Did you miss us? #EPICENTER CS:GO is returning to Moscow!

💰 $500,000
📅 December 17–22
🔥 First direct invites go to @natusvincere, @EvilGeniuses,@avangarkz and @TeamVitality

Tickets are available NOW! Find them and also more information on https://t.co/DGiSBvguIa#epicgg pic.twitter.com/b7nn7nxGnm

— EPICENTER | DPC & D2CL (@epicentergg) October 22, 2019

Participants

EPICENTER 2019 brings together 8 of the world’s best teams.

• Evil Geniuses
• Natus Vincere
• mousesports
• Team Vitality
• AVANGAR
• Heroic
• ForZe
• EHOME

The first four teams on this list are the big favorites. And since the groups have two of them on each side, they should all qualify for the Playoffs Stage. Not to mention the fact that three teams advance out of each group instead of two. So it’s even more obvious that these four cannot lose the qualification even if they tried.

Read also: Betway Announces New CS:GO Aim Challenge 2.0 On Twitter

Groups

These are the two groups:

Group A

• EHOME
• Heroic
• Natus Vincere
• Team Vitality

Group B

• AVANGAR
• Evil Geniuses
• forZe
• mousesports

In Group A, the big favorites are Vitality, Na’Vi and Heroic. EHOME is much weaker than all of these famous teams and will likely get eliminated after their first two games. Keep in mind that the groups are played in the double-elimination format, so the teams do get a second chance to escape elimination if they lose the first match.

In Group B, the situation is even more obvious than in Group A, simply because we have three world-class competitors and a tier two team (forZe). Evil Geniuses is sitting in the top 3 right now on hltv, mousesports is ranked 5^th and won the recent ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals, and AVANGAR is the finalist from the last Major.

So it’s pretty obvious that an underdog like forZe stands almost zero chances of beating any of these opponents. Especially given that all matches are Bo3. In a Bo1, everything’s possible. But in a Bo3 you really need to be better than your opponent if you want to succeed.

As for the favorites, I would put Na’Vi and mousesports in the Semifinals. Of course, Na’Vi will have a difficult match against Vitality and mousesports will most likely struggle against EG, but both teams have proved at recent events that they are now ready to take over the world and start to contest the likes of Astralis and Liquid for supremacy.

Image courtesy of Epic Esports Events