NiP take on SK Gaming in the semifinals of Intel Extreme Masters XII Oakland. Find here our semi final expert free CS:GO betting tip for Saturday, 18th November at 22:00 CET.
NiP Form
They are the campions from the previous edition of Intel Extreme Masters Oakland and a top 6 CS:GO team at the moment.
In March and June this year, NiP made two roster changes, releasing Jacob “pyth” Mourujarvi and Adam “friberg” Friberg. Their replacements were William “draken” Sundin (a formidable AWP player) and Fredrik “REZ” Sterner. Both of them got transferred from Epsilon eSports.
Unfortunately, NiP don’t seem to have found yet the right formula for success with this new roster. Their tournament wins in 2017 have been few and far between, while the disappointments have been many.
Still, in spite of this, NiP seem to be in great shape at Intel Extreme Masters XII Oakland. Maybe it’s a psychological effect caused by the fact that they won last year’s edition, or maybe the Swedes have actually figured out a system that works for them.
So far, NiP got 4 victories and just 1 defeat, managing to win group A and advance directly into the tournament’s semifinals. That one defeat however, came against SK Gaming. Which is one of the reasons why people are skeptical about their chances of winning this match.
SK Gaming Form
They’re a top 3 CS:GO team at the moment and the winners of many important tournaments this year. Eight of them in total, the latest being EPICENTER 2017, just a few weeks ago.
Lead by a formidable captain (Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo) and having a roster made up of superstars like Marcelo “coldzera” David, SK Gaming are expected to crush NiP in this semifinal and then go on to win the entire competition.
Keep in mind however that although the general level of enthusiasm is high for the Brazilians, NiP are competing in a very special type of tournament (one which they previously won) and are currently holding the highest round score of all competing teams: 77 wins and just 47 losses. By comparison, the next best team in this regard is Faze Clan (winners of group B), who are currently sitting on a 67-41 record.
By contrast, SK Gaming finished 3rd in group A, with a round score of 82-80. And while they did win their match against NiP, the score was actually very close: 16-13.
Recent Performances
Head to Head Record
With their current rosters, the two teams have only played against each other once. SK Gaming won the match (which was a Bo1) with a score of 16-13.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Overall, considering the two teams’ performances during the Intel Extreme Masters XII Oakland tournament and prior to it, SK Gaming are a bit more likely to win this match, but they’re not at all clear favorites as most people want to think. Betway and Betspawn put the odds at 2.95 – 1.35 and 3.10 – 1.31 respectively, both in SK’s favor. However, because of the reasons mentioned previously, these odds might not reflect reality very well.
A bet on either team could be quite risky, but a bet on a maximum duration match (3 maps) actually makes a lot of sense, as the chances of either team winning it without dropping a single map are very slim.
Top Betting Tip: NiP vs SK Gaming
My top betting tip for this match is a 2-1 victory for either of these teams. Tournament form statistics favor NiP, while overall statistics favor SK Gaming. I think that both teams are strong enough to win at least one map, but it’s very difficult to say who will win the entire series.