The Series 4 finals of CSGO's ECS Season 7 take place between AVANGAR and Ninjas In Pyjamas and the European affair looks a stylish and sophisticated one. We’ve got one of the most storied, celebrated brands in all of CSGO taking on a young team led by the second coming of…CIS Counter-Strike.
After their heroics in Madrid nearly paid off with a spot in the Grand Finals, it seems like a bit of the old NIP magic might have resurfaced, but that is famously unreliable in the long term. Let’s see how these two stack up ahead of their match at 7pm BST / 8pm CEST.
ECS CSGO: AVANGAR vs NIP live stream and betting odds
AVANGAR
AVANGAR'S last best-of-three loss came just a week ago, to Vitality in the ESL One Cologne qualifiers, but Avangar have looked generally decent in their recent online outings, which is often the only way to judge teams that travel less for economic reasons. They’ve beaten the new VP, Forze, North and HellRaisers in the last seven days, all by a margin of two maps to zero, and their last match against the Swedes ended with a 2-1 win, back in October of 2018.
Related: MIBR vs Team Liquid in ECS Season 7, Series 4 NA final
From a player point of view, Jame is AVANGAR standout performer, and his individual statistics are almost hard to believe, albeit online for the most part. Only s1mple has a better rating over the last three months, with at k/d differential of +725 at a 1.55 ratio, giving him a 1.32 on HLTV, which is madness. By comparison, qikert has a better rating than the likes of shox, Xyp9x and ZywOo, and can’t get close to his star man statistically anyway, so there is talent enough to win the game in the Avangar ranks.
Ninjas In Pyjamas
We all know what NIP can do, but there have been signs recently that there is a soft core at the centre of this massive organisation. At Blast Pro Madrid the likes of REZ, GeT_RiGhT and the rest looked great, beating Na’Vi and ENCE, but they also got beaten so hard by the Vodaphone Giants that Fox is still finding Forest’s beard hairs in his pocket. This range of results makes it very hard to predict how NIP will look, but it is unlikely they’ll be overawed by the names on Avangar at least.
Like Avangar, many of NIP’s recent wins have come in a 2-0 fashion, suggesting both these teams are snowballers that need to get off to a good start if they are to win the series.
The online aspect will reduce the effect of experience with no LAN crowd to bring the heat, and with all the factors involved the Swedes probably come in as favourites. A lot will come down to how the likes of REZ and Forest match up with Jame, but if they can contain him it will make things a lot easier for the Ninjas.
Your best bets
Selected betting odds on Avangar vs NIP:
Match result
- AVANGAR win - 1.98
- NIP win - 1.75
Correct Score
- AVANGAR 2:1 Ninjas in Pyjamas - 3.6
- AVANGAR 1:2 Ninjas in Pyjamas - 3.3
- AVANGAR 2:0 Ninjas in Pyjamas - 3.6
- AVANGAR 0:2 Ninjas in Pyjamas - 3.2
Maps Over/Under 2.5, Whole Match
- Under -1.81
- Over - 1.92
Odds correct at time of publishing. More markets, expected rosters and live stream.
Image: Adela Sznajder/ESL
