As MIBR and Sharks fight for survival in Group B at the ECS Season 8 Finals in Texas, here's what you need to know, including live stream information, latest betting odds and predictions
MIBR were handled by Fnatic on Inferno, losing their opening BO1 16-9.
Meanwhile, Sharks Esports gave Astralis a scare, taking them to overtime on Nuke, but failing to secure a single round past regulation, falling 19-15.
The Brazilian derby - Sharks vs MIBR is due to start at 6pm GMT / 7pm CET / 1pm ET / 10am PT on Friday, November 29th, 2019.
The brink of elimination
MIBR have had moments these last few months where they started making us question if they were in world beating form. Their opener was not one of those matches or moments. Key rounds like losing a 2v5 to Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson and Robin "flusha" Rönnquist aren't unheard of given their tremendous skill and experience, but they cannot happen against teams that will punish you for squandering early round advantages.
MIBR need to watch themselves here, lest they set the Sharks up for a feeding frenzy
Sharks Esports is one such team looking to capitalize on mistakes and punish those who underestimate them. Their opener against Astralis impressed me a great deal, it takes guts to face Astralis on Nuke, it takes tremendous skill to push them to overtime on that map.
The debate for who the best Brazilian/SA team is has been much more interesting as of late, this could be an unbelievable result for Sharks. Expect them to play some inspired CS:GO.
Who to watch
The stars didn't really align, or even show up for MiBR on day one. Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo simply cannot have a bottom of the leaderboard kind of game tomorrow if they don't want to be the first to pack their bags. Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe has been looking solid lately, but he simply isn't individually skilled enough to carry a team without all of its players pulling their weight.
Ignacio "meyern" Meyer was ok against Astralis, but if Sharks Esports is going to prevail I think he needs to have one of those games that gets people talking about him as the best youngster that SA has. Luca "Luken" Nadotti holding his form from the openers will be crucial as well.
Sharks v MIBR predictions
I'm leaning for the upset here. Personally, I don't think that either of these teams would necessarily beat Fnatic in the subsequent BO3, but Sharks have been looking really solid and have gotten big results recently against teams in attendance in Arlington no less.
Doing it on LAN is different of course, and MIBR have much more experience in that setting, but I like this youngster squad a lot, and think that they're more than capable of usurping the throne of King FalleN and Co.
Scoreline predictions for each map are below. Now that we're into BO3s, teams have to show some depth in map pool. MIBR need to watch themselves here, lest they set the Sharks up for a feeding frenzy.
Sharks just showed out in a big way on MIBR's permaban, so they'll have to find another strong couple of maps to take this series.
They either ban Inferno or Overpass, but I'm thinking they'd rather face MIBR on Inferno after being able to see them on it in Arlington in the BO1s. I'm hopeful that this Brazilian bout will become an instant classic.
Nuke: MIBR Permaban
Dust II: 16-14 Sharks
Inferno: Sharks Permaban? (MIBR 16-13 if not)
Vertigo: 16-11 Sharks
Mirage: 16-9 Sharks
Train: 16-9 MIBR
Overpass: Sharks Permaban? (MIBR 16-13 if not)
Don't forget, you can find the full ECS Season 8 Finals schedule updated throughout the tournament.
Picture: StarLadder / Flickr
