FaZe vs. Heroic Betting Pick – Wednesday, August 19th, 2020

FaZe Clan and Team Heroic will kick off proceedings in Group B of the European bracket at the ESL One: Cologne event in what could prove to be a highly-contested game.

The German organization has a new key piece in the ranks which is bound to prompt the betting sites to give them the advantage but underestimating their Danish opponents would be a big mistake.

In this post, I take a look at the odds for the matchup and base my FaZe vs. Heroic pick on the value of the prices and the current status of both organizations.

BetOnline’s sportsbook is once again at the forefront when it comes to the top CS:GO events and here is what they have on offer here:

The world number ten seed is understandably given the advantage but can Heroic’s recent performances allow them to spring a surprise here?

Let’s move on to my analysis of both teams and figure out the best way to approach the betting angle.

The big news surrounding the organization was the addition of former Astralis and North player Kjaerbye.

 This is undoubtedly a very exciting transfer as the Dane is considered as one of the biggest talents on the European scene and is still only 22 years old.

He will slot in the starting roster immediately after Bymas left for mousesports and will line up alongside the familiar core of NiKo, coldzera, rain, and broky.

On paper, this team looks deadly but it’s also true they haven’t featured in competitive games for over a month and will need some time to build up a rhythm and integrate their new key player.

The Danish squad can be quite pleased with their DreamHack Open campaign where they managed to reach the Grand Final against all odds.

They started the event in style by easily brushing aside Endpoint but the impressive bit was their victories over higher-ranked Complexity Gaming and OG.

Captain cadiaN has been criticized for his in-game leadership in the past but he seems to have found the right pieces to implement his ideas with and it looks like his main gunmen niko, stavn, and TeSeS are feeling quite comfortable with his tactics at present.

They couldn’t find a way to unlock world ranking leaders BIG but were always in the fight and didn’t allow any fatal mistakes along the way.

These guys are definitely on the up and I won’t be surprised if they can spring a few surprises at this tournament as well.

The addition of Kjaerbye makes FaZe’s roster look scary but we’ve seen such transfers fail in the past and I’m not quite sure how captain NiKo and his new teammate will get along.

Both are known for their egos and despite the fact Kjaerbye has definitely learned a lesson from his days at Astralis and North, it’s still a big mystery whether his transition to the Clan will go smoothly.

On the flip side, Heroic’s chemistry looks better than ever.

Their captain is making the right calls and their current form allows them to take the fight to any of the elite European forces.

Given that FaZe hasn’t played in competitive tournaments for over a month, I’m inclined to go for the high odds and back the Danes here.

They showed they are no pushovers and have built up a good momentum from the DreamHack event, so the +130 odds for a Heroic win look like the best deal here.