IEM Cologne 2023 is underway, with sixteen teams competing for a Masters title. With this tournament at the heart of Grand Slam Season 5, several teams are viable contenders for the top prize. Vitality and ENCE have already bagged titles this season, but this ultra-competitive pool is anyone’s for the taking. We’re bringing you this guide on IEM Cologne odds, backed by CSGO esports stats, in order to help you make informed picks for this tournament.
Our list of CSGO odds favorites includes big names like Vitality, FaZe, and ENCE, along with a few dark horses to win it all, so stay tuned!
Vitality
A CSGO predictions list without Vitality wouldn’t be much of a list. IEM Cologne odds point towards Vitality as one of the favorites and for a good reason. They won IEM Rio earlier this season and still have the best player in the world, ZywOo, on their roster.
The French superstar still boasts a 1.30 rating over the past six months, the best in the world, and Vitality have used his performances to post a 56-21 record over that same timeframe. Their team rating of 1.12 is third in the world over the same period.
Vitality were winners at the BLAST Paris Major but came in 2nd at Blast Premier to Heroic. Still, their strong track record and star power make them the favorites when it comes to IEM Cologne odds.
Heroic
The #1 ESL ranked team in the world, this all-Danish side packs a major punch. In recent months, they have swept FaZe, taken four of five from NaVi, and won key best-of-three series against Vitality and Imperial.
Heroic had a chance to win IEM Dallas but dropped a best of three to Mouz despite sweeping them earlier in the tournament. They’ll be out for blood at this eSports event, making them one of our favorite picks for the tournament.
ENCE
It was not too long ago that ENCE were lifting a trophy in an IEM event, as they walked away the winners in Dallas earlier this summer. They took five of six games off of FaZe in that tournament before defeating Mouz in the final.
As such, they have to be considered among the favorites here. The issue for ENCE is that it is hard to cross-reference their performance in Dallas. Vitality was not at that tournament, and we recently saw ENCE fall to Virtus.Pro at ESL Katowice.
Their 51-38 mark over the last six months and 1.02 K/D ratio is a scary sign, and ENCE have a long ways to go to prove their IEM Dallas victory was not a fluke.
FaZe Clan
Like Vitality, it’s hard to consider an IEM Cologne odds list without mentioning FaZe. However, the FaZe clan has had a rocky go of it in recent months. They dropped five matches out of six to ENCE in Dallas, and lost to both Vitality and Heroic at the Blast Premier Spring Final.
Their recent showing has given signs of life, however. They went 7-2 at Blast Premier Fall Groups, including sweeps of G2, Liquid, and OG. They are placed in a tough group B, including Vitality, NaVi, and G2, but are a safe pick to advance out of the group stages, and anything can happen in playoffs.
Imperial
If you are looking for dark horses among the IEM Cologne odds list, Imperial is our favorite candidate. Over the past six months, only fellow Brazillian squad MIBR is posting higher numbers, with a team K/D ratio of 1.10.
They haven’t been only beating up on weak competition, either. Imperial swept Vitality at Blast Spring, took Heroic to three maps, where they lost by a combined five rounds, and swept North American squad Complexity. They will need to get past Ninjas in Pajamas but offer immense betting upside.
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