Our free Counter-Strike: Global Offensive BLAST Premier preview focuses on the BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2022 second-round clash between Team Vitality and Astralis, who will lock horns on Friday, October 21, in the semifinals.
It will mark the first meeting between the two European CS:GO juggernauts since August when they met in the BLAST Premier group stage.
According to esports event predictions, Vitality and Astralis are two main favorites to win the event, which only adds another layer of excitement ahead of the bout. But the question remains: which squad will come out on top and book a ticket for the finals? Let’s find out!
Teams’ Previous Scoreboards
Vitality
Team Vitality enter this match following a 2-0 sweep of TYLOO, who they bested in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. It wasn’t a very convincing win from the international lineup, but Vitality got it done, and that’s all that matters.
With that victory, Team Vitality now hold a 75% win rate across the last three months, but it’s worth noting that Vitality have played just 13 games since the start of September – and won all but two (11-2).
That included a perfect run through ESL Pro League Season 16 and a 3-2 record from Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: European RMR B with losses against BIG (10-16) and Heroic (1-2).
Astralis
Astralis reached the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown semifinal with a 2-1 victory over Eternal Fire, where they needed overtime (22-20 on Nuke) to edge out a W.
It was far from a convincing performance from the Danish squad, who haven’t been too impressive of late.
With a 50% win rate across the last three months, Astralis are clearly not in a very good spot, and the recent roster changes don’t help the cause either.
Moreover, Astralis are 4-6 since the start of September, with their only wins coming against Eternal Fire (twice), ENCE (2-0), and MOUZ (2-0).
Recent form isn’t the most important thing to consider for our betting BLAST Premier preview, but it’s definitely worth noting that Astralis – unlike Vitality – are struggling to perform as well as many expect them to.
Matchup Information
- Time: Friday, October 21
- Venue: Online
- How To Watch: Twitch, YouTube
Team Vitality vs. Astralis Betting Analysis
Team Vitality
The complete roster restructures in 2021, which transformed Team Vitality from an all-French team into an international roster, haven’t earned the French esports organization much success.
But things have changed for the better in the second half of 2022, more precisely after the signing of Spinx from ENCE.
Spinx joined Team Vitality in August, and even since his arrival, Team Vitality have looked incredible. They stumbled a bit in their first tournament with the new-look roster, though, placing seventh-ninth at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022.
However, Vitality quickly got back on their feet and delivered the goods at the start of October, when they won ESL Pro League Season 16.
And not only had Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 16, but they did it without dropping a single game.
Vitality Winnings
Over the entire tournament, Vitality have won against_
- Endpoint (2-0)
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-0)
- Fnatic (2-1)
- Natus Vincere (2-1)
- Team Spirit (2-0)
- Outsiders (2-0)
- G2 Esports (2-0)
Closed out the deal with a well-deserved grand finals victory (3-2) against Team Liquid.
Since that successful tournament run, Vitality have attended just one more event – Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: European RMR B, where they produced mixed results.
Of the five games played, Vitality have won just three against:
- FANTASY (16-6)
- Monte (16-7)
- MOUZ (2-1)
But were far less impressive against BIG (10-16) and Heroic (1-2).
With an incredible run through the ESL Pro League, followed by a largely underwhelming performance at European RMR B, it’s tough to be overly optimistic about Vitality, making it tough to add them to our Blast Premier preview as a sure team to win the event. But they’ve shown how good they can be.
Astralis
Astralis are only a shadow of their former selves, granted this is a completely different roster from the one that dominated the CS:GO scene in 2018-2019.
Nevertheless, Astralis are not in a very good spot, nor have they shown anything too exciting lately. Notably, Astralis have not won a single CS:GO tournament this year.
Spring European Showdown 2022
They came close, though, with a runner-up finish at BLAST Premier: Spring European Showdown 2022 in May and another grand finals appearance at Pinnacle Cup Championship.
Besides that, Astralis reached semis at Roobet Cup and Intel Extreme Masters XVII – Cologne in the summer, but those were Astralis’ only notable results since then.
Over the next four months, Astralis have not reached nor come close to reaching a top-four placement and even needed four attempts to qualify for the European RMR A, where they eventually fell flat and placed 12th-14th.
K0nfing and Head Coach
To add salt to the wound, Astralis also parted ways with k0nfig and head coach, so while there is still some talent left in the roster, things are looking very bleak.
Astralis might bounce back after the Major, when they rebuild their CS:GO division, but as it stands now, they’re not a team you would add to your esports predictions.
Team Vitality vs. Astralis Betting Preview
Team Vitality are priced as -370 favorites for this match, while Astralis enter the affair as +267 underdogs, which sounds about right.
Although Astralis are individually good enough to compete with Vitality and potentially even beat them, they’re in terrible form and don’t seem like they’re in a position to challenge the reigning ESL Pro League champions.
Team Vitality vs. Astralis Betting Prediction
Even though Team Vitality are clearly in much better form than Astralis, we’ve seen how shaky they can be just a couple of weeks ago when they lost against BIG and Heroic.
Although you could argue that BIG and Heroic are currently more dangerous than Astralis, it wouldn’t be fair to write Astralis off entirely as they’re talented enough to compete against any of the top-tier teams.
Who to Bet On?
Had Vitality not choked in two of their recent games, a bet on them to cover the map handicap would be the play.
But seeing how Vitality are more than capable of losing maps against weaker teams makes Astralis with a +1.5 map handicap a far more appealing option.
This match can easily go either way, but at the very least, we expect Astralis to step up and make the day a bit harder for Vitality.
Esports Pick: Astralis +1.5 (-110)
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