by The 2022 PGL Major in Antwerp kicks off on May 9 with three days of matches for the Challengers Stage, where 16 teams will fight over the last eight spots in the Legends Stage. The Main Event will kick off on May 14, launching nine days of high quality Counter-Strike with 16 of the best teams battling it out for the US$500,000 winner’s cheque.
As you would expect at one of the biggest events of the year, the top 10 teams in the ESL world rankings will all participate in the Antwerp PGL Major. The top esports betting sites have made top three teams in the world the top three in the outright betting with FaZE Clan at +162, Natus Vincere at +200 and Cloud9 at +500. Our best bet for the PGL Major comes from those top three in the market.
BEST BET – FaZe Clan
The number one team in the world will enter the 2022 PGL Major Antwerp as the favourite in the tournament win market. For FaZe Clan, 2022 has been an incredible year already with the organisation taking home over $630,000 in prize money from the four events they have entered. FaZe Clan have been ranked in the top five in the world since the start of March this year, after their IEM Katowice win, and they have been the top-ranked team since April 11, after their ESL Pro League win.
Since FaZe Clan added Robin “ropz” Kool to their roster in January of 2022, they have looked like a new team. The 22-year-old has been massive for them so far, bringing two trophies to the organisation in the first four months since his signing, whilst also adding a MVP at ESL Pro League 15. He is currently averaging a 1.17 rating out of 2 from the 49 maps he has played, which sits at the top of the average ratings for FaZe.
FaZe Clan have shown they can start events slow, as they were off to scratchy starts at both IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League 15, but by the time the playoffs and sudden death series roll around, we see the best of this outstanding roster. So if FaZe do start slow or lose an early series, don’t be too worried, because they will make sure they are firing on all cylinders at the pointy end of this event.
FaZe Clan to win outright
Best Roughie – ENCE
ENCE will be the team on everyone’s mind when the 2022 PGL Major begins. They have played some really good CS:GO in their last two events, lifting their ranking to fourth in the world. ENCE have produced some outstanding results; they finished second in the ESL Pro League when losing to FaZe 3-1 in the final, and they won the EU BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, amassing $100,000 in prize money from just those two events.
ENCE’s highest-rated player and one of the real up-and-comers in the world is Lotan “Spinx” Giladi. “Spinx” is averaging a 1.17 out of 2 rating over the past three months for ENCE. The 21-year-old put the team on his back during the ESL Pro League, where he was involved in over 70% of the teams kills over their 24 maps. If ENCE are going to win the Antwerp PGL Major, then they will need “Spinx” to keep up his great form, but they will need more help from the rest of the roster. We believe that +1600 in the outright betting at BetOnline is well overs for the form team in Europe.
