by The 2019 Asia Championship is a CS:GO esports tournament scheduled to run from Wednesday, November 20 until Sunday, November 24 in Shanghai, China. Eight teams will tussle over a US $500,000 prize pool, with the winner taking home a cool $250,000.
The tournament will start with the group stage, where the teams will be divided into two double-elimination (GSL) groups with all fixtures played as best-of-three (Bo3) series. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, whereas the second- and third-placed teams will earn a spot in the quarter-finals.
Playoffs will begin on Saturday, November 23 and conclude a day later with the grand finals. Just like in the group stage, a Bo3 format will be used for all playoffs bouts, including the finals.
Now let’s look over the latest betting odds and give our predictions for the 2019 CS:GO Asia Championship.
ViCi Gaming
+11900 at BetOnline
ViCi Gaming earned their spot at the tournament via Chinese qualifiers, which took place at the start of November. There, ViCi looked fairly strong and while they lost to EHOME (0-2) in the upper bracket finals, they managed to get their revenge against the same team in the grand finals (3-1). ViCi are the second-best team from the Chinese region, which is a praiseworthy achievement, but they do not stack up with the elite teams in the field and the odds reflect that.
TYLOO
+8900 at BetOnline
TYLOO will enter the tournament fresh after their perfect 6-0 run at the ESL Pro League Asian qualifiers, which indicates the Chinese outfit arrives at the Jing’an Sports Center in great form. Unfortunately, even strong form and home crowd advantage won’t be enough for TYLOO to match it with the likes of G2 Esports, mousesports and Evil Geniuses.
AVANGAR
+800 at BetOnline
Most esports betting sites have AVANGAR slated at the longest odds among the realistic contenders, which might come as a surprise to some after the Kazakhstani organization made it to the finals of the StarLadder Berlin Major and went on to win BLAST Pro Series Moscow barely two months ago. AVANGAR’s form has faltered since, however, and they are now looking more like a second-tier team. They might produce an upset win or two, but winning the whole tournament is very unlikely.
MiBR
+700 at BetOnline
The only South American representatives will hope they can relight their fire, which died out over a year ago after they won their last tournament. While MiBR look strong on paper due to the individual quality of their members, the Brazilians lack the synergy that would help them translate that quality into solid results.
ENCE
+700 at BetOnline
Esports bookmakers have priced ENCE close to MiBR, and we believe that is fair when you factor in their recent results. The Finns head to China in terrible shape and look unlikely to challenge the top three contenders for the title.
G2 Esports
+400 at BetOnline
G2 Esports boast a lot of potential, which might be enough to carry them to the finals. They have endured some iffy displays since the arrival of Nemanja “huNter-“Kova? and Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi?, but performances are rapidly improving and it is only a matter of time before we see G2 among the top five CS:GO teams in the world. If everything falls into place, this emerging European roster could do some damage in China.
mousesports
+300 at BetOnline
Several online bookmakers have mousesports priced as second favourites, but do they deserve that tag? While they are a team on the rise, mouz’s crippling inconsistency has been on full display in recent weeks. They have the potential to become one of the strongest EU teams, but their recent efforts suggest they are a long way off that standard.
Evil Geniuses
+170 at BetOnline
There is no denying Evil Geniuses are the strongest team at the tournament. Since their rise to the top with the ESL One New York 2019 win against Astralis, EG have become one of the most feared teams in the CS:GO pro scene. They have some of the best players in the industry and can defeat anyone on their day. If EG can avoid dropping the ball as they did in IEM Beijing, it will take something special to stop them.
Prediction: Evil Geniuses to win
