The second round of 2022 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2 starts with a clash between Kim “herO” Joon-ho and Lee “Bunny” Jae-seon, who last met in the DreamHack Masters 2022 Atlanta finals on November 20, when herO won 4-3. The 30-year-old was 1-3 down but came back to defeat Bunny for the 18th time in his career (18-6) and the sixth time in 2022.

HerO has since played just three matches and lost two, including his most recent outings against Kim “Classic” Doh-woo (0-2) and Cho “Maru” Seong-ju (0-2). Yet despite his shaky record ahead of this match, herO is priced as a favourite, which has to do with his strong head-to-head record against Bunny, who has not played a single match since his defeat in Atlanta.

Given his history against Bunny and his recent success, it’s fair to view herO as the most likely victor, but the win odds seem a bit too pricey. It’s fair to mention that his narrow victory against Bunny in Atlanta marked only his first head-to-head win after two back-to-to-back losses (both online).

HerO should win, but we predict another close affair, so we prefer to place our money on Bunny with a 1.5-map handicap.

Priced at -833.33, Park “DRG” Soo-ho is expected to crush Kim “Ryung” Dong-won on Thursday and add a fifth consecutive head-to-head victory to his resume. The two Korean StarCraft II pro players last met at the start of June, during HomeStory Cup 21: South Korea Qualifier #1, when DRG won (2-0), adding to his 2-1 victory in March during the 2022 GSL S1 Qualifier.

But while DRG has proven himself as a better player, he hasn’t achieved much lately. Currently ranked no.9 on the Korean EPT ladder, DRG crashed out of DreamHGack SCII Masters 2022 Atlanta in 9th-16th place and wasn’t too convincing at PiG Sty Festival 2.0 (5th-8th) at the start of the month either.

That’s not to say that Ryung has looked much better, but he has been improving and is ranked no.14 in Korea and no.26 in the world. At +450 in the head-to-head market at BetOnline, Ryung is underrated by quite a bit and shouldn’t be priced much higher than +300, in our book.

Ryung with a 2.5-map advantage at -200 is not a bad choice, but we like a 1.5 handicap at +175 better.

Park “Dark” Ryung-woo is one of the best StarCraft II players ever to touch the game and someone you should never underestimate, but he might be a bit overrated at -1000. Still, there is a perfect reason why he is a heavy favourite here.

Dark has lost just four matches since the start of November, which translates to a 32-4 record (88.89% win rate). During that stretch, Dark has won four tournaments (including AfreecaTV Champions Cup), finished second twice, and reached at least semi-finals in all eight.

His next opponent, Eo “soO” Yun-su has won just a single event (Steadfast Birthday Bash: ByuN herO soO Show Match) since August and wasn’t very convincing in Atlanta either (17th-24th). However, he has been winning games (12-7), and his TvT record is fairly solid (63.16% win rate), but he hasn’t played many mirrored matchups lately.

Dark should defeat soO, and while there’s a chance he might drop one map, Dark winning 3-0 is a more appealing bet at the offered SCII betting odds.

The second round of 2022 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2 will culminate with what the esports betting sites believe to be a very closely contested affair between Shin “RagnaroK” Hee-beom and Kim “Cure” Doh-wook. And that makes sense considering RagnaroK and Cure have split their six meetings in 2022 (3-3), with a 10-9 map record in favour of RagnaroK.

Cure last met with Ragnarok on November 13, when he won 2-1 and avenged his 1-3 defeat from ITaX Pro Circuit 9 in September. Since that victory, Cure has played 24 games and won half of them. In contrast, RagnaroK has played only five, and won all but one, against Joona “Serral” Sotala (1-3) in the DH SC2 Masters 2022 Atlanta semi-finals).

Even though RangaroK has played fewer matches over the last month, he has looked better in his games. Moreover, RagnaroK holds a 59-57% win rate with Terran players over his last 47 outings, while Cure’s Terran vs Zerg win rate over the last 72 is in the red (48.61%).

Even throughout his career, Cure has always struggled against Zerg players, which is just another reason to like RangaroK better. RagnaroK is an easy choice at the offered StarCraft II odds.

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Joo “Zest” Sung-wook’s never-ending farewell tour continues on Thursday when he enters the semi-finals of 2022 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 1, following two close calls against Kim “Classic” Doh-woo (3-2) and Lee “Bunny” Jae-seon (3-2).

For the past few months, Zest’s matches hinged on what version of Zest shows up – going from reaching the finals of IEM Katowice 2021 to getting eliminated from Code-A. Although Zest has been stabilising in recent weeks, it’s fair to feel scared for him for this match.

Cho “Maru” Seong-ju, who has historically struggled against Protoss, has improved his TvP matchup numbers to an impressive 82.14% win rate across the last 28 outings (23-5). However, Maru wasn’t convincing on Monday and had to dig deep to defeat Kim “herO” Joon-ho (3-2).

So while Maru has looked much better this tournament and should win, we have to take a shot with Zest to keep it close and force another five-map series.

Park “Dark” Ryung-woo proved just how efficient he is in Zerg vs Terran matchups on Monday when he swept Byun “ByuN” Hyun-woo and improved his ZvT record to a 75% win rate (48-16). Now, he’s set to clash with a Protoss player in Park “Zoun” Han-sol, for the first time since December, when Dark won 3-1.

It marked Dark’s fourth consecutive win against the 24-year-old, and according to the latest StarCraft II betting odds, the current no.4 in the Korean ESL Pro Tour standings should add another win to his tally. Priced at $1.23, Dark’s implied probability of winning this match is at 81.3%, which seems a bit low, but it’s a fair figure.

Zoun has looked good across the first two tournament rounds, but he’s terrible against Terran (10-15). So even though Zoun has been consistently a clutch player in important games, he is a clear outsider to defeat Dark on Thursday.

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?Byun “ByuN” Hyun-woo and Lee “Bunny” Jae-seon will clash on Thursday for the first time since ByuN swept his compatriot 3-0 in January. It marked his seventh head-to-head victory and his second consecutive win over Bunny.

ByuN enters this match in excellent form, having won all but one of his last six fixtures. That includes 2-0 sweeps of Joo “Zest” Sung-wook and Jun “TY” Tae Yang on Saturday.

Bunny has been far less convincing with his recent showings, as he enters this fixture on a three-game losing streak. ByuN is clearly in better shape, and even though we were hoping for slightly better odds, the odds are good enough for us to back the favourite to get the job done with at least two maps to spare.

?The latest StarCraft II betting odds imply Cho “Trap” Sung Ho has a 61% chance of beating Kim “Cure” Doh Wook, which is way too high. Although Trap should have an edge, having him priced lower than -125 makes no sense.

Cure has had a few iffy showings of late, but he has had to face much more formidable opponents than Trap. Cure is also 3-2 up in the head-to-head stakes in 2021, with a streak of three consecutive wins in April, and usually does well against Protoss (62.33% win rate).

There is reason to doubt Cure, especially at the outsider odds.

?There is no denying that Cho “Dream” Joong Hyuk is the most likely victor, but once again, we are chasing value, and there’s plenty to be found with the SCII betting odds offered on Park “Armani” Jin Hyuk.

Armani is priced as high as +247 with esports bookmakers, suggesting he has only a 28.8% chance of winning. That’s a bit disrespectful for someone who swept Dream 3-0 just under three weeks back.

Dream has been playing much better since that loss, but it still doesn’t make much sense to have him priced as low as he is. At these betting odds, we have to side with Armani.

?Shin “RagnaroK” Hee Bum and Cho “Maru” Seong Ju last met way back in September 2020, when Maru won 2-0. It marked his 11th head-to-head victory since these two first clashed in 2014.

RagnaroK has yet to defeat the current no.2 in the ESL Pro Tour Korean standings. He has come close to it only three times across 11 meetings, stealing a map off Maru in some best-of-three (Bo3) bouts.

We rarely recommend betting on a clean sweep in an SCII match, since those are pretty rare, but there is nothing that would make us trust RagnaroK. He is 4-3 in his last seven but hasn’t beaten any top-tier players, while Maru is 9-1 in his previous 10 with his only loss in that stretch coming against the undisputed best Korean SCII player of the 2021/22 season, Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol.

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Byun “ByuN” Hyun Woo and Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin will clash on Wednesday in the first round of 2021 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 1. It will mark their first meeting since late December when Byun bested his compatriot 2-0.

ByuN enters this match as a heavy favourite, which seems reasonable considering he is 6-2 up in the head-to-head. Having said that he has met with sOs only once since 2016, so we shouldn’t put too much weight on that record.
What is important, however, is that sOs is very efficient when facing Terran (63.77% win rate). He is also in excellent form, having bested Juan Carlos “SpeCial” Tena Lopez and Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol last week.

One thing going for ByuN is that he has played 24 games in 2021, although he has lost three out of his last four, which includes his last two against Riccardo “Reynor” Romiti and Cho “Trap” Sung Ho. We are siding with sOs to keep this match close.

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BTS Pro Series Season 4: Americas

?Team Brasil began their BTS Pro Series Season 4: Americas campaign with a narrow 1-1 draw against S A D B O Y S and a commanding 2-0 win over Arkosh Gaming. 4 Zoomers have produced equally impressive results with sweeps of 5ManMidas and Thunder Predator, while both teams are 4-4-2 in their last 10 outings.

4 Zoomers and Team Brasil have met three times this year, with each series ending in a 1-1 draw. Brasil were the better-performing side in their most recent bout, and considering they managed a stalemate against Clinton “Fear” Loomis and his crew on Tuesday, we don’t see why they can’t win least one map on Saturday.

2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2

?Jun “TY” Tae Yang is only one step away from his first StarCraft II Premier tournament grand final since he won 2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 3 in early November. His path to more silverware, however, won’t be easy as he faces Cho “Trap” Sung Ho, who has beaten him in all of their last four meetings.

Since the turn of the year, TY has met with Trap eight times and won only the one series back in April with 5-4. He has lost all of the remaining four with a 5-10 map differential but has managed to win three out of eight maps in their last two brawls.

Regardless of Trap’s recent success, we like our chances with TY better. He looked good in their last two meetings and should have a solid chance to cause an upset.

?Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob enters this match as the underdog, which is difficult to explain considering he has beaten Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol in both of their last two meetings. Even though Rogue swept Cho “Maru” Seong Ju (3-0) on Wednesday, the current no.3 in the ESL Pro Tour 2020/21 Korea standings looked a bit off on that day.

Rogue appears to have found his touch, but he still seems a bit overrated at StarCraft II betting sites heading into this match. The odds are way too short, which is why we will gladly take a shot with the outsider.

TeamLiquid StarLeague 6

?Joona “Serral” Sotala enters this match as a heavy favourite over Park “Dark” Ryung-woo, but even at -344.83, we find those odds to be a fraction longer than they should be. Serral has met Dark five times in his career, winning the last three in a row with a 9-2 map differential.

There is a world where Dark upsets Serral, but it’s hard to expect any surprises since the reigning DreamHack SC2 Masters 2020 Winter champion rarely drops games like this. Anything above -142.86 on the Finn to win with at least two maps to spare is a good bet.

?Maru enters the final international StarCraft II Premier tournament of the year off a humiliating 0-3 loss against Rogue at 2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2. He is now set to face Won “PartinG” Lee Sak, who seems like an easier opponent on paper, but we have a hard time believing Maru will win this clash.

Maru has met with PartinG 15 times since 2012 and won only five series, including one 2-1 win in October. Despite that result last time out, we don’t see why Maru should be priced as the favourite.

Esports multi bet tips for Thursday, December 11

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BLAST Premier Fall 2020

?G2 Esports enter this match on a two-game losing streak which includes losses against FURIA (1-2) and Astralis (0-2) at DreamHack Masters Winter 2020: Europe. Despite G2’s recent struggles, we don’t believe they should be priced as high as +105 against FURIA.

FURIA have won all of their last five outings, but they also dropped maps against Isurus, Virtus.pro, Team Liquid and G2. So while the form is solid enough, they are definitely beatable.

Regardless of FURIA’s win over G2 last week, there is value in siding with Nikola “NiKo” Kova? and his crew. They might have slipped a couple of times this month, but they still have the quality to match any team in the world.

?These two sides will clash for the first time since OG swept BIG 2-0 at FLASHPOINT Season 2 on Friday. OG have since won two games against MiBR (2-1) and Fnatic (2-0) and suffered a reverse sweep against Virtus.pro (1-2) in the FLASHPOINT grand finals.

BIG have yet to defeat OG this year, but that does not necessarily mean they can’t turn things around on Wednesday. Momentum will play a crucial role in this match, which is why we expect one side to take over the game and close out the series in two maps.

EPIC League Division 1

?Virtus.pro last met with Team Secret last Thursday, when they claimed a convincing 2-0 sweep. It marked their first head-to-head win of the year and the first since they bested Secret at the EPICENTER Major in June 2019.

Despite Virtus.pro’s strong form, they enter this match as underdogs, which does not seem right. In their last 10 outings, VP lost only to Vikin.gg and Team Liquid (twice), so there is no reason to have them priced above +100. At these odds, siding with outsiders makes more sense to us.

?Vikin.gg and Natus Vincere last met during the EPIC League group stage on Friday, when NaVi claimed a 2-1 victory. Although Vikin.gg won the second map, there are arguments to be made that NaVi deserved to walk away with a clean sweep.

Natus Vincere then went on to sweep Team Secret, which should serve as a morale boost as they look towards the EPIC League title. What’s more, NaVi are 2-1 up in the head-to-head with Vikin.gg with back-to-back victories, including a 2-0 sweep at ESL One Germany 2020 in October.

Vikin.gg are still a solid team, but due to their lack of form, it’s hard to believe they stand a chance against the ESL One Germany 2020 finalists. Vikin.gg could steal one map, but we don’t expect much more from them.

2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2

?Jun “TY” Tae Yang and Park “Dark” Ryung-woo will clash for the first time since May, when TY won 3-0. It marked TY’s first win against Dark in six meetings and the first since December 2018, when he won in a best-of-one series.

Even though TY won the most recent bout, there is no reason to have him priced as the favourite. Not only is Dark in great form, but he also does well against Terran (64.69% win rate). A fairer price on Dark would sit around -111, making this a great value bet.

?The latest StarCraft II betting odds make it very clear how this match should go, but we still find Cho “Trap” Sung Ho to be slightly overpriced. The 26-year-old Korean pro has defeated Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin in all of their last five meetings and racked up a 9-1 map differential in the process, with clean sweeps in all of the last four bouts.

What’s more, sOs usually struggles against Protoss (59.78%), whereas Trap historically does well in mirrored matchups (61.59%). Anything above +300 on Trap to win 3-0 is an excellent price.

Esports multi bet tips for Wednesday, December 9

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EPIC League Division 1

?Just Error enter the final round of the EPIC League with only two wins, which came against Team Liquid (2-0) and Alliance (2-1). OG have managed a far better 4-4 record that includes recent wins against mudgolems (2-0) and Team Secret (2-0), as well as a narrow loss against the surging Team Liquid (1-2).

Even though OG and Just Error have never met before, it’s easy to see why OG are priced as favourites. That is not to say Just Error are a terrible team, but they’re in terrible form and come into this match off a one-week break.

?Team Liquid have met with Team Nigma 11 times in 2020 but won only three series. While the head-to-head record favours Nigma, it’s worth noting that it was Liquid who won their most recent clash (2-1) en route to the ESL One Germany 2020 trophy.

It’s hard to say which side will come out ahead in this one. Nigma look stronger on paper, but it’s Liquid who are in better form. The best bet to take here is over 2.5 maps, as all but two of the last seven head-to-head meetings have ended in a three-map series.

Prediction: Over 2.5 maps – $2.09 at BetOnline

AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2

?Lee “INnoVation” Shin Hyung and Park “Armani” Jin Hyuk will clash for the second time this week on Saturday. They previously met during the Kung Fu Cup 2020 Weekly #29 on Thursday, where Armani caused quite an upset by winning 2-1.

That result marked Armani’s second victory over INoVation in history and the first of the year after losing the five previous meetings. Although the head-to-head record is lopsided, there is something to be said for backing the outsider at long odds. For this prediction, however, we will settle for a safer pick and side with Armani to win at least two out of five maps.

?Lee “Bunny” Jae-seon and Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol last met at the end of November when Rogue claimed his eighth head-to-head victory of the year. After that loss, Bunny also dropped the ball against INnoVation and Cho “Trap” Sung Ho.

Rogue seems like the most likely victor, but his odds are far too short. Instead, we like our chances with Bunny at the +1.5 handicap. He swept Shin “RagnaroK” Hee Bum not long ago, which gives us hope he can cause some damage to Rogue this weekend.

?Cho “Maru” Seong heads into this match with a 3-1 record which includes wins against Clément “Clem” Desplanches, Tobias “ShoWTimE” Sieber and Riccardo “Reynor” Romiti. Kim “Cure” Doh Wook has the same record from his last four outings, although he has not faced any high-profile names besides Rogue, who defeated him 2-3.

Maru and Cure last met in November when Maru won 4-1. It marked his first victory against Cure since 2017, although they have met only four times across the last three years.

While Esports bookmakers have Maru pegged as a firm favourite, the odds are still longer that expected. Give we would him have around -222.22, this is a great value bet.

Esports multi bet tips for Saturday, December 5

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Cyber.Bet Golden League

The last time SJ Gaming and HellRaisers met on the battlefield was during the Nine to Five #3 in August when HR won 2-1. Since then, we have not seen any significant growth from either side, which suggests we are in for another close match.

SJ’s price seems a bit too generous considering they recently beat AGF, SKADE and Lyngby Vikings. While that does not necessarily guarantee the Finns will have an easy time, they’re at least in good form and should cause some headaches to HellRaisers.

Nine to Five #7

These teams last met in September during the Vie.gg Legends Series, where Nexus claimed a clean sweep with 19-17 on Nuke and 16-4 on Mirage. Nexus have not made any roster changes since then, whereas Apeks have strengthened their squad with the addition of the former 100 Thieves player Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad.

Jkaem has been playing fairly well at his new team, averaging a 1.11 rating, but the poor form of Martin “Nasty” Garvik (0.81) means we cannot side with the underdogs here. And while Nexus should win this match, we don’t believe they will manage a clean sweep, largely because they will struggle to outsmart Dennis “dennis” Edman. Expect a close series with all three maps played.

2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 2

Jun “TY” Tae Yang and Nam “Hurricane” Ki-woong will clash this Wednesday for the first time since October when TY swept his compatriot 3-0 at the Kung Fu Cup 2020 Weekly #24. Hurricane has played 17 games since then and managed to win only six. TY, meanwhile, has won eight out of 12 outings, including triumphs against Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob, Cho “Maru” Seong Ju, Lee “Rogue” Byeong Yeol and Shin “RagnaroK” Hee Bum.

In our books, TY is paying way over the odds at +200 to repeat his success from last month and win 3-0. A fairer price would be somewhere around +150, making this a great value bet.

Byun “ByuN” Hyun-woo won his first Major title in two years on Sunday when he bested Cho “Maru” Seong Ju (4-2) in the ASUS ROG Online 2020 grand finals. Despite his solid form, ByuN has yet to defeat Park “Dark” Ryung-woo this year, and he’s already lost to his compatriot twice in November.

Esports bookmakers did a fine job setting the odds here, but there is some value to be found in the correct score market. ByuN is priced at +450 to win 3-2, which is a solid long-shot bet considering ByuN and Dark usually produce close affairs.

Joo “Zest” Sung Wook is priced as high as -188.68 to defeat Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin, which might seem a bit off considering sOs has won four of their last five meetings. However, that does not mean much since their last clash happened way back in April 2019.

Zest has improved drastically since then and has this year secured a silver medal from IEM Katowice 2020, fourth place at TeamLiquid StarLeague 5 and a bronze medal from Douyu Cup 2020. Another thing working in Zest’s favour is that sOs hasn’t faced any top-tier Korean StarCraft II esports players in the past two months.

The odds on Zest are not particularly high, but they are still far higher than what we expected. A fair price would sit at around -250, making this a no-brainer pick for us.

Esports multi bet tips for Wednesday, December 2

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