RADIO
Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another edition of my Counter-Strike: Global Offensive DFS picks. Oh, how it is good to be back, the long-player break has come to a close as we finally get our first major tournament in almost a month. Vitality tried to pull off the upset, but Heroic was too much as they took it in Game 3. ENCE pulled through for us as they swept Team Spirit, and Astralis swept BNB, but map 2 was pretty close. Today we get probably the closest games of this group. Team Spirit and Bad News Bears play, Heroic looks to take on a hot Ence team, and lastly, we have Astralis taking on ZywOo and Friends.
Today I'll be bringing you my Counter-Strike: Global Offensive DFS lineup picks, analysis, and advice for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Thursday, August 19th, 2021, at 7:30 AM.
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ESL Pro League Season 14
Best of 3
- Team Spirit (-1400) vs. Bad News Bears (+650)
- Heroic (-210) vs. Ence (+160)
- Astralis (+110) vs. Vitality (-150)
Captain Plays
Degster: Other than there 0-2 loss to Ence, Degster has still looked and played pretty well. He now gets the tier 3 team in BNB that he would be able to feast upon. Over the last three months, degster has averaged a 1.25 K/D and has a .72 KPR and as the AWPer of the team, he also has a low .58 DPR, which is something I like seeing as well because even if he is not getting a lot of kills. He probably isn't putting himself in situations where he is getting killed. I don't see him having any issues with BNB and hopefully leading his team to their first victory of the ESL Tournament.
stavn: I think stavn is one of the best options on his team currently. At this price point, it's hard to pass up for how well he has been playing. He has had 63, 76, and 83 in the three games so far for this tournament. This match should be a competitive one too as Ence has been playing well in their last two games. In this tournament so far, he has a 1.33 rating. At 7,600 he is a very viable cheap captain option that can help you get another stud if necessary. Otherwise, a pivot to TeSeS or even Cadian is also viable.
Other captain plays in order of preference: ZywOo, TeSeS, mir, apeX
Value Plays
refrezh: Refrezh has been going crazy lately, He has had 60, 83, 62 in his three games for the ESL tournament so far and is still a very cheap 5,600$. This is a game they should win, especially with how well Heroic overall is playing. Ence is playing well but their two wins have been over a struggling Spirit team and Astralis. Their loss was a 2-0 sweep to Vitality whom, Heroic just beat today. I believe that refrezh at this price is a very good option for Heroic stacks. He also has been positive in all three matches with a K/D differential of +9, +23, and +11.
Apex: Apex has always been one of those players for me that I can't trust very often. In this case, he has been playing well in this tournament and it looks like the player break was much needed for him. He has even or positive games in all three matches so far at 0, +13, and +6. He is also on the high end of the value side, but I think as a pair with ZywOo can work very well. I think Astralis has been a bit overrated as they were swept by Ence and Vitality was the one doing the sweeping. Apex is in a good spot at 8k. I trust Misutaaa's play a little bit more but ApeX has been on the up and coming and is slightly cheaper. He also has the 2nd highest rating on the team during this event at 1.12, hopefully, that trend continues into tomorrow.
Other value plays in order of preference: chopper, sdy, shox, sjuush, Lucky (GPP), junior (PUNT)
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Top Stacks / Team Picks
Heroic: The safe pick is going to be to stack Spirit against BNB. And that is a fine option, but something has drawn me to Heroic. They are in a great spot right now and are playing fantastic as a team. Everyone is playing well including refrezh who is a nice 5,400$. All the players on Heroic are very affordable as well. My favorites right now are stavn, TeSeS, and refrezh who has been on a heater as of recently. stavn has been by far the most consistent for the team with 60+ DKP performances in all three games so far. And at 7,600 as well, that makes it very intriguing. CadiaN has been kinda just chilling this tournament so far, he isn't posting negative scores, he's just not getting tons of kills. He is still scoring well though and I think is a viable option. sjuush is a little bit inconsistent and I think I like refrezh more at his price, but I wouldn't say fade sjuush whatsoever. Heroic has been playing very well and after a win over Vitality, all they need is a win over Ence here to lock up the first seed in their group.
Other Stacks: Spirit, Vitality, Astralis (GPP)
Note: A couple of things here regarding who is playing as DK has some players listed out and that is just not the case, Allu is out for Ence. For BNB, both junior and Spongey are playing, and alter is not.
Note 2: In regards to Astralis, they now have a 6 man roster and have said that they are going to come out and use Lucky from Day 1. That means we have a chance at sub-risk. I think the most likely options to get subbed would be Xyp9x and Bubzjki. Gla1ve, Magisk, and Dupreeh all look like they would be safe from being subbed. So be wary rostering these players. At this moment it looks like Xyp9x is Lucky's substitute.
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