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 and Heroic once again did what they do best and sweep the opposition, and now get each other in what should be a great battle for first in their group. Ence pulled off the upset and swept Astralis making them a contender in their group as well and now get a tough task in Team Spirit. Astralis is our lucky winner of the day as they get the poor BadNewsBears.
Today I'll be bringing you my Counter-Strike: Global Offensive DFS lineup picks, analysis, and advice for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Wednesday, August 18th, 2021, at 7:30 AM.
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ESL Pro League Season 14
Best of 3
- Astralis (-1800) vs. Bad News Bears (+775)
- Ence (+110) vs. Team Spirit (-140)
- Team Vitality (-105) vs. Heroic (-125)
Captain Plays
ZywOo: Uhm, 8,600? I don't think I have ever seen ZywOo that cheap. At this point lock him in. I think there is a very good chance that Vitality steals at least a map and forces a game 3. And in that case, ZywOo automatically becomes one of the best plays on the board, and at 8,600$ I want all of it. He has shown repeatedly that he is one of the best in the world and is currently holding a 1.31 K/D with a .78 KPR and a very low .59 DPR. So far ZywOo has scored 73 and 84 in his two games in this tournament.
hades: hades have been on fire this tournament, and I feel like we are getting him in a great spot at a low price. Spirit has struggled so far in this tournament and I think Ence poses a threat to the upset here and if anyone is going to be leading them it is going to be hades. 7,200$ and hades have had a 1.22 K/D in the tournament so far. He is averaging a .74 KPR and a very low .62 DPR over the last three months as well. It is a little bit more of a GPP play but hades are in a great spot to dominate.
Other captain plays in order of preference: Dupreeh, Lucky, TeSeS, degster, Cadian
Value Plays
Bubzjki: This is a pure sweep play, it looks like Astralis has decided on their lineup with Lucky replacing Xyp9x. Astralis should have no issue with Bad News Bears as BNB has looked awful so far in this tournament. Bubz looked better in their win of Spirit, so I'm expecting him to play better in a game where they sweep. Otherwise, Bubz hasn't looked great but he is the cheapest play from Astralis and they are loaded at the top. Getting Bubz is going to help with getting some of the top guys on the slate elsewhere. If Astralis manages to lose a map though, that hurts Bubzjki quite a bit, but I don't think that happens as BNB has yet to even win 10 rounds in a map so far.
doto: doto looked pretty good today as he was the 2nd fragger in today's sweep over Astralis. Spirit has been struggling and lost to Astralis and was swept by Heroic. I think Ence poses a real threat to them tomorrow and could upset them. Doto is only 5,600$ too. Currently, he has a 1.07 K/D over the last three months and is averaging a .70 KPR and a .65 DPR. At the price, I think it's worth a shot on doto in an Ence stack tomorrow for your larger GPP tournaments.
Other value plays in order of preference: stavn, dycha, magixx, refrezh
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Top Stacks / Team Picks
Astralis: Target the BNB. That's just the way it is for this group of teams. The only issue I see is that DraftKings has priced up all the players. Lucky, Dupreeh and Magisk are all pretty expensive. Bubz is pretty cheap but doesn't have high production. Xyp9x is not playing it looks like and gla1ve has been awful. I highly recommend grabbing two of the four. Bubz is probably one of your better options at his price, so you can afford other top players. I like Dupreeh the most as he has looked good so far in this tournament. Magisk is a bit expensive for me but isn't an awful play. Lucky has looked pretty good and melded well into this team and has two straight positive games with Astralis. I think the trend continues.
I have a feeling Ence upsets Spirit tomorrow, so that would be another option for a stack. I think Heroic is a great stack as well as there aren't enough players on Vitality viable for a stack as ZywOo dominates so heavily.
Other Stacks: Ence, Heroic, Vitality(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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