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Gamers8 2023 CS:GO Tournament Outright Tips – Can G2 Esports Win Another Big Event?

By Tit Krajnik

14 Aug 2023

Tit Krajnik 14 Aug 2023

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Gamers8 2023 will kick off on Wednesday, August 16, 2023
16 CS:GO teams and a $1 million prize pool
Team Vitality are priced as the favourites

Counter-Strike (Getty Images)

Gamers8 2023 Predictions

Gamers8 20223 is an upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports tournament set to kick off on Wednesday, August 16. The event will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the Gamers8 esports festival.

Gamers8 will welcome some of the world's top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams, including the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 champions, G2 Esports, the other finalists, ENCE, the reigning Major champions, Team Vitality, and the current no.1 CS:GO team in the global rankings – Heroic.

Out of the current top-10 ranked teams, Astralis and ENCE are the only two missing at the upcoming event, so suffice it to say, Gamers8 will be filled to the brim with some of the top CS:GO talent in the world. With so much talent, it's difficult to predict which squad will make it all the way, and the offered outright betting odds reflect that, showing five teams priced at 6.50 and under, whereas Vitality lead the way at 5.00.

So the question is – where can find some value?

Five teams are priced at 6.50 or under to win Gamers8
Team Vitality are the leading favouites at 5.00
The IEM Cologne 2023 champions, G2 Esports, are third favourites (5.50)

Gamers8 Odds

According to the offered CS:GO esports betting odds, Team Vitality (5.00) are the favourites to win Gamers8, followed by ENCE (5.50), G2 Esports (5.50), and Heroic (5.50), who are all given an equal chance (18.2%) to claim the trophy.

Behind the leading four, we have Cloud9 (6.50), ahead of FaZe Clan (8.00) as the only remaining team priced with single digits.

As we move down the list of outright betting odds, we have Natus Vincere (13.00), who struggled to accomplish much with the new roster, Virtus.pro (15.00), who'll make their first S-Tier tournament appearance with the new lineup, and Apeks (21.00), who've struggled to find much traction since the summer break.

In the group of outsiders, we have Team Liquid (21.00), Fnatic (26.00) and FURIA Esports (26.00), who all failed to impress at IEM Cologne 2023. Lastly, there are four complete underdogs in 9INE (51.00), GamerLegion (51.00), Team Falcons (76.00), and MiBR (151.00), who are expected to crash out of the tournament early.

The Favourites

Team Vitality, ENCE, G2 Esports, and Heroic all have a realistic chance to win Gamers8 and are widely considered the only four teams that can do it. Out of the four, Team Vitality lead the way as the favourites, priced at 5.00, which makes sense.

Team Vitality are the reigning Major champions and undeniably one of the top teams in the world. They looked good since the summer break but didn't quite live up to the expectations at IEM Cologne 2023, where they crashed out of the semifinals with a close 1-2 defeat against ENCE.

With that win, ENCE emerged as a serious threat, but it's not like their success in Cologne was particularly shocking. ENCE have been quietly improving over the year and have accomplished a lot ahead of their finals appearance in Germany.

In June, ENCE won IEM Dallas 2023, then claimed silver at ESL Challenger Katowice 2023, and cemented their status as a top-tier team with another silver medal from IEM Cologne 2023. Over that stretch, ENCE have beaten the likes of FaZe, Astralis, Heroic, and Vitality, which is seriously impressive and a good reason to keep an eye on this squad.

G2 Esports came out of nowhere and won IEM Cologne 2023, but even their success wasn't that shocking. G2 Esports were a force to be reckoned with early in 2023, and while they then went through a dry stretch, struggling to achieve much, G2 found momentum in Cologne and finally put their talent on full display.

As G2 Esports have proven, this can be a very scary team when they're "on", and on a good day, there aren't many teams that can challenge them. The only issue here is that G2 Esports haven't been consistently good.

Heroic are a team that should never be counted out. This is a very experienced and talented team, and the current no.1 squad in the world, which is definitely deserved.

Heroic have been the most consistent team of 2023, and their tournament placements prove it. Since January, Heroic have placed top four in every tournament they've attended except for ESL Pro League Season 17 (fifth-eighth) and IEM Cologne 2023 (fifth-sixth). They have won just two events, though - BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 and BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 – but have made two finals and two semifinals in S-Tier events.

Don't Sleep On Cloud9

Cloud9 are priced behind the leading four teams on the outright betting markets, which makes sense since we don't know how good this team is. Cloud9 have put together a very scary squad during the summer break but have yet to get a chance to put it to work.

At IEM Cologne 2023, Cloud9 had to play without Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov, who didn't get his visa sorted until the playoffs and in his first game, Cloud9 had to admit defeat to Team Vitality. It was, however, a close loss (11-16, 17-19) and considering it was also C9's first game with the full lineup, we can consider it a good outcome.

With Cloud9, we're mostly betting on how good this team can be, so there is some guessing. However, looking at this lineup, Cloud9 have more than enough talent to reach the no.1 spot in the CS:GO global rankings.

Verdict

Gamers8 2023

The recently finished IEM Cologne 2023 should serve as a good form guide for what'll happen at Gamers8, which explains why ENCE and G2 Esports are both expected to do well this month. However, despite finishing IEM Cologne in the top four, it's Team Vitality who are priced as the main favourites, and that's fair.

Team Vitality look and play like the best CS:GO team in the world and their small slip-up at IEM Cologne 2023 against ENCE doesn't change that. Admittedly, all of the top four favourites have a realistic chance to win, but looking at the bracket, Team Vitality have a fairly easy road to the finals, with G2 Esports the only really tough team they'll have to play.

On the other side of the bracket, I like Cloud9, who are a bit underrated. They've not shown much yet; however, I'm trusting the raw talent on this roster to make it work and push for the title.
ENCE, G2 Esports, or Heroic can all win, but I expect to see a Cloud9 vs Team Vitality grand final.