Pinnacle Cup 2022 Picks, Betting Predictions May 25

• Spirit, K23 and SKADE should continue their winning run 
• FASHR will carry most of the weight for ECSTATIC 
• Skade aiming for renewed momentum in the middle tier of CS:GO

Spirit vs Finest Picks

Spirit

Spirit vs Finest Predictions

Spirit, the Russian side ranked number 14 in the world, will be facing Finest, ranked number 71 in the world, in round 1 of playoffs of the Pinnacle Cup IV on 25 May 2022, in a best of three matches.

The two sides faced each other three times earlier in the month with Spirit coming out on top twice. The second game was fairly easy for the Russian side, winning by a score of 16-7 but the two other games were quite tight. Spirit will go into this game as favorites because of the head-to-head record.

Spirit’s 6-Game Winning Run Recently Came To An End

The Russian side were in the form of their life before meeting the best-ranked side in the world in FaZe.. During the run, they beat some of the best CS: GO teams on the circuit like FURIA, Copenhagen Flames, Heroic and Astralis.

20-year-old degster has been phenomenal during this run. He has averaged 0.78 kills per round, 0.53 deaths per round, a KAST of 76.5% and dealt damage of 78.6 per round in the last three months. He has an all-time K/D ratio of 1.31, which ranks well against most players in the world.

Finest Are Capable of Springing A Surprise

When Finest came out on top against Spirit, it was on the Vertigo map. This is map where Finest have a pretty poor overall record with a 38% win rate. Spirit, on the other hand, had win rate of 60% on the same map and will be well aware that they can’t take their opponent lightly.

Finest have a highly impressive record of 75% on Mirage and 60% on Inferno. They were unfortunate to face Spirit in two maps where Spirit have got a 100% record. That’s unlikely to be the case heading into this match.

Finest head into this tie off the back of an incredibly poor run, having only won one of their last six matches and this isn’t the sort of tie where they’ll be expected to turn that around. It’s likely going to be a tighter game than expected, which means Finest could be worth betting on but Spirit have far too much in the tank by the looks of it.

K23 vs Isurus Picks

K23

K23 vs Isurus Predictions

K23, ranked number 33 in the world, will be facing Isurus, ranked number 52 in the world, in round 1 of playoffs of the Pinnacle Cup IV on 25 May, 2022, in a best of three match.

The two sides have never faced each other before, which makes this a very interesting game to call. K23 will be heading into this match as favorites courtesy of the higher rank and have the safer odds on offer.

K23 Are On A 5-Game Winning Streak

K23 are in some hot form heading into this, winning their last five matches. Some of these wins have come against lesser opposition but the run also includes wins against AGO, ranked 32 in the world, and Sinners, ranked 37 in the world. These are sides that are in around the same position as K23 in the world rankings and they’ll have taken a lot of confidence from winning these matches and will want to continue this good run.

Key to the run has been 19-year-old fame. In the last three months, he has averaged 0.71 kills per round, 0.66 deaths per round, a KAST of 70% and dealt damage of 75.8 per round. He has an all-time KD ratio of 1.10.

Isurus’ DeStiNyT Needs To Do Better

Isurus have been very patchy in the last couple of weeks, as can be determined based on their rankings and their main man DeStiNy hasn’t been in the best of form. In the last three months, he has averaged 0.70 kills per round, 0.73 deaths per round, had a KAST of 69.3% and dealt 76.3 damage per round. It’s clear that he’s been in poor form because he has an all-time KD ratio is over 1, 1.02 to be precise, unlike the ratio in the last three months. The team have a 50% record in the last 4 matches and will be hoping to go on a run.

They’ll be hoping that K23 are a bit complacent after going on a pretty good run but it’s still hard to see them coming out on top in this tie. K23 are favorites heading into this and for good reason.

Apeks vs ECSTATIC Picks

Apeks

Apeks vs ECSTATIC Predictions

Apeks, ranked number 38 in the world, will be facing ECSTATIC, ranked number 40 in the world, in round 1 of playoffs of the Pinnacle Cup IV on 25 May, 2022, in a best of three match.

These two sides have also never faced each other before. There isn’t much separating the two sides as far as their rankings go, so this should be a fairly close tie. The odds are currently looking better for Apeks but can’t be entirely relied upon when there’s so little between the two sides.

Apeks Have A Better Record Than ECSTATIC on Every Map Bar Vertigo

Apeks have a win rate over 50% on every map bar Vertigo and Nuke. They’ve only played twice on Vertigo and their 46% win rate on Nuke is still better than ECSTATIC’S 44%. Both these sides haven’t played in two weeks but Apek will take some confidence heading into this after winning their last match against Finest. The same can’t be said of ECSTATIC, who lost their last match to SINNERS.

Apeks’ main man is 24-year-old Swede, nawwk. He’s averaged 0.75 kills per round, 0.55 deaths per round, had a KAST of 76.3% and dealt damage of 73.5 in the last three months. He has a highly impressive all-time KD of 1.19.

ECSTATIC’S FASHR Is The Best Player In This Match

ECSTATIC’s star man, FASHR, has the far better stats. He has dealt a highly impressive average of 83.6 damage per round in the last three months. He has also managed an impressive 0.79 kills per round, 0.67 deaths per round, had a KAST of 74% and all-time KD Ratio of 1.05 in that time as well.

ECSTATIC will be heavily dependent on him having a fine game as they head into this game without any other clear differentiator. They’ve lost their last match and also have a worse record than their opponent on most of the maps. Even though FASHR’s a top player, it’s hard to see him do enough to change the fortunes of this tie. Apeks should have this one in the bag.

GamerLegion vs SKADE Picks

SKADE

GamerLegion vs SKADE Predictions

GamerLegion, ranked number 47 in the world, will be facing SKADE, ranked number 30 in the world, in round 1 of playoffs of the Pinnacle Cup IV on 25 May, 2022, in a best of three match.

The two sides have a long history, having faced each other 22 times before. SKADE have come out on 12 times with GamerLegion come out on top only six times. Four of the matches have also gone into overtime. SKADE are clear favorites going by their history.

GamerLegion Won The Match The Last Time These Two Sides Met

GamerLegion might not have a better head-to-head record but they’ll be confident that they can beat SKADE after beating them twice in three matches on the same day two months ago in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR Open Qualifier 4. They were tightly contested games and this one should not be that dissimilar.

GamerLegion seem to be a bit streaky. They were on the four-game losing run before going into a three-game winning run and have lost their last match. They’ll be hoping to sharpen up heading into this match and not want to be so heavily dependent on momentum.

22-year-old Romanian, iM, is their star man. He has averaged 0.78 kills per round, 0.65 death per round, had a KAST of 71.6% and dealt damage of 84.2 in the last three months. These are some highly impressive stats. He also has an all-time KD ratio of 1.06.

SKADE Don’t Have A Star Man Like GamerLegion

SKADE’s star-man, SHiPZ, doesn’t have a recent record comparable to iM. He’s averaged 0.74 kills per round, 0.67 deaths per round, had a KAST of 70.2% and dealt damage of 80.8 in the last three months. He, however, has a better all-time KD ratio than iM of 1.07.

It’s clear that SKADE will need all of their members to be on form and that has been the case in recent weeks as they’re on an incredible six-game winning streak. They’ve beaten some very decent teams like AGO and SINNERS in that run. It’s hard to see GamerLegion put a stop to that. SKADE should have the edge in this contest but only slightly.

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