DraftKings CS:GO Thursday ESL RTR Cheat Sheet

GAMES (EDT)

• 9:00 a.m. Winstrike vs. Gambit Youngsters
• 9:00 a.m. forZe vs. Unique
• 9:00 a.m. Spirit vs. Nemiga
• 12:30 p.m. G2 vs. c0ntact
• 12:30 p.m. North vs. Movistar Riders

Winstrike vs. Gambit Youngsters

This is a pretty even matchup, with Winstrike being a slight favorite with the bookmakers at the time of writing. Gambit Youngsters have interestingly been the superior side in prior matchups between these two teams, with a 2–0 record, but the last game they played could easily have been a sweep in favor of Winstrike, with Gambit Youngsters forcing a decider after stealing away Mirage in overtime. Winstrike might be the more solid team overall, but Gambit Youngsters have the big-time carry in the form of sh1ro, which is always an interesting spot in fantasy. The question is if you can afford to pay up for him in a rather difficult matchup. This slate has a lot of good AWPers with great upside, so you definitely don't have to go there, but sh1ro is a supreme talent who has the potential to put up crazy numbers. On Winstrike, El1an and Hobbit are clear standouts, with the latter somewhat revitalizing his career on this team after struggling to live up to the hype that surrounded him after Gambit's PGL Major win in 2017. 

• Winstrike Players to Target: El1an ($8,400), Hobbit ($7,600)
• Gambit Youngsters Players to Target: sh1ro ($10,400), Ax1Le ($6,600) / supra ($5,800)

forZe (1–2) vs. Unique (0–3)

forZe have been dropping games all over a place, and it is quite evident that something hasn't been right within the team. However, this is one of the longest standing rosters in the CIS region, and they are no strangers to adversity. After a string of poor results, they finally came back with an impressive win against a Winstrike team that has been playing great recently, and they will be a big favorite against the weakest team in the competition. The big players for forZe are xsepower and FL1T, and they are both good options in this matchup against Unique. Both prior meetings with Unique have been on Nuke and Dust2, and while Nuke isn't necessarily the best map for an AWPer, xsepower has done his best device impression on this map, averaging 0.74 kills/round with a 1.29 K/D ratio across all 88 games played. 

Unique have lost all of their previous games against forZe, and they have yet to get a single win since kenzor joined the team. While it is tempting to pick against a team like forZe during turbulent times, this isn't the best spot to do so.

• forZe Players to Target: xsepower ($9,600), FL1T ($8,000)
• Unique Players to Target: None

Spirit (3–0) vs. Nemiga (2–1)

Nemiga actually have a 2–1 record against Spirit in best-of-threes, but there is an important caveat to that: all of these games were played in 2019 when Spirit had not yet acquired Mir, who has been the star player of this Spirit side. Spirit have been in fantastic form recently, and they have not yet dropped a map at ESL One: Road to Rio. chopper is coming off a couple of killer performances against Unique and Gambit Youngsters, which is why he has been bumped up to $9,200, and while chopper certainly has the potential to pop off if we end up on Dust2 again, it is very questionable if you should roster him at this price. Instead, Mir makes for a far more appealing play at $7,400, alongside iDISBALANCE and somedieyoung.

For those looking to target the Nemiga upset, lollipop21k and speed4k are the best options on the team, with Jyo chiming in now and then with good performances.

• Spirit Players to Target: Mir ($7,400), iDISBALANCE ($7,400), somedieyoung ($6,800)
• Nemiga Players to Target: lollipop21k ($7,000), speed4k ($7,000), Jyo ($6,000)

G2 (3–2) vs. c0ntact (0–5)

G2 will be a big favorite to take down c0ntact, who have, quite amusingly, lost their last six games by a 2–1 scoreline. I'll just cut to the chase here and point out the fact that huNter- is $7,800, which is way too low for a player of his caliber, especially in a matchup like this. kennyS is rarely going to be a bad pick with how much DK scoring favors AWPers, and AmaNEk has some potential to give us a nice return at a low salary depending on which maps we end up on.

On the c0ntact side, it has been tragic to see a player like SHiPZ, who was previously an extremely impactful player for his team, play as poorly as he has. This team is sometimes a bit appealing from a fantasy perspective as it is quite easy to tell where the scoring is gonna come from, with ottoNd, EspiranTo and SHiPZ being the trio that you can normally count on to deliver the goods; unfortunately, this is a very difficult matchup for a team that might be on the verge of disbanding. One of their players might put up points in a loss, but it is very questionable if it is worth going there with their current form, even in GPPs.

• G2 Players to Target: huNter ($7,800), kennyS ($9,000), AmaNEk ($6,400)
• c0ntact Players to Target: ottoNd ($7,200) / EspiranTo ($7,200) / SHiPZ ($4,600)

North (2–3) vs. Movistar Riders (2–3)

North takes on Movistar Riders to round out the slate. This is a bit of an odd matchup between two pretty weak teams. aizy has been amazing for North, but it is reflected in the pricing at $8,800, and there are more appealing players in his price range. Kjaerbye is a decent play at $6,600, and if you want to target a Movistar Riders upset, loWel is a bit interesting at $6,200. To be honest, this is not the most appealing matchup on the slate, and it may be worth putting most of your exposure in the others.

• North Players to Target: aizy ($8,800), Kjaerbye ($6,600)
• Movistar Riders Players to Target: loWel ($6,200)