Ghost

CS:GO Slate Summary: FAST Cup (10am EST)

• 2 series on DK
• Best of 3

CS:GO SlateOverview

CS:GO Matchup#1: Singularity (-275) vs SJ (+225)

The first matchup on the CS:GO slate sees the first of two heavy favorites, Singularity, taking on SJ. The former comes in with a better form ranking than their opponent and is also higher ranked at #81 compared to SJ’s #176 ranking. Singularity bans Train first at a 48% rate while SJ bans Overpass first 56% of the time so it’s unlikely we see either one here. SJ has their preferred map banned, but it’s unknown which direction they’ll take given how few maps they’ve played in the last 3 months; given Singularity’s reluctancy to play on Inferno as much as possible, I think SJ picks it. Singularity with then counter with their preferred map choice, Nuke, where they have a 67% win rate albeit being in only 3 maps played. Singularity should roll here even without Jabbi in the lineup; stand-in nicoodoz has been playing nicely in his short tenure with Singularity and has a 1.19 K/D and 0.71 kills per round over the past month and is +28 on 166-138 since joining the club last week. Celrate and his 1.07 K/D and 0.70 kills per round is another top target on the CS:GO slate; the two are expensive pieces to our lineup but should lead the charge in a 2-0 Singularity victory.

Top Plays: nicoodoz($9,000), Celrate ($8,000), Remoy ($6,600)

CS:GO Matchup#2: Budapest Five (-650) vs ttc (+375)

The second matchup on the CS:GO slate is an even bigger mismatch than the first, with B5 taking on ttc. B5 holds all the map advantages and should cruise in the series; they’ll surely select Mirage with their pick while ttc can turn to one of Overpass or Dust2, but neither one presents a viable option for them to steal a map. Both torzsi and kory are the only members of the team with a 1.00 K/D or better in the past month, however it’s the former that pulls away from the pack with a 1.16 K/D and 0.77 kills per round. Although coolio is the lowest priced player on the team, he’s my favorite target for the third spot in our B5 stacks with a 0.99 K/D and 0.61 kills per round. While neither statistic is overly impressive, his 1.25 K/D on Mirage is what interests me here and is an example of why it’s important to focus on which particular maps will be played in a series when constructing your CS:GO lineups.

Top Plays: torzsi ($8,400), kory ($9,600), coolio ($5,600)

You can find me in the WinDaily Discord chat and on twitter @DFS_Ghost!

CS:GO Slate Summary: Malta Vibes/PAL (5am EST)

• 4 series on DK
• Best of 3

CS:GO SlateOverview

CS:GO Matchup#1: ViCi (-500) vs Beyond (+350)

The first matchup of the CS:GO slate sees one of two cash game targets and heavy favorite, Vici, taking on Beyond. The former comes in having won 4 of their last 5, are in better form, higher ranked, and have beaten Beyond twice in the past month. Since both teams typically ban Dust2 first, we’ll either see ViCi ban Mirage or Beyond ban Overpass; either way, it’s unlikely that we see any of those three maps here. I expect ViCi to turn to Nuke with their first pick, which they do 44% of the time and boast a 92% win rate on 12 maps played, whereas Beyond will likely counter with Inferno, and have Train as the map leftover. ViCi is the clearcut better squad here and have the map advantages and better history in recent matchups. The trio of JamYoung, kaze, and aumaN are all great cash plays in addition to having great upside for tournaments. JamYoung and kaze are the top targets here of the three, with both players having a great past month; JamYoung has a 1.24 K/D and 0.77 kills per round while kaze has a 1.33 K/D and 0.76 kills per round while going +1 or better in 7 of 8 past matches and 8 of 9 past matches, respectively.

Top Plays:JamYoung ($8,400), kaze ($8,200), aumaN ($7,800)

CS:GO Matchup#2: Hard Legion (-120 PK) vs Illuminar Gaming (-120 PK)

The second matchup on the CS:GO slate sees HL taking on Illuminar for the second time in the past month, where the latter defeated the former 2-1 in the previous encounter. Both teams have won 3 of their past 5 series, but HL is in better form and are higher ranked. HL bans Nuke first at a 72% rate while Illuminar ban Inferno at an 83% rate, so we can eliminate those two maps. With Illuminar losing their top map pick, they’re likely going to select Train first, where they have the advantage in winning percentage and are riding a 6-map winning streak. HL will surely choose Overpass with their first selection, which they do 35% of the time and have the better winning percentage and 6x more maps played in the past 3 months. With HL not liking Vertigo, one of Dust2 or Mirage will be the map leftover. Innocent leads the charge for Illuminar with a 1.12 K/D and 0.74 kills per round in the past month, and makes for a contrarian pay up option with players of the likes of slaxz- (see below), JamYoung, and flying (see below) all priced cheaper than him. On the flipside, the duo of Krad and Forester are the main targets for HL here with both rAge and kinqie garnering interest in large field tournaments only, simply because I think there are better mid-range and salary savers on the board.

Top Plays (ILL): Innocent ($8,800), Snax ($8,200), Vegi($6,800)

Top Plays (HL):Krad ($7, 800), Forester ($7,400), rAge ($7,200) or kinqie ($6,200)

CS:GO Matchup#3: Invictus (+200) vs Tyloo (-250)

The thirdmatchup on the CS:GO slate should be a great one between Invictus and Tyloo.Both squads are in tremendous form and have won 5 straight series, while Tyloodoes come in higher ranked at #48 to Invictus’ #61. Tyloo bans Nuke at a 100%first-ban rate while Invictus bans Overpass first 67% of the time, so we cancross those maps off. I expect Tyloo to differ from their typical first pick,Mirage, since Invictus has an 81% win rate on 16 maps played there in the past3 months, including a 6-map win streak, and choose to play on Dust2 instead,although I think both maps will be in play here. Invictus should lock inInferno with their first selection, which they do 40% of the time and hold theadvantage over Tyloo, making the 3 expected maps as Inferno, Dust2, and Mirage.While all 5 players on Tyloo are viable, dank1ng remains the top target as hehas a 1.24 K/D and 0.74 kills per round over the past month, while flying leadsthe way for Invictus with a 1.21 K/D and 0.80 kills per round over the pastmonth. I’ll take Invictus for the upset here 2-1 but wouldn’t be surprised ifTyloo takes it 2-1; make sure to have exposure to both sides in tournamentplay.

Top Plays(INV): flying ($8,000), xiaosaGe ($7,600), DeStRoYeR ($6,200)

Top Plays(T): dank1ng ($7,600), somebody ($5,800), Summer ($6,000)

CS:GO Matchup#4: FATE (+200) vs ALTERNATE aTTaX (-275)

The lastmatchup on the CS:GO slate sees another great cash game target in AAT taking onFATE in what should be a lopsided matchup; the former comes in having beatenthe latter twice in the past month while also being higher ranked and in betterform. Since both teams tend to ban Nuke first, I expect FATE to ban Vertigo, wherethey struggle mightily and where AAT has a 8-map winning streak there inaddition to an 84% win rate on 31 maps played. Since AAT has their top choice banned,I expect them to turn to Inferno with their pick, while FATE will likelycounter with Train. Any of Overpass, Mirage, or Dust2 is viable to be the mapleftover, but I don’t think it will even matter as I see AAT taking this one ina 2-0 sweep. I’ll continue to preach the importance of having slaxz- in yourlineups as long as he is playing as good as he has been, but the fact that bothmirbit and kressy are priced so low makes no sense to me; the two have K/D ratiosof 1.16 and 1.14 in the past month, respectively, to go with 0.73 and 0.69 killsper round and make for premier salary savers no matter your contest selection.

Top Plays: slaxz-($8,600), kressy ($6,600), mirbit ($7,000), stfn ($6,000)

You can find me in the WinDaily Discord chat and on twitter @DFS_Ghost!

CS:GO Slate Summary: MaltaVibes (6am EST)

• 2 matchups on DK
• Best of 1 series

CS:GO Slate Overview

Game #1: GambitYoungsters (-350) vs Lyngby Vikings (+250)

The first matchup on the CS:GO slate sees GY taking on LV in a huge mismatch; the former checks off all initial boxes, being the higher ranked team, in better form, and having won 4 of their last 5. We’re back to the Malta Vibes Best of 1 format in this article, so remember that teams alternate banning maps until one is leftover. Lyngsby has 33% first-ban rates on Mirage, Overpass, and Train, so I doubt we see any of those maps here, while GY bans Nuke first at a 91% rate so that can be eliminated; Inferno is LY’s best map so they’ll likely ban that as well, leaving one of Dust2 or Vertigo to be played on. Although anything can happen in a Best of 1, LV is severely outmatched here; GY should cruise to victory, with sh1ro and Ax1LE leading the charge; all 3 of nafany, supra, and interz are viable to complete a 3-man stack, but interz does have the best K/D (0.98) on Vertigo of the three, despite having the lowest kills per round of the bunch, and the same goes for Dust2: interz leads the way with a 1.02 K/D but also leads the three in kills per round, albeit it be unimpressive, at 0.62 KPR. Both sh1ro and Ax1LE should dominate the kill share percentage, as usual, but interz doesn’t need much at only $6,000 in a Best of 1. As far as LY goes, I have little interest in a one off, but if you want to play one to get different on a two-game slate, I’m not opposed to it; Cabbi ($7,400) is the preferred option here, but he’s too expensive in a Best of 1 on a losing team.

Top Targets: sh1ro ($9,200), Ax1LE ($8,200), interz ($6,000) or supra ($6,400)

One-Off: Twinx ($6,200)

Game #2: Illuminar Gaming(+120) vs AVEZ (-163)

The second CS:GO matchup is projected to be close in Vegas’ eyes, but I disagree. Illuminar is one of those teams that takes care of business by beating inferior teams, but they don’t really pose a threat to more skilled ones. Again, anything can happen in a Best of 1, but I lean AVEZ here. Illuminar will surely ban Inferno first, followed by Overpass and likely Dust2 or Train; AVEZ is probably going to start off by banning Mirage as they typically do, then they’ll dictate their bans to ultimately end up on one of Train or Vertigo. Kei is the top play here leading his squad with a  1.17 K/D and 0.78 kills per round in the past month; it also doesn’t hurt that he’s stellar on both Train and Vertigo with K/D ratios of 1.28 and 1.31, respectively. Team awper Markos is also in a good spot, with the third place in our stacks going to one of byali or Kylar. The former does have a higher K/D ratios and kills share percentages in the past month, but he’s $1000 more expensive and it might be tough to fit him in without punting the captain spot. I much prefer byali, but if you need to, Kylar makes for a viable option, especially if they play on Train, where he has a 1.29 K/D and 0.72 kills per round in the past month.

Top Targets: Kei($8,000), Markos ($7,000), byali ($7,800) or Kylar ($6,800)

One-Off: Innocent($8,600)

You can find me in the WinDaily Discord chat and on Twitter @DFS_Ghost!

CS:GO Slate Summary: Nine to Five (3am EST)

• 2 series on DK
• Best of 3

CS:GO SlateOverview

CS:GO Matchup#1: Hard Legion (-275) vs AGF (+200)

The first matchup of the CS:GO slate sees HL taking on AGF and features the biggest favorite of the slate. This is the third time these teams play one another in the last 35 days, with HL taking the other two series 2-0 and 2-1; the favorite comes in as the higher ranked team while AGF has won 3 of their past 5 series. Both times these teams have played, HL banned Nuke while AGF banned Mirage; they’re the two maps with the highest first ban rates for each team, respectively, and this shouldn’t change here today. HL typically goes with Overpass with their first selection, which they do 33% of the time, but have had great success versus AGF on Dust2 so they could go with one or the other and feel rather confident. AGF picks Inferno as their first map at a 45% rate and have a better winning percentage than HL, but the latter has a 44% win rate there and have 14 more maps played in the past 3 months, including beating AGF 16-6 in one of the previous matchups. Ultimately, AGF does not have a greater advantage here on any other map, other than possibly considering Train with their selection, but I think they’ll stick with Inferno. HL certainly has the map advantages if they play this one out strategically, and make for great targets on the CS:GO slate. Krad and Forester lead the way for their squad, posting K/D ratios of 1.06 and 1.08 over the past month, respectively, to go along with 0.76 and 0.73 kills per round, and the duo should draw the most ownership from the HL side. Another mid-tier target is rAge who carries a great ceiling for tournaments, and you can also consider kinqie if you want the ownership edge in the 7k price range; he hasn’t been all that impressive in the past month with a 0.95 K/D and 0.66 kills per round, but he does have a good track record versus AGF, going +17 on 91-74 in their last two matches and will surely come in lower owned than rAge.

Top Plays (HL):Krad ($8,200), Forester ($7,600), rAge ($7,000) or kinqie ($7,200)

Top Plays (AGF):TMB($8,600), fr0slev ($7,800)

CS:GO Matchup#2: Gambit Youngsters (-175) vs ALTERNATE aTTaX (+125)

The second CS:GO matchup on the slate has GY taking on AAT in what should be a tightly contested series. GY comes in as the higher ranked team and have one of the best players in the world, sh1ro, on their side, whereas AAT have the better form ranking and are clicking on all cylinders right now. Both teams ban Nuke at 88% and 93% first ban rates, respectively, so the second ban is where things will start to get interesting here. AAT holds the advantage on Dust2 in winning percentage, and are riding a 4-map winning streak, but have played there 9 fewer times than GY; AAT also holds the advantage on Inferno and Vertigo, with GY having the advantage on Mirage and Overpass. This one will for sure come down to the map leftover, and I’ll have shares of both sides in almost, if not every build (ex: 2 of one team, 1 of the other). As mentioned earlier, sh1ro is one of the best players in the world and will draw heavy ownership, and rightfully so; he has an absurd 1.33 K/D in the past month and 0.75 kills per round. His teammate, Ax1LE is no slouch in his own right, posting a 1.26 K/D and 0.79 kills per round in the last month and is my favorite play on the entire CS:GO slate. On the flipside, AAT has remarkable depth in their lineup. He was featured in every article since AAT has come onto DK slates in the past few weeks, and slaxz- came through yesterday with nearly 100 DK points: the awper has a 1.28 K/D and 0.75 kills per round in the last month, including going +/- 0 or better in 18 of his past 21 maps played. Both kressy and stfn make for great targets as well, especially if stacking them in large field tournaments, albeit I prefer the latter because of his price and point/$ upside.

Top Plays (GY): sh1ro ($9,800), Ax1LE ($6,800)

Top Plays (AAT):slaxz-($7,400), stfn ($6,400), kressy ($9,000)

CS:GO SlateNotes: Captains

• Upper Price Range: sh1ro ($14,700), Krad ($12,300)
• Mid-Tier Price Range: Forester ($11,400), slaxz- ($11,100)
• Lower Price Range: Ax1LE ($10,200)
• Favorite Captain: Ax1LE ($10,200)

CS:GO Slate Notes: Value Plays

• Ax1LE ($6,800) – His price makes no sense; I’ll have him in almost, if not every lineup
• stfn ($6,400) – Probably only going to use him if stacking AAT in large field tournaments
• supra ($6,000) – High risk, but has a high ceiling for his price
• Daffu ($6,200) – If AGF pulls off the upset, he’ll be a big part of it

You can find me in the WinDaily Discord chat and on twitter @DFS_Ghost!