The BLAST Pro Series Global Finals took off on Thursday, December 12 at ISA Sports City in Raffa, Bahrain. Participating at the event were the four teams that secured the most points throughout the six BLAST Pro Series circuit stops: FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The tournament kicked off with a match between FaZe and NiP, followed by a clash between two CS:GO titans in Team Liquid and Astralis.

Ninjas in Pyjamas swept FaZe 2-0 to secure a spot in the upper bracket finals and Astralis followed with the same scoreline against Team Liquid. The two finalists clashed a day later, when Astralis booked their spot in the grand finals with a straightforward 2-0 win over NiP.

Team Liquid, meanwhile, fought their way through the lower bracket. While their road was not as smooth as that of Astralis, TL defeated both FaZe (2-1) and NiP (2-0) to set up a heavily anticipated rematch with the Danes.

The challengers were slow out of the gates, however, as it was Astralis who took a commanding 8-0 lead at the start of the first map and ended the first half 11-4 up. TL started to come alive in the second half, but it was too little, too late for a comeback. The opening match on Inferno ended with a convincing 16-11 win for Astralis.

The second map was Nuke, where Team Liquid were expected to struggle due to their poor win rate. Despite the statistical disadvantage, TL fought well and even earned a one-round lead (8-7) by half-time.

Things were looking up for Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella and his squad, but Astralis had other plans. Team Liquid won the opening round of the second half to take a two-point lead, but that was where their run ended. Astralis put together three consecutive rounds to reclaim the lead and never looked back, taking the series and the title with a 16-12 win.

While the whole Astralis team performed exceptionally well, it was Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen who took out the MVP award thanks to an impressive 1.27 HLTV rating. Besides his high rating, dupreeh also finished the event as the best player in terms of kill-death difference (+45) and headshots per round (0.41).

The victory sees Astralis end 2019 with six LAN tournament titles, including IEM Katowice 2019 and the StarLadder Berlin Major, as well as second- or third-place finishes in six other events.

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FaZe Clan vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

Thursday, December 12 – 15:00 AST

Two old enemies will renew hostilities when FaZe (-222.22) and NiP (+163) meet in the opening fixture of the BPS Global Finals.

All esports bookmakers seem to agree to FaZe are the undisputed favourites to win this bout, but the NA representatives might be slightly overrated. While FaZe are one of the strongest teams in the CS:GO esports scene, they lack the needed consistency to turn their potential into solid results.

FaZe will travel to Bahrain following a short-lived stint at the ESL Pro Finals. There, they dropped out of the upper bracket after losing 12-16 to MiBR, went on to record a 2-1 reverse sweep against TYLOO, and then suffered a 1-2 defeat against 100 Thieves in round three.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are priced very generously to win this bout, and it is not hard to see why. Their most recent tournament was the ECS Finals, where NiP failed to make it out of the group with a 1-2 record. They were paired with Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses, however, and came close to defeating EG in the decider match.

FaZe and NiP have met seven times in 2019, with their two most recent meetings coming at BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen. The first match saw FaZe decimate NiP 16-3, while they had to work much harder to defeat NiP in the grand finals (19-17 and 16-12).

FaZe are in better form, yet we don’t believe the low odds are justified here. While they should defeat NiP, they lack consistency and cannot be trusted to deliver a clean sweep. Take advantage of the high odds on the map handicap and back this series to go the distance.

Prediction: Over 2.5 maps – +111 at BetOnline

Team Liquid vs Astralis

Thursday, December 12 – 19:00 AST

The second semi-final is shaping up as a thriller between two of the world’s best CS:GO esports teams in Team Liquid (+182) and Astralis (-250).

Team Liquid will enter the Thursday’s match as heavy underdogs despite sitting at no.3 in the CS:GO world rankings. The NA powerhouse finished the ESL Pro League S10 Finals in an underwhelming fifth-sixth place after dropping the ball against Fnatic, who bested them on Overpass (16-11) and Inferno (16-8).

Astralis finished ESL Pro League S10 Finals in third-fourth place after losing to mousesports (1-2) in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. What exactly went wrong there is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure: Astralis underperformed.

The two sides have met several times throughout 2019, with Astralis winning each of the past four encounters. Their most recent meeting came at ESL Pro League Group B finals, where Astralis reverse-swept Team Liquid to make the semis.

We expect Astralis to win this one, but by how much? Team Liquid took at least one map in six of their last seven best-of-three (Bo3) series against Astralis, including each of the last two. For that reason, we will back Liquid to beat their handicap.

Prediction: Team Liquid +1.5 – -166.67 at BetOnline

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