BIG vs. Astralis, Preview & Prediction - Free 12/16 CS:GO

Astralis is a firm favorite to secure a playoff place at the IEM Global Challenge 2020 with a win over BIG in this Best of 3 Group A winners' match on Wednesday. Both BIG and Astralis recorded wins in the opening round, so the loser of this tilt will have one more chance to qualify for the top four here.

BIG Team Stats and Latest Results

After winning the Merkur Masters Season 2 some two weeks ago, BIG struggled to make an impact at bigger tournaments. They didn’t play well at the Flashpoint 2 and BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Finals, where they couldn’t get to the Grand final, but managed to win 3rd place at the latter and win $40,000. BIG made an upset on the opening day of this tournament and beat Vitality 2-1, so they cannot be underestimated on Wednesday. BIG won 11 of the previous 17 matches.

In the last three months, BIG impressed on Mirage (80.0% win rate), while they were below average on Inferno (44.4%) and Dust2 (45.0%). BIG assembled its current lineup in September 2020 and appeared on 88 maps with a record of 48 wins and 40 losses. The lineup is made of tabseN (1.00), tiziaN (0.99), syrsoN (1.11), XANTARES (1.10), and k1to (0.94).

Astralis Team Stats and Latest Results

Astralis was way more successful than BIG at recent tournaments and they came here as the No. 2 team in the world, behind Vitality, and the second favorite to win the IEM Global Challenge 2020. The Danish team won the DreamHack Masters Winter 2020 Europe after beating Liquid, G2, Gambit, FURIA, and mousesports to earn $60,000 and lift a trophy. They lost the final game of the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Finals tournament to Vitality but cashed in $85,000 for second place. Astralis didn’t have problems with Complexity in the opening round. Astralis won ten of the last 12 games.

When it comes to the maps in the previous three months, Astralis was decent on Inferno (76.2%) and Overpass (75.0%), while their “weakest” displays came on Dust2 (58.8%). Astralis has a new squad since November this year and appeared on 41 maps with a record of 28 wins and 13 losses. The team members are Xyp9x (1.02), dupreeh (1.11), gla1ve (1.01), device (1.20), and Magisk (1.09).

BIG vs. Astralis H2H Record

These rivals have met on four occasions so far, and Astralis won each game, including the most recent one at the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Finals a couple of days ago. Astralis dropped only 20 rounds in a win.

BIG vs. Astralis Betting Preview

BIG won just 20 rounds in the latest loss to Astralis, and although I am backing the Danes to win the game, I wouldn’t put money on them to secure a 2-0 win. BIG played an excellent game in a win over Vitality, and I think they can get something out of this one as well. I cannot say whether it’s going to be a map or an upset win, but I am pretty certain they will show improvement comparing to the recent H2H duel. I am backing BIG to win at least 24 rounds on Wednesday.

The Pick: BIG Over 23.5 Rounds (-208 @GG.BET)