IEM Fall Europe is set to be one of the most important Counter-Strike events of the year so far. It is the last chance for teams to earn regional major ranking points to earn a spot at the PGL Major Stockholm (essentially CS:GO’s world championship) in October.
This means that from September 29 to October 10, we’ll see teams battling their hearts out to earn as many points as possible and clinch a spot at the major. As such, the games will be incredibly competitive, extremely exciting and well worth sticking some wagers on.
Make sure to check out our guide on how to bet on CS:GO and let’s take a look at the event in more detail.
Who’s Playing At IEM Fall Europe?
We’ll see 24 teams battling it out at IEM Fall Europe, featuring all of the best teams in the region and some key underdogs who managed to impress in the open qualifiers. This makes the event one of the biggest on the CS:GO calendar and gives us a plethora of games to bet on.
One key thing to note is that this is the European regional event, which means that the current two highest HLTV ranked teams, Natus Vincere and Gambit, aren’t attending as they’ll be playing in the CIS regional event.
Moving on to the event itself, we’ll see teams split into four groups of six, played in a round-robin format where each team faces the others in their group once. The top two of each group will advance to an eight-team single-elimination playoffs to decide the eventual Sportsbook.
However, unlike other events, there are also decider matches. These split teams based on results into “mini playoffs” where they play a few matches to decide which teams rank from fifth to 12th. This is especially important considering the regional major ranking points, as only the top 11 teams receive points, and the difference between 11th and fifth is over 900 points.
All in all, we’ll be seeing the best teams battle it out for over a week, with more games than we usually see at tournaments, and much higher stakes.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Team Vitality | +250 |
| Heroic | +350 |
| G2 Esports | +500 |
| FaZe Clan | +700 |
| OG | +900 |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | +1000 |
| Astralis | +1200 |
| Mousesports | +1400 |
| ENCE | +1400 |
| BIG | +1600 |
| Complexity | +2000 |
| Fnatic | +2500 |
| Sinners | +2500 |
| Skade | +3300 |
| Team Fiend | +3300 |
| Copenhagen Flames | +4000 |
| FunPlus Phoenix | +4000 |
| Dignitas | +5000 |
| DBL Poney | +6600 |
| MAD Lions | +6600 |
| Movistar Riders | +15000 |
| Sproud | +15000 |
| Aura | +100000 |
Odds as of September 23 at Sportsbook
Can The Teams Handle Major Pressure?
The biggest talking point of this event will be the regional major ranking points. IEM Fall offers a lot more points than any previous event in the year, making it that much more important. In fact, any team that does well here can still secure a spot at the upcoming major.
While this is great news for some, it also means a lot of pressure. Just a handful of games can decide if a team makes it to CS:GO’s biggest event and for some, this could even dictate if their entire competitive year was a success or failure.
Even for teams that are currently highly ranked, there are still “Legend status” spots on the line. The top three ranked teams are seeded directly into the legends stage of the major, meaning they can skip a whole set of matches and get more prep time for the event.
This is undoubtedly the most important event of the year for every team present and we’ll just have to see who can handle the pressure and who will crack under it.
Sportsbook
Vitality Looks To Continue Strong Form
Vitality looks to be the strongest team coming into the event, having hit a patch of hot form over the last couple of months. They’ve lost just two series since July – two tight matches at the ESL Pro League against Natus Vincere and Heroic.
Other than that, they’ve dominated the competition and have found their form at the perfect time. If they continue playing as well as they have, we’ll no doubt see Vitality claiming one of the top spots at the event, and securing a place at the major.
The biggest hurdle in their way seems to be Heroic, who upset them 2-1 in the group stage. However, this was a very close series, so it could really go either way at IEM Fall should the two teams meet.
Could We See Another Heroic Upset?
Heroic is one of the other teams to keep your eyes on at IEM Fall Europe. They’re definitely a top side in Europe and, like Vitality, come in on strong form. They blew through ESL Pro League, losing just once in the playoffs to eventual Sportsbook Natus Vincere.
However, Heroic has also shown holes in their game, previously losing to FaZe and Astralis – two teams who will be looking for a strong performance to secure major spots.
With all that considered, we can’t quite put Heroic as the favorites, but they definitely have the potential to go far, and even take it all. However, there are quite a few teams who can challenge them, so it remains to be seen if they can put up a strong performance once again, and if they can overcome favored Vitality.
