Group A in the Counter Strike: Global Offensive Elisa Masters will have started and finished on Wednesday and it is the turn of Group B on Thursday.
The section features the likes of Bad News Eagles, Complexity, Fnatic and Astralis and the top three teams at the end of the group phase will progress to the tournament's playoff stage, in which they will be joined by the top three from Group A.
There is plenty to play for in this event in Espoo in Finland with $100,000 set to be awarded to the tournament winners along with a place in the play-in stage for next year's IEM Katowice.
Bad News Eagles favoured to open with SAW win
| What | Bad News Eagles v SAW, Elisa Masters |
| Where | Espoo, Finland |
| When | 04.00 ET, Thursday November 17th 2022 |
| How to watch | Elisa Esports Twitch |
| Odds | Bad News Eagles -175, SAW +125 |
It has been a pretty good year for Bad News Eagles, who are up to 16th in the HLTV world rankings - their best ever ranking - and fresh from a decent performance at the IEM Rio Major.
They were one of only two teams to win all three of their matches in the Challengers Stage in Rio, beating BIG in the process, and although they crashed out in the Legends Stage, they pulled off a giant-killing when beating FaZe Clan.
They also qualified for the PGL Major Antwerp back in May and have been mixing it with CS:GO's bigger sides for some time now.
Their first match in Group B in the Elisa Masters is against SAW, a Portuguese side currently 37th in the HLTV world rankings who failed to qualify for either of the season's major tournaments.
Bad News Eagles are a cut above them and look about right at -175, which could still be a good bet, although they are unlikely to completely roll their opponents over as they typically struggle when the pressure is on them to win.
With that in mind, over 26.5 rounds at -138 also makes appeal.
Out-of-sorts Complexity are worth opposing
| What | Complexity v 500, Elisa Masters |
| Where | Espoo, Finland |
| When | 04.00 ET, Thursday November 17th 2022 |
| How to watch | Elisa Esports Twitch |
| Odds | Complexity -188, 500 +137 |
Things are not going the way of North American outfit Complexity this season.
They have dropped down to 24th in the HLTV rankings, have failed to come out on top in a tournament this year and are short on match time.
They featured at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown last month but that was only their second event since season 16 of the ESL Pro League concluded.
Even in the ESL Pro League, they were pretty underwhelming, crashing out in the round of 12, and they could be worth opposing against 500.
The Bulgarians are not exactly big hitters, but come into this event having finished October with a triumph in the CS:GO Champions League Season One and they could be worth chancing at +137 to win this one.
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Astralis should be too strong for SAW
| What | Astralis v SAW, Elisa Masters |
| Where | Espoo, Finland |
| When | 05.30 ET, Thursday November 17th 2022 |
| How to watch | Elisa Esports Twitch |
| Odds | Astralis -163, SAW +120 |
SAW's second match on Thursday and second match in Group B pits them against Danes Astralis, who are not the force they once were but are still a capable side.
Astralis will have to make do without new signing Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, who is still not ready to play in a professional match again just yet, and he will be replaced by Kristoffer "kristou" Aamand of the academy.
But while it has been a tricky season for the Danish side, the level of players in their roster is also a cut above SAW.
Only last month, Astralis managed to finish second at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Europe and they were not completely hopeless at the ESL Pro League season 16, picking up two wins in the group stage.
They also finished in the top four at the IEM Cologne earlier in the year and while they have a long way to go to reach the level they were at only a matter of seasons ago, they can show their class in this one.
A bet on them to win at -163 looks good, while punters might also want to consider Astralis at -2.5 on the rounds handicap at -120.
