ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs CSGO Predictions: Outsiders vs Natus Vincere Predictions and Preview
| Tags: CS2
| Author The Old One
After a first day full of surprises and near misses, we move on to Day 2 of the ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs with Outsiders taking on Natus Vincere
It’s the quintessential CIS battle as Russian outfit and reigning Major champions Outsiders take on Ukrainian 2021 Major champions Natus Vincere. Both sides have been deadly over the years, but seem to have hit a bit of a rough patch in the last few months. Neither of them have had overly-convincing tournaments, but the Russians certainly look stronger given their results. Whether you bet on CSGO or not, you’ll want to take a look at this preview to know more about each team and check out our predictions.
Contents
Outsiders
One of the first teams to qualify for the Playoffs, Outsiders were in Group A and made short work of IHC Esports before making it through to the Upper Bracket Final after grappling hard with Fnatic. However, despite a brave attempt they lost out to Cloud9. Outsiders look as though they’re in better form than they were earlier this year, but with their new recruit settling in, the team might be in full flow by now, and ready to take on the likes of Na’ Vi.
Players
Aleksei “Qikert” Golubev
- HLTV Rating: 1.10
- Impact Rating: 1.07
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.8%
- Average Damage Round: 76.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.69
Dzhami “Jame” Ali
- HLTV Rating: 1.17
- Impact Rating: 1.11
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73.9%
- Average Damage Round: 72.7
- Kills Per Round: 0.71
Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev
- HLTV Rating: 1.13
- Impact Rating: 1.08
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.2%
- Average Damage Round: 80.4
- Kills Per Round:0.73
Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin
- HLTV Rating: 1.11
- Impact Rating: 1.20
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.5%
- Average Damage Round: 82.0
- Kills Per Round: 0.75
Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev
- HLTV Rating: 1.11
- Impact Rating: 1.14
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 70.8%
- Average Damage Round:77.4
- Kills Per Round: 0.72
Player To Watch
With FL1T in excellent form, we’d be hard pressed to find a more suited candidate than him for this.
Natus Vincere
The black and yellow of Na’ Vi may not inspire as much fear in opponents as it once used to, but there’s still a beast lurking inside somewhere. Despite a dominant performance in the third map, Na’ Vi had to really struggle to beat Brazilian minnows 00 Nation. One can’t help but feel that had this match taken place even a few months ago, the Ukrainians would have routed their opponents. However, they are currently much weaker than they used to be, and might need a while to get back to full flow.
Players
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- HLTV Rating: 1.24
- Impact Rating: 1.35
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74.0%
- Average Damage Round: 85.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.85
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
- HLTV Rating: 1.09
- Impact Rating: 1.19
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.7%
- Average Damage Round: 82.6
- Kills Per Round: 0.74
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
- HLTV Rating: 1.03
- Impact Rating: 0.87
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73.2%
- Average Damage Round: 69.9
- Kills Per Round: 0.62
Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
- HLTV Rating: 1.11
- Impact Rating: 1.11
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.0%
- Average Damage Round: 75.5
- Kills Per Round: 0.70
Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi
- HLTV Rating: 1.00
- Impact Rating: 0.96
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 70.1%
- Average Damage Round: 70.7
- Kills Per Round: 0.63
Player to Watch
Given his apparent return to form, we’re putting b1t out there as the player to watch on Na’ Vi for this matchup.
ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs: Outsiders vs Natus Vincere Predictions
It’s probably going to be a fantastic back-and-forth match, but we’re going with Outsiders as 2-1 winners as Na’ Vi just seem too inconsistent right now.
Maps
Outsiders will likely ban Ancient as they don’t really like the map, so chances are, Na’ Vi will pick Anubis. At the same time, the Ukrainians will take out Vertigo and leave Outsiders with what will probably be Overpass.
Score
Map 1: Na’ Vi to win in Overtime.
Map 2: Outsiders to win with Na’ Vi <11.
Map 3: Outsiders to win with Na’ Vi >12.
Top Fragger
Although FL1T will be more entertaining to watch, Jame is the most probable candidate for top fragger.
Match Links
ESL’s Twitch or YouTube channels will both be broadcasting the match, with coverage set to begin at 10:30 ET/09:30 CST/07:30 PT.
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