Some might think that ESL Pro League’s group C is just a warmup for the league’s stacked group D, but the upcoming match between FURIA and Gambit may prove them wrong.
Both teams are ranked in CSGO’s top-five, with each roster riding its own win streak coming into the match.  There is a ton of talent on both sides, making this EPL matchup one that fans won’t want to miss.
On one side is Gambit, the CIS team that notched its first IEM Katowice win last month thanks to a dominant performance by its entire roster. While it stumbled afterward by losing to Copenhagen Flames the following week, the team hasn’t skipped a beat since. So far, Gambit has managed to win all four of its games at ESL Pro League Season 13, defeating MIBR, Cloud9, Team One, and Natus Vincere.
While Gambit has been the talk of the CSGO scene over the past month, FURIA has had an interesting week in EPL group C.
Even though CSGO’s top Brazilian roster has been overshadowed by Gambit’s Cinderella story at EPL, for three matches FURIA arguably played better than the CIS team. But a head-scratching loss against Cloud9 on Monday saw FURIA only pick up seven rounds across two difficult maps. The weak link in the loss to Cloud9 was clear, as former Triumph AWPer Peyton “Junior” was a liability and finished the match with a -20 KD and 0.42 rating. That won’t cut it against Gambit.
It means that Junior probably won’t be the one that drags FURIA to a win over Gambit. Instead, in-game leader Andrei “arT” Piovezan will have to be a difference-maker against Gambit’s most explosive player.
He’s capable of doing it, but arT has his work cut out for him on Wednesday.
Enter Gambit AWPer Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov.
Early predictions favor sh1ro and Gambit to come out on top, and that’s thanks to just how dominant the CIS AWPer can be. The AWPer plays an aggressive and chaotic style, and he isn’t afraid to take chances that will put Gambit over the edge if they work out. His name is all over the ESL Pro League leaderboards, and he is currently tied with Ninjas in Pyjamas rifler Tim “nawwk” Jonasson for the most clutches at ESL Pro League’s first three weeks. With clips like this, it’s easy to see why.
Rosters from both teams have already proven that they can play off one another well, so it’s likely that Wednesday’s winner will be the team that can put together more standout plays. And if it’s standout plays that Gambit needs, look no further than sh1ro.
Wednesday’s matchup between Gambit and FURIA is likely to go Gambit’s way baring a massive improvement from FURIA and its new AWPer, but sh1ro is likely to pull off something crazy no matter what. Don’t bet against him or Gambit in any market. This matchup is as close to a sure thing as it gets.
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