BLAST Bounty Season 1 is coming to an end, with only one game left to determine the champion.
Virtually no one would have predicted PARIVISION and Falcons to be the Grand Final pairing.
So who’s gonna come out on top in the first CS2 event of the season?
Jame knows how to lead a young team to trophies. Credit: © StarLadder
In our BLAST Bounty Season 1 Playoffs preview piece, we highlighted PARIVISION as a potential dark horse, and here we are.
No matter the lineup he is leading, Dzhami “Jame” Ali always manages to make his constellation of players competitive against the world’s best CS2 teams.
While the Russian squad already impressed at the StarLadder Budapest Major, the addition of Ivan “zweih” Gogin seems to have elevated the team to new heights.
All the pieces are working as they should, enabling PARIVISION to simply outplay elite teams like Spirit and FURIA.
While the CS2 odds might not be in their favor, the Grand Final and BLAST Bounty trophy are certainly up for the taking for the Russians.
No kyousuke, no problem for Falcons. Credit: © StarLadder
When it was announced that Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin and the coach Danny “zonic” Sorensen would miss the BLAST Bounty playoffs in Malta, hopes were not high for Falcons.
However, playing with a stand-in must, and the relief of pressure that comes with it seems to have greatly benefited the Falcons, who are playing exceptionally well, especially Nikola “NiKo” Kovac.
Since the addition of kyousuke, NiKo has transitioned to a more supporting role as the third star player, not receiving as many resources as he used to. But due to his absence, vintage NiKo has returned, dominating on the server like back in the day.
Praise also has to go Matej “NucleoZ” Trajkoski’s way, who stepped in from the Falcons academy team, Falcons Force, and has done a solid job thus far, filling in for kyousuke.
Their victory against Vitality is certainly the most promising one of the lot, standing them in good stead for the upcoming CS2 events.
Can NiKo take Falcons over the line? Credit: © BLAST Premier
This game is difficult to predict, since both teams have different things going for them.
Falcons certainly have more experience in high-pressure games, more firepower, and overall quality on the server. On the other hand, PARIVISION are a cohesive unit on an upward trajectory, looking to hunt down their first tournament win.
That being said, CS2 betting odds favor Falcons to come out on top, which is probably the sensible choice. They will be playing without pressure because of the stand-in situation, so they can let their stars loose without worry.
In any case, there’s no doubt that Jame and his boys won’t make it easy for Falcons. This Grand Final is set to be a real dog fight.
Score prediction:
Odds:
Odds courtesy of Stake. Odds are subject to change.
Feature image credit: © StarLadder
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