The goal of making a Counter-Strike 2 betting prediction is to determine the outcome of a match with greater accuracy than a bookmaker’s odds. Predicting the outcomes of matches for your esports bets requires an approach in which greater insight into game mechanics, decision making and tactical play are needed. So how can you make accurate CS2 predictions? Read on to find out more.
In a Counter-Strike 2 match there are two teams, Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists (Ts and CTs), with five players on each team. Ts have to complete the objective of planting the bomb, whilst CTs have to prevent them from doing so. Sometimes, a clutch play can be a contributing factor to a team winning a round or even the entire match, but a clutch performance doesn’t define a team’s overall skill.
For your own research on teams and data crunching, we offer a variety of event previews on our Esports Blog as well as our CS2 predictions. The website HLTV also provides a breakdown of team stats that you can review prior to the match. However, be aware that you can easily be misled by Team A winning multiple times in a particular tournament, when Team B might also capable of the exact same thing at another one.
It’s important to keep the economy in mind when assessing teams that have fallen behind. Counter-Strike 2 has a unique gameplay mechanic that allows for teams that are losing multiple rounds to close the gap when buying weapons and utility items. This is to bring balance to the game by assisting teams that are underperforming.
For example, if a team is now leading by five consecutive rounds, the loss reward for the losing team will be at its highest. Depending on what the teams’ scores are, it may make sense for the winning team to drop a round in order to reset the economy for the losing team, thus ending their loss streak rewards.
Analyzing the teams
When predicting Counter-Strike 2 results, you can get caught up in the narrative surrounding a match. Team A has performed well at X event, therefore they will perform well at this event, too – right? Team B won the last Major, so they must be favorites here, and so on. One thing to keep in mind is that when outsiders play against the favorites, they tend to try different strategies throughout the match. This could be something to consider for your esports betting strategy.
Bettors should be aware that certain teams will change strategies depending on whether they are playing as Ts or CTs.
Some factors to consider are player performance, objective control, pistol round victories, percentage wins on specific maps and whether the game is played online or offline on LAN. Instead of trying to analyze every aspect of CS2, it may be beneficial to find an edge in one specific area.
Keep in mind that while Counter-Strike 2 teams vary in scope and skill, even a Tier 1 team can have bad days, or even bad weeks. In some instances, often when wholesale personnel changes are involved, teams can unravel completely and fall from the elite level to become complete unknowns.
Accounting for roster changes
Looking at one specific performance will not provide you with the most accurate results, as a single roster change can affect entire matches.
Consider this scenario: You have an individual player that has just joined Team A, and they have a match in a week’s time. Ordinarily, you would assume that they wouldn’t have had time to blend with the team and therefore would underperform. This, however, may not be the case everytime.
A good understanding of the impact a change to a roster can have can be an advantageous skill when it comes to making CS2 predictions.
Why a little research can go a long way
Your Counter-Strike 2 predictions will only be as good as the research behind them. It is important to consider the various aspects that the game has that make it stand out from other esports titles. Understanding how the economy, player statistical data and unpredictability all work can give you an advantage, and allow you to make more informed decisions when placing bets on Counter-Strike 2.
Roles can also play a big part in your predictions. Bettors can benefit from not only looking at a player’s statistics, but also understanding how the role they play within a match can affect their K/D ratio. It is important to consider that K/D ratio alone does not give an accurate representation of skill or performance level.
As mentioned previously, CTs are always defending against the Ts in the Bomb Scenario. It’s imperative for the team on the CT side to find a suitable defensive spot, whereas Ts need to find a way through the defense. The game rules have an effect on team strategy.
Additionally, the economy plays a big part in a team’s overall strategy. For example, you are more likely to see a team recover or pull off more clutch plays on the T side than a team playing CT side, as they receive more income based on poor performance.
The importance of maps
If you want to make accurate CS2 predictions, you will also need to invest some time looking at both team and individual player performance on different maps. While the game will always remain the same, teams do perform better on certain maps.
In a best-of-three (Bo3), all seven competitive maps are available, but once the veto process has concluded (prior to the start of the match) there will be three maps left.
Knowing the individual players
Keep in mind that some of the unpredictability surrounding CS2 matches can be attributed to individual players.
Each player has a “tilt” factor, and this can happen before or during an event. Tilting is when a player gets unreasonably angry at the game and loses the ability to make sound decisions. Researching past statistics on teams and players can provide you with the edge you need in order to avoid becoming a victim of tilting when you bet on a match, more so if you understand how the players react to losing scenarios.
You can also determine from their post-match interviews or social media comments how they are feeling going into the next round. By gauging their emotional state, you can put yourself in a position to make an educated decision on how that individual will perform in the next round or event.
CS2 can have multiple events a month with the same teams, so if they underperformed a week before, chances are they will underperform again. This is because there is not sufficient time to either bounce back from the previous event, or to research how they can improve in order to win the match.
CS2 can have multiple events a month, so if a team underperformed one week, chances are they will underperform again.
Competitive CS2 teams may play each other regularly and are familiar with the strategies and skill levels of their opponents. However, when a new team gets added to the mix, they could be in with a chance of picking up wins against top tier teams who may not be prepared for such a matchup.
Larger events, such as a CS2 Major, can host up to 24 teams. When such a tournament occurs, it provides opportunities for teams of various skill levels to demonstrate what they are capable of.
Knowing when to make your move
So, you’ve done your research, you know how the game works and what might influence the outcome of a match. You might know the difference between a headshot and Top Banana, but where do you go from there?
If you want to start improving your betting experience from your CS2 predictions, you need to break down the possible outcomes of your predictions into probabilities and compare them against a bookmaker’s odds.
Using a hypothetical example, if you estimate that FaZe Clan have a 68% chance of beating Heroic and the bookmaker’s odds are set at 59%, then it would be worthwhile to place a bet. If, however, the bookmaker’s odds match your prediction, then there is little value in making a bet.
If the bookmaker had FaZe at 73% and Heroic at 27% then you would be better off betting on Heroic - FaZe are still more likely to win, but considering the outside chance that Heroic have, the reward is worth the risk in the long run.
The overall goal of your predictions is to try and defy the odds and take advantage of knowledge that goes beyond that of the betting markets. This doesn’t apply only to esports but sports betting in general.
How do you bet on CS2?
If you are not too familiar with placing bets on Counter-Strike 2, you might need a hand to navigate the various methods available to make a bet. To help, we’ve prepared a handy Betting Guide for those looking to place a bet on Counter-Strike 2.
Pinnacle offers a number of betting markets for CS2 enthusiasts to bet on. The most popular market for esports betting is the Money Line market, which is a bet on the winner of a particular match. Futures markets are also on offer if bettors want to bet on a team to win specific tournaments.
If you’re an eagle-eyed bettor, be sure to stay up to date with our CS2 odds page. Pinnacle offers the best CS2 odds and a wide variety of different markets, both pre-match and in-play.
