BLAST Premier World Final 2021 Picks, Predictions, Odds December 18

• Vitality’s recent form includes nine wins in as many maps
• Zywoo has remained prolific in long-range proficiency
• Gambit needs Sh1ro to stand a chance in the upper bracket final 

Vitality vs Gambit Pick

Gambit needed three maps but eventually had too much strength and quality as they beat Liquid to move to the upper bracket final on Saturday, which is a direct qualifier match.

Vitality have been in splendid form in the last few weeks, moving quickly into this stage. They have been in sensational offensive rhythm as well, dominating almost every CS:GO map they have had to play in.

Vitality’s momentum as well as their superior roster should have an impact in this upper bracket match, which should ultimately result in a win for Vitality.

Vitality’s Incredible Dominance

Here is a stunning stat: Vitality have not lost even one of their last nine maps. These are all against high-profile opponents in the pressure of top-tier CS:GO. One of those wins was in a BO5 match against NiP.

The other two have come in Vitality’s first two matches of this competition. First, they beat Astralis comfortably 16-4 (in Nuke), 16-6 (in Mirage). Then, Vitality cruised easily past a strong G2 team without dropping a map: 16-10 (in Nuke) and 16-13 (in Mirage).

Currently, Vitality are on a five-match winning streak, which might be too much rhythm for Gambit. That could be an increasingly influential reason down the stretch as this tournament draws to a close.

Vitality have won 8 of their last 10 maps in Dust2 (map win percentage of 80), 9 of their last 12 maps in Mirage (map win percentage of 75), 7 of their last 12 maps in Nuke (map win percentage of 67) and 7 of their last 9 maps in Inferno (map win percentage of 78). Vitality have an advantage against Gambit in each of these maps.

Zywoo Continues to Produce

Zywoo has been one of the best players in the world for a while now, constantly competing with incredible players like S1mple, Device and NiKo for that title. He came into this tournament with momentum and rhythm, and he has just maintained that from the outset.

In the first match of this competition, Zywoo razed his way to 52 kills with just 13 deaths at a stellar K-D of +39. He also had an average damage per round of 124 and a KAST of 90.5%. Those are simply stunning numbers, by any measure, considering this is one of the highest-profile tournaments in the pro circuit.

In the second match, against G2, Zywoo was not as prolific but still managed to produce 42 kills and 30 deaths. His K-D of +12 was the highest among both teams as he put in another masterclass in long-range weapon handling.

Let’s extrapolate some of this data to a longer sample size of three months. In this period, Zywoo has managed 0.84 kills along with 0.59 deaths per round at an average damage per round of 87.4. Over such a long period of time, those are simply stunning returns, even for one of the best players in the world.

Gambit will need Sh1ro

Sh1ro has been Gambit’s standout player, producing 0.82 kills with just 0.53 deaths per round. This is even better than Zywoo’s returns in the last few months of action on the professional circuit.

Gambit managed to beat Liquid in a thoroughly dominant third map. Gambit won the first map 16-14 before Liquid came back in Vertigo to win 16-13. However, in a decisive third map in Overpass, Gambit crushed Liquid 16-2.

As expected, Sh1ro was in some fine offensive rhythm in that match, producing 58 kills along with just 31 deaths at a game-leading K-D of +27. He will need to be at his usual best against one of the better teams in the world to stand a chance against this Vitality team.

How to Watch Vitality vs Gambit: Blast Premier World Final 2021