Cloud9 vs 1win Prediction: Cloud9 Almost in the Top Form

• The B-Tier tournament features some of the top teams from the Eastern European region. The top-performing team will qualify for the A-Tier Blast Premier Showdown featuring the best teams across Europe, who will then have an additional opportunity to qualify for the Fall Final 
• Cloud9 is a considerably stronger team on paper, with a string of wins and strong finishes in the recent past. In March of this year, they finished in an extremely impressive 3rd-4th in Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023
• 1win, on the other hand, is not quite at the same level as Cloud9 and has not even qualified for the major tournaments that Cloud9 has played in over the last couple of years.

Cloud9 vs 1win Pick

• Our Pick: Cloud9 to win

Cloud9 vs 1win Prediction

The oddsmakers have listed 1win as nearly 3 to 1 underdogs, and it’s not hard to see why. Cloud9 is a veteran team that has played at the highest level of competition in professional CS:GO. On the other hand, 1win is relatively new to professional CS:GO, having been founded relatively recently in 2020.  

The two teams have faced each other only one time in the past, during IEM Road to Rio in 2022, and Cloud9 swept 1win with a seemingly easy 2-0 win. Cloud9 is also the first, and only, North American team to have won a CS:GO major. With its team location split between Russia and the United States, the organization fields players in both geographies, allowing themselves to be exposed to different playstyles and strategies.  

Based on HLTV’s team rankings, 1win is currently ranked #27, while the highest rank they ever achieved with #25. On the other hand, Cloud9 is a team that spent 14 weeks as the #1 ranked team in the world, while they are currently ranked #8 in the world. In terms of their levels as teams, the writing is on the wall: Cloud9 operates at a different level in comparison to 1win, and this fact is most likely to shine through during the upcoming match. 

We predict a fairly one-sided contest in the upcoming match-up as Cloud9 will be looking to warm up by racking up wins on their path to the Majors this year. 

Tournament Structure

The RES Eastern Tournament Masters Features a total of eight teams who are seeded in from a mixed range of sources. Cloud9, Eternal Fire, and Monte, as some of the top teams in the world are invited to participate directly, while REDPack Esports and Bad News Eagles qualify for the tournament through the regular season of the RES. The three remaining teams, Zero Tenacity, Team Spirit, and 1win receive entry from the three respective open qualifiers that each of them has won.  

Accordingly, regardless of the method of qualification, teams are shuffled together and split up into two groups of four teams each. In the 2023 season, Group A consists of Monte, Team Spirit, Eternal Fire, and REDPack Esports, while Group B consists of Cloud9, Bad News Eagles, Zero Tenacity, and 1win. The mixing up of elite teams with upcoming prospects greatly helps the sport by providing visibility to lesser-known players who may have unusually high levels of talent relative to their experience.  

The group stage matches of the RES European masters follow a double elimination format, with each match being decided by the best of one round. Accordingly, the competition is going to be intense, as the teams battle out for a chance to go through to the BLAST Fall showdown. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs. The playoffs stage follows a single elimination bracket format with each match being decided by the best of three rounds. 

Cloud9 Almost at the Top of its Game

The entire global esports community has witnessed what Cloud9 is capable of thanks to their past performances. With more than 10 years of experience as a professional team, Cloud9 has been at the forefront of competitive CS: GO since its inception by the Etiennes in 2013. In their last five matches, Cloud9 held wins against GamerLegion, Monte, and fnatic, while they lost out to ENCE and Vitality.  

Over the last six months, the team has played 100 maps out of which they won 59 and lost 41. During the same period, they racked up 9200 kills and 8754 deaths for a positive kill/death ratio of 1.05 over 2746 rounds. Currently, the most active player on the Cloud9 squad is sh1ro, who played 99 maps, while Hobbit and Ax1Le have played 99 and 89 maps respectively.  

1win Facing Tough Odds

As three-to-one underdogs, 1win has unfortunately been matched up against one of the world’s best CS:GO teams in the very opening round of RES Eastern Europe Fall 2023. The team’s activity over the last six months is comparable to that of Cloud9, with 105 maps played, out of which they won 64 and lost 31. During this time, they scored 9859 kills and suffered 9260 deaths for a positive kill/death ratio of 1.06 over 2885 rounds.  

1win is currently fielding an all-Russian squad with players Nickelback, Boombl4, Forester, TRAVIS, and deko, who have all played 105 maps each. The team is currently coached by Dmitry ‘hooch’ Bogdanov. While TRAVIS and stand-in player deko have been with the team since its inception in 2020 and 2021 respectively, the rest of the squad was acquired in February of 2023. 

How to Watch Cloud9 vs 1win

• Teams: Cloud9 vs 1win
• Location: Eastern Europe/Online
• Date: September 16, 2023 
• How to Watch: Twitch