OG vs ENCE: OG’s Recent Inconsistency is a Bit of a Worry

• The Blast Paris Major starts on May 8 and ends on May 21. Day one of the prestigious CS:GO esport tournament will see OG face ENCE in a group stage game.  
• All the teams participating in this tournament are some of the best in the world. According to HLTV, OG are ranked 12th in the world, and ENCE are ranked ninth in the world. 
• ENCE go into this tie as slight favorites, but there isn’t much separating the two sides as far as the odds tables are concerned. 

OG vs ENCE Pick

Pick: OG to win. 

OG vs ENCE Predictions

When 24 of the world’s best CS:GO teams are competing against one another, there aren’t going to be many easy games. The Blast Paris Major’s group stages are more competitive than the knockout rounds of some other tournaments. 

OG and ENCE are two of the top CS:GO teams in the world – the former is ranked 12th in the world, and the latter is ranked 9th. This should be a cracking tie between two top teams. Of course, only one can come out on top, and the odds have ENCE as favorites, but not by much.

There isn’t a big difference in the valuation of the odds for either side in this game, so the strategy is straightforward: simply pick the team you think will win.  The two sides have only faced each other twice, and OG came out on top on both occasions. Both wins were pretty comfortable (16-9 and 16-13), so we suggest picking OG for this tie. For what it’s worth, the odds for OG are also slightly more valuable. 

OG’s Recent Inconsistency is a Bit of a Worry 

OG aren’t in the best of form heading into the Blast Paris Major. They lost their last game 2-1 to Cloud 9 and have recently struggled to put a winning run. Their last eight matches look like this: loss, win, win, loss, win, loss, win, and loss. 

This isn’t good enough for a side that should be contending for the top prizes. It has also seen their rank fall to 12th heading into the tournament. This isn’t the only concern heading into this critical group stage game. Their form on most maps, bar Mirage and Ancient, has been average at best in the last three months. 

In every other map, they average below 43% for the last three months. Their record on Inferno and Anubis is better than ENCE’s, but it’s hardly something worthy of praise since the win rate in the two maps is 43% and 40%. Their record in Ancient, where they have a 64% win rate, isn’t a big positive heading into this match either because ENCE have an even better win rate on the map.  The only significant positive heading into this game is their flawless record against ENCE. 

Both wins came last year, so OG can’t rest on their laurels. Their star player, Degster, must pull out all the stops in this tournament. He has averaged an impressive 0.74 kills per round in the past three months, but it is his elusiveness that makes him incredibly hard to play against. He has an incredible deaths per round average of 0.60 in the last three months. 

ENCE’s NertZ is Capable of Causing a Lot of Damage 

ENCE have been in excellent form recently, winning four of their last six matches heading into the Blast Paris Major. ENCE’s head-to-head record against OG isn’t the best, but they excel in almost every essential factor heading into this match. 

They’re far more competitive on most of the maps. They have a terrible win rate on Anubis and Inferno but average a win rate of over 60% on four of the maps. As stated earlier, they’re also in much better nick heading into this tie and currently have a better rank. 

They’ve also got a star player who can change the trajectory of a match on his own. NertZ has been in outstanding form in the past three months, with an incredible kills-per-round average of 0.78 and 0.65 deaths per round. He also averages an incredible 83.6 damage per round. For comparison’s sake, Degster has averaged 75.8 damage per round in the last three months. 

ENCE like to play in an aggressive manner because it meshes well with NertZ’s strengths. One of the issues against OG has been Degster’s incredible defensive ability. If ENCE can find a way to make Degster vulnerable, they could easily get their first victory over OG. 

They’ve had a year to find a loophole in OG’s game and have several factors in their favor, like form and flexibility. They won’t get a better chance to get one over OG, and a win over a bogey team will give them lots of confidence for the rest of the Blast Major Paris. This is an excellent opportunity for ENCE to set a marker. 

How to Watch Blast Paris Major 

• Teams: OG vs ENCE

• Location: Accor Arena, Paris, France

• Time: May 8, 2023, at 12:00 PM CEST

• How to watch: Blast.tv