G2 vs. NIP, Preview & Prediction - Free 3/13 CS:GO

G2 is a slight favorite in this Best of 3 encounter when they face NIP in the opening match of Group B at the ESL Pro League Season 13 on Saturday. Alongside these two teams, mousesports, FaZe, Vitality, and ENCE are also playing in this group.

G2 Team Stats and Latest Results

G2 wasn’t very active in 2021 so far as they took part in just three tournaments. G2 didn’t play well at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020 and BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021, while they played a bit better at the IEM Katowice 2021, where they ended in 7th place and won $24,000. Still, G2 is on a three-game losing streak after losses to FURIA, Virtus.pro, and AGO. G2 lost seven of the previous 12 matches.

During the last three months, G2 was above average only on Inferno (66.7% win rate), while they didn’t impress on Mirage (40.0%) and Train (25.0%). After parting ways with kenny5 and adding JaCkz (1.22 rating), G2’s lineup consists of NiKo (1.13), huNter- (1.04), AmaNEk (0.94), and nexa (0.99). Most of them appeared on 254 maps and recorded 12 wins and 13 losses.

NIP Team Stats and Latest Results

Just like G2, NIP also didn’t play a lot of games in a new year. However, the Swedish team didn’t have luck in limited opportunities and failed to leave the mark at the cs_summit 7, BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021, IEM Katowice 2021, and most recently, the Snow Sweet Snow 2. They are also on a three-game losing skid. NIP lost seven of the last 12 games, an identical record to G2’s in that span.

In the previous three months, NIP played well on Inferno (60.0%), while they didn’t taste a win on Vertigo (played twice) and were below average on Mirage (33.3%) and Overpass (37.5%). NIP is playing with the current lineup since January 2021 and appeared on 26 maps with a record of 11 maps and 15 losses. The team members are REZ (1.03), hampus (1.01), nawwk (0.91), Plopski (1.08), and ztr (0.94).

G2 vs. NIP H2H Record

These rivals have met just once before, and NIP won that clash 2-1 at the IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Europe in November 2020.

G2 vs. NIP Betting Preview

Both sides are struggling right now and it would be crazy to bet on the winner here. Their only H2H duel produced a maximum of three maps, and I expect to see the same outcome on Saturday. Given that G2 is in 11th and NIP in 12th place in the CS:GO rankings, I anticipate a close encounter with a lot of rounds on each end.

The Pick: Over 2.5 Maps (-123 @GGBET)