HellRaisers vs. Nexus, Preview & Prediction - Free 1/24 CS:GO

HellRaisers are favorites in this Best of 3 encounter when they take on Nexus in the Swiss round 3 (teams with a 1-1 record) of the Shadow League Season 1 on Sunday. The winner will need one more victory to reach the playoffs, while the losing side will face elimination if they lose the next game.

HellRaisers Team Stats and Latest Results

HellRaisers opened 2021 with wins over ex-ETHEREAL and forZe at the Vulkan Fight Series 2020, but they lost in the semi-finals to Sinners, despite winning the first map. They had to settle with 3rd place and $3,375. At this tournament, HellRaisers lost the opening game to GamerLegion but bounced back against Unique after coming from behind. HellRaisers won ten of the previous 16 matches.

In the last three months, HellRaisers played very well on Train (72.2% win rate) and Dust2 (64.7%), while they failed to impress on Vertigo (25.0%). HellRaisers are playing with a new lineup since January this year and appeared on 16 maps with a record of seven wins and nine losses. The team members are kalinka (1.08 rating), Flarich (1.02), anarkez (1.01), ProbLeM (1.09), and JIaYm (1.07).

Nexus Team Stats and Latest Results

Nexus closed the last year with three wins in four matches at the Vulkan Fight Series 2020, but they lost the first game in 2021 to Winstrike, even though they had a 1-0 lead. The Romanian team opened the Shadow League Season 1 with a 2-0 victory over Budapest Five and had a 1-0 lead over Lyngby Vikings in the following game, but lost it in the end. Nexus lost eight of the last 14 games.

During the previous three months, Nexus was strong on Mirage (71.4%), and played well on Overpass (66.7%) and Train (65.0%), while they disappointed on Inferno (16.7%) and Nuke (25.0%). Since October 2020, Nexus is playing with the current squad that appeared on 71 maps and recorded 37 wins and 34 losses. The lineup consists of BTN (0.98), SEMINTE (0.96), XELLOW (1.10), iM (1.15), and raga (0.94).

HellRaisers vs. Nexus H2H Record

These rivals have met on nine occasions before, and Nexus leads the all-time series 5-4. They won each of the last three encounters, including the most recent one at the ESEA MDL Season 35 Europe in November 2020.

HellRaisers vs. Nexus Betting Preview

Although I am leaning toward HellRaisers in this one, I will avoid betting on the winner because of the latest H2H record and Nexus’ three consecutive wins. However, I am going to back Over 2.5 maps as three of the last four Best of 3 duels produced a maximum of three maps. That was also the case in four of HellRaisers’ previous five matches.

The Pick: Over 2.5 Maps (+109 @GG.BET)