GamerLegion vs. M80 Prediction on January 31, 2024

Match info

The penultimate match of the Upper Bracket first-round of Play-in IEM Katowice 2024 (Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024) will go off on Wednesday, January 31, at 5:30 p.m. local time. GamerLegion from Germany, Europe, and M80 from the USA, North America, will square off in the encounter of the first marquee international tournament of the CS2 (Counter-Strike 2) eSports season, in Poland.

Meeting statistics

The current form of GamerLegion

Recently, the participants in the final of the last ex-CS: GO Major have been having a difficult time; this is particularly true of GamerLegion. The German team’s performance declined dramatically after the departure of captain Kamil “siuhy“ Szkaradek. Lacking experience as a captain, Janusz “Snax“ Pogorzelski had to deal with the hard time of leading a tier-1 squad.

The most recent results for GamerLegion are somewhat disappointing: they placed 17–20 in the ESL Pro League Season 18, 7-8 in IEM Sydney 2023, 5–6 at ESL Challenger Jönköping 2023 and Elisa Masters Espoo 2023, and 7-8 at BetBoom Dacha 2023 and ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023. The squad wasn’t able to raise their performance even after CS2 was launched.

GamerLegion made a big impression at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024 as they defeated FaZe Clan 2-0 in the opening match. But following this, the team lost two straight games and finished in ninth to 12th place, which was to be expected.

It’s highly unlikely that GamerLegion will make it to IEM Katowice 2024’s main stage. The European squad has limitations at a higher level, but can defeat mediocre opponents. GamerLegion lost four of the last five official matches.

The current form of M80

While they weren’t quite as successful as Team Liquid in North America last year, M80 nevertheless won a lot of competitions in the region. Nevertheless, they failed internationally, finishing last in the ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023. Regardless, in 2024, the US squad demonstrated especially ferociousness and tenacity, defeating precisely Team Liquid in the closed qualifier for PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 NA RMR.

Although the team performed well in the qualifiers and has great potential to play well in the IEM Katowice 2024 Play-in stage, M80’s performance may suffer after coach Rory “dephh“ Jackson takes over for Marcus “maNkz“ Kjeldsen. It will be challenging to predict how M80 will perform in such circumstances, and it would take a true miracle for the squad to make it to the main stage.

M80’s form is going upward, it has to be stressed, as they won four of the last five official matches.

Head-to-head encounters

There’s no history of confrontations between GamerLegion and M80.

Match analytics

At BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024, GamerLegion put on an incredible exhibition, defeating FaZe Clan despite their recent poor performance. On the other hand, M80 had to replace a player regardless of the fact they passed the qualifier, which could have an impact on the team’s performance.

In a matchup between GamerLegion and M80, the Europeans are the favorites in the opinion of the majority of operators from the list of CS2 betting sites. However, both teams have the potential to play well and therefore the outcome of the match could be close. It’s expected that both teams will show an aggressive style of play, which could lead to a battle throughout the match, possibly breaking the total rounds line.

The bet proposition: 1st Map: Round Total Over 22.5 with odds of 2.75 at Frank Casino.

Results of the forecast

Successful forecast. GamerLegion vs. M80 13:10