?Shanghai Dragons swept Chengdu Hunters on Saturday with 2-0 on Control – Oasis, 2-1 on Hybrid – Hollywood, and 6-5 on Escort – Junkertown. As the scores would suggest, the match was relatively close, but the Dragons were still the better team overall.

You could say that Shanghai struggled a bit against Chengdu, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have a hard time against Los Angeles Valiant. The latter are the worst team in the Eastern division and serious candidates to end another stage without a single win.

The Valiant are 0-4 on the season with a 1-12 map differential. Their only map win came during the opening week of OWL May Melee qualifiers when they edged out a 3-2 victory on Hybrid – King’s Row against the Hunters. They have since suffered 0-3 sweeps against Philadelphia Fusion, Guangzhou Charge, and Seoul Dynasty.

If the Dragons can’t walk away from this match with a 3-0 sweep, they should seriously rethink their strategy and goals for the season. Note that you might get better odds on the correct score market compared to the map handicap.

?New York Excelsior looked solid last week when they beat Philadelphia Fusion 3-1. They won the match with 2-0 on Control – Lijiang Tower, 3-0 on Hybrid – Numbani, and 2-0 on Assault – Volskaya Industries.

The Excelsior’s deadly DPS lineup was the driving force behind that upset win. However, after their commanding victory against the Fusion, New York returned to their old ways and lost to Chengdu Hunters (1-3) as $1.28 favourites.

The Excelsior’s inconsistency makes it hard to trust them with our money, but they should match up nicely with Seoul Dynasty. At the offered odds, siding with New York is worth a shot. And since they are a team that can pop-off and demolish anyone, a smaller bet on NYXL with a -1.5 map handicap at $6.51 might be appealing to some.

?Houston Outlaws are clearly the better team, but they’re not exactly consistent. The latest OWL betting odds seem set more based on how weak London Spitfire seem to be rather than how strong the Outlaws are.

Even though Houston should win this match with relative ease, there is a chance they drop a map. London seem to do well on Hybrid maps, where the Outlaws have proved to be vulnerable.

Last time out, these two sides didn’t get to play on a Hybrid map, but we have to note that the Spitfire forced three maps (1-2) on Escort and Assault. At even money or better, siding with the London outfit to win at least one map is the way to go.

The post OWL June Joust betting predictions – May 29, 2021 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?The latest OWL betting odds indicate that Guangzhou Charge have a mere 23% chance of beating the Hangzhou Spark, and we can’t argue with that. The Spark might not have impressed anyone with their showings so far, but they consistently do well against weaker sides. That trend includes a 3-0 sweep of Guangzhou at the start of the month.

Although there is a world where the Charge steal one map, we don’t expect them to achieve much more. They’re 1-3 on the season, and their only win came against Los Angeles Valiant – the undisputed worst team in the league.

?Shanghai Dragons were finalists at the 2021 OWL May Melee, so it makes sense to see them priced as heavy betting favourites for this match. However, that doesn’t convince us that they’ll look much better than when Chengdu Hunters beat them 3-0 in their last meeting.

Although you could argue that was a fluke, it showed that the current OWL East frontrunners aren’t flawless. They usually do well when faced with the top dogs, but it seems like the pressure of putting away the underdogs is too much for Byung-chul “Moon” Moon’s squad to handle.

At the offered price, we’re ready to take the side of the outsiders. They have proven before that they can tame the Dragons, and there’s nothing that would lead us to believe they can’t do it the second time around. It might also be worth dropping a few bucks on the Hunters to win 3-0.

?Philadelphia Fusion have by far the most manageable schedule out of all OWL teams, with clashes against New York Excelsior, Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, and Los Angeles Valiant on the horizon. That schedule more or less guarantees them a spot at the OWL June Joust main tournament, but the feeling of security could make the Fusion a bit careless in their approach. Still, we don’t believe this is a match where you bet against them.

As much as we want to side with the Excelsior, it’s difficult to believe that they can improve upon their showings last month. On a more positive note, New York boast a powerful DPS lineup, which should help them keep steal at least one map off the favourites.

The post OWL June Joust betting predictions – 22/5/2021 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?It’s hard to be too excited about Paris Eternal, although it wouldn’t be fair to say that they’re the worst team in the OWL. They have been performing better than London Spitfire and Vancouver Titans, but we can’t rank them much higher than that.

Toronto Defiant seem stronger than the Eternal, but it’s not like they’re one of the top teams in the West. They have done well against bottom teams but showed little to nothing when faced with top-five squads such as Florida Mayhem (0-3) and Washington Justice (0-3).

The Defiant should be winning matches like this, but after seeing them drop maps against Atlanta Reign (3-2) and the Titans (1-3), we aren’t too confident they’ll have an easy time against the French.

?London Spitfire are a promising project that could potentially compete for the organisation’s second OWL title next season. However, they are still a long way from achieving that goal.

We have talked before about how Florida Mayhem are an underrated side, and they proved us right with their third-place finish at the OWL May Melee. There, they lost only to the eventual finalists, Shanghai Dragons, going down 2-3 and 0-3.

Florida shouldn’t be losing games like this, nor should they be dropping maps against a team that is 0-4 with a 3-12 map record. Expect a swift 3-0 from the favourites.

The post OWL June Joust betting predictions – Friday 21/5/2021 appeared first on Esport Bet.