forZe vs. Illuminar, Preview & Prediction - Free 12/7 CS:GO

The European Development Championship 1 starts with an interesting clash between forZe and Illuminar, who are playing in Group A alongside Endpoints and Budapest Five. forZe is a slight favorite in this Best of 1 encounter.

forZe Team Stats and Latest Results

forZe returns to action after ten days of absence and a 2-0 defeat to Nemiga at the Nine to Five 6, which was the last tournament they took part in. The Russian side is struggling at the moment as they failed to connect two victories in more than a month when they beat Nordavind and ALTERNATE aTTaX at the ESEA MDL Season 35 Europe. forZe lost 11 of the previous 15 matches.

During the last three months, forZe played well on Inferno (63.6% win rate) and Mirage (60.0%), while they disappointed on Overpass (28.6%) and Dust2 (29.4%). Despite poor results, forZe didn’t change its current squad since September this year and appeared on 94 maps with a record of 47 wins and 47 losses. The lineup is made of facecrack (0.96 rating), almazer (1.02), FL1T (1.13), xsepower (1.15), and Jerry (1.00).

Illuminar Team Stats and Latest Results

Illuminar beat AVEZ and Wisla Krakow to win a trophy at the ESL Polish Championship Autumn 2020 and $6,257 with a ticket for the DreamHack Open November 2020. They also secured a ticket for the Nine to Five 7 thanks to victories over DUSTY and SG.pro. Illuminar won seven of the last games.

In the previous three months, Illuminar was decent on Overpass (77.8%) and Mirage (64.3%), while they displayed poor performances on Dust2 (12.5%). Illuminar is also playing with the same lineup since September 2020 and appeared on 54 maps with a record of 31 wins and 23 losses. The team members are Snax (1.17), reatz (1.04), mouz (1.01), phr (1.00), and Vegi (1.07).

forZe vs. Illuminar H2H Record

These rivals have met on just one occasion, and forZe won that clash at the ESEA MDL Season 32 Europe in November 2019.

forZe vs. Illuminar Betting Preview

Even though forZe is a better-ranked side and certainly has bigger achievements in the team’s history, I’d avoid betting on them to win here. The Russians’ latest form is quite concerning and I am leaning toward Illuminar in this one. Still, it’s a Best of 1 encounter and could go either way, but I am pretty sure the Poles can cover the +3.5 spread and stay close to forZe.

The Pick: Illuminar +3.5 (-200)