The ESL Pro League Season 17 starts today, Feb 22, 2023 with Outsiders facing IHC and Fnatic pitted against MIBR in the opening round of Group A Upper – Bracket.
Both these matches have been clubbed together as the match of the day (MOTD) for New Match Mode, with a total prize pool of ₹90,597 up for grabs.
Recent Performances
Outsiders are the favorites to win against IHC as they are also the better-ranked team amongst the two with a world ranking of 7 as compared to IHC’s 18.
When it comes to evaluating Fnatic vs MIBR, predicting a winner is a little difficult as MIBR, though ranked far lower at 22 compared to Fnatic’s 9th position, is in great form and has won 4 of their last 5 matches. But when it comes to head-to-head matches between the two teams Fnatic completely thrashes MIBR as they have won 6 out of the 8 times the two teams met.
New Match Mode
This is the first time that two matches are clubbed together as the MOTD. Herein the users will be able to choose a total of 5 players from a pool of 20. You can only choose a maximum of 3 players from one pair of teams which consists of 10 players.
Which Team to pick?
Stacked Squad
Squad with players that have the most fantasy points in the last 5 matches
- sk0r
- mezii
- bLitz
- nicoodoz
- Jame
Economically efficient Squad
Squad with players that have the highest cost as per credits
- FASHR
- Annihilation
- KaiR0N
- Jame
- HEN1
Expert Squad for Outsiders & Fnatic VS IHC & MIBR
Since we believe that the combined set of Outsiders and Fnatic is a better pair, I will be picking 3 players who belong to either of these two teams and pick the rest of the two players from the IHC & MIBR pair. Jame has been a consistent player and has performed well, the same goes for Krimz. Mezii has especially played well against big teams and is in fantastic form. Insani from IHC has also played well against better teams and has also been in great form. Sk0r has been vital in providing his team good support and played well against OG.
- jame (8.5)
- mezii (7.9)
- insani (9)
- KRIMZ (7.2)
- sk0r (7.4)
- Total points = 40
Picking the Captain and Vice-Captain
Overall I would suggest you pick Jame as the Captain and Mezii as the vice-captain
Adding the boosters
Jame and insani have got KDs that are well above 1 with 1.36 and 1.21 each, we would still prefer to give Jame the I’ll watch you die Booster as he has played well against top tier teams. When it comes to the Helping Hand Booster, I believe either Krimz or Mezii should get it for their support and consistency.
With this information, you are all set to make your squads in the FanClash app where you can assemble as many as 20 squads to maximize your chances of winning the match of the day. Now it is time for you to build your own squads!
When and Where to Watch?
Both matches will start at 8:30 pm IST on Feb 22, 2023 and will be streamed on ESL’s CSGO twitch – https://m.twitch.tv/esl_csgo and youtube channel https://youtu.be/pZLK1wZNN_s respectively.
DISCLAIMER: This team is based on the understanding and instinct of the author. While selecting your team, please consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.
