The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2023 has plenty of talent to showcase as the quarterfinals round opens play.

This event not only showcases some of the best CS:GO teams in the world, but this also breaks up the teams into their respective regions. 

This particular event features some of the best teams in Europe. This event features eight teams all fighting in a single elimination bracket for a prize pool of $67,500 and the winning team receives a berth to the 2023 BLAST Premier Spring Final.

Wednesday will see the first two matches of the event with Ninjas in Pyjamas in action against OG, and Cloud9 taking on the Copenhagen Flames. This won't be an easy event to win as the teams are all vying for the final spot at the Spring Final. 

After the first two days of action the semi-finals will be set for the weekend, with the Grand Final on Sunday.

Cloud9 and Ninjas in Pyjamas look to be the top of the competition in this eight-team event. Cloud9 has plenty of momentum coming off a runner-up finish in the ESL Pro League and could be set for a big 2023 campaign.

This is a nice tune up for the Major. Let's take a closer look at the matches on Wednesday's schedule.

NIP has OG's number

A showdown between two teams currently ranked in the top 20 in the CS:GO World Rankings leads off the day. Ninjas in Pyjamas will try to outduel Team OG. Both teams are no strangers to the BLAST Premier stage as both have been the usual suspects in participation at these events.

Both teams will be hoping to use this Spring Showdown as a building block for the Spring Final as both will be trying to reach the Grand Final match on Sunday with the winning team getting an auto bid to the Spring Final. The Ninjas have a three-match winning streak coming in.

OG hasn't fared well in the last two head-to-head matches with NIP, losing both in two maps. The first coming at the BLAST Premier Fall Final in 2022. Then the teams met during Season 17 of the ESL Pro League. That saw NIP outlast OG on Mirage 22-18 and on Vertigo 16-11.

OG has lost its last three matches in a row. The most recent of which was that clash with the Ninjas. It's going to be tough for degster and OG to outshine headtr1ck and NIP. The Ninjas are the smart choice at -167, to get the outright victory.

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Cloud9 should prove too tough for Copenhagen

The second quarter-final match of the day is between Cloud9 and Copenhagen Flames. Both teams have hopes to reach the Spring Final of BLAST Premier. Cloud9 is coming off a great showing in the ESL Pro League as they lost in the Grand Final match against FaZe Clan 3-1. Cloud9 has emerged as one of the strongest teams as of late in CS:GO.

That included a victory at IEM XVII Dallas in 2022. As for the Flames they have a little work to do as they lost their most recent match 2-1 against LDLC. Since Copenhagen has been primarily playing at the B-Tier level in CS:GO, they will be stepping up to a much tougher challenge here. 

Their last top level event they participated in was the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, where they were able to finish in the 5th-8th standing. The team has performed well in their own way, but this is a much bigger stage.

Cloud9 has seen sh1ro become the go to playmaker for the team as he is averaging 0.83 kills per round and has a current rating of 1.31 over the past three months of gameplay.

Cloud9 looks locked in and shouldn't have that much of an issue in getting past Copenhagen here. The leadership of sh1ro will be key for Cloud9 moving forward. Backing Cloud9 to not only win the match but easily cover the 1.5 spread is a must bet.

bet365 News Team

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