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Counter-Strike 2 doesn't seem to be coming to an end. The Elisa Masters Espoo series will be back on the screens very soon with the Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 tournament.
The Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 Championship in Espoo, Finland will feature $200,000 in prize money. Eight teams will compete for the prize money.
The action starts with the group stage, where the teams are divided into 2 quartets of 4 teams each. We will talk about Group B, which can be called the group of death.
Among the participants of this quartet are MOUZ and Apeks. They will open the stage of bo3 match.
We are trying to figure out which side will be stronger and earn the first victory in GSL group, and who will have to play Elimination Match.
Let's go.
Form MOUZ
Setting the stage for the showdown, let's initiate the analysis by scrutinizing MOUZ's current form. As they step into this match, they emerge as clear favorites, boasting odds to win hovering around 1.27. This scenario presents an intriguing proposition for those contemplating a CSGO gamble, with MOUZ positioned as the team to watch in this upcoming clash.
MOUZ's main achievement this season is reaching the final of the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023. There they battled ENCE, but were beaten 0-2.
Prior to Long Cologne IEM Cologne MOUZ made a splash at the Elisa Invitational Spring 2023. They failed to jump above the top 4 - they were beaten by Apeks on their way to the Grand Final.
Back in the season, they made it to the top 8 at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A, and then to the event itself. It didn't end well, as the team finished Top-24 at Major e.
- MOUZ line-up: frozen, siuhy, torzsi, Jimpphat, xertioN.
IEM Cologne 2023 will be a test for the new line-up of the "mice". After Elisa Spring, siuhy, who previously played for GamerLegion, and Jimpphat, a youth player from MOUZ Nxt, joined the squad.
In the debut match the revamped MOUZ roster played against The MongolZ. An easy outing on paper ended in a nervous Bo1 on the dopes, followed by a 22-19 win for MOUZ on Nuke.
Already in the match to qualify for the group stage MOUZ were much more confident. They beat NiP 2-0 (16-12 Nuke and 16-7 Inferno) without any problems.
The first match of the group stage was not a big challenge for MOUZ either. NaVi lost at Ancient with a score of 16-9 and Overpass with a score of 16-12.
After beating NaVi, MOUZ failed to gain a foothold and lost the next two series. As a result, the "mice" at IEM Cologne 2023 took the top 12.
Before ESL Pro League Season 18, the team played at the local championship Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1. They managed to win, defeating BIG 2-0 in the grand finals.
In their debut match at ESL Pro League Season 18, MOUZ faced mibr. Being the favourites, MOUZ failed to defeat the Brazilians and unexpectedly ended up in the bottom of Group B.
The group stage was a mixed bag for MOUZ, but still more successful than not. An unexpected defeat in the top set cheered MOUZ up and they effortlessly went over the heads of their opponents, Heroic among them, at the bottom of the group stage table. Having not lost a single game in the lower grid, MOUZ made it here.
In the first round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 play-offs, MOUZ seemed to be off the chain. The Brazilians from FURIA were literally stomped, and the "mice" celebrated an easy 2-0 victory, giving their opponents a total of 9 rounds per game.
In the match before that MOUZ met another grandee of the European scene - FaZe Clan. "Mice" on a spree swept through the match and closed the series with a score of 2-0.
In the match for the exit here MOUZ met G2 Esports. They became the next trophy in the "mice" piggy bank at ESL Pro League S18.
MOUZ went on to defeat ENCE (2-1) and NaVi in the EPL S18 Grand Final with a resounding 3-0 score. Prior to the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, MOUZ played at IEM Sydney 2023, where they again faced FaZe. This time FaZe retaliated for the upset defeat and knocked MOUZ out at the Top 4 stage.
Thunderpick World Championship 2023 MOUZ ended prematurely. They lost in the first round of play-offs to FaZe, who later became the tournament champions.
Later was the CS Asia Championship 2023, where MOUZ performed well. They reached the grand finals, but there they lost to FaZe Clan with a score of 0-2.
MOUZ Mapple
MOUZ's favourite map remains Inferno. Over the last 3 months the "mice" have played it three times and won all their games there. Nuke is also doing well, with MOUZ winning 3 out of 4 Nuke games played.
Among the good options are Vertigo and Ancient, where MOUZ have 2 wins in 3 games each.
The most undesirable map is Mirage. MOUZ have played it 6 times, but have only won once.
Form Apeks
We continue the match analysis with the analysis of Apeks form. In this match they are playing as a number two, with odds to win at around 3.6.
The 2023 season has been very productive for Apeks, but the team's performance remains questionable. Over a dozen tournaments have been played, but the high-profile results can be listed on the fingers of one hand.
They started the season with a top-16 finish at CCT South Europe Season 2. Next was the nightmarish Elisa Invitational Winter 2023 with a top-20 and then a top-4 CCT West Euroe Series #1.
In the middle of the year, Apeks took Top 2 at CCT West Europe Series #2 and Top 8 at BB Playlist. Urbanistic and Brazy Party. However, it was much more important to make it to the TOP-6 at European RMR A and to get to BLAST.tv Paris Major.
Paris Major itself became Apeks' moment of glory. Being a clear Underpassdog, Apeks managed to surprise the audience and make it to the top 4, where they were defeated by the future champions from Vitality.
Before the Long Convergence Gamers8, the team took part in IEM Cologne 2023, where they finished in the Top 20, CCT Online Finals #2, with Top 12 and Top 16 at ThunderPick World Championship 2023: European Series #1. The results are frankly so-so, but it doesn't get much better than that in the rivalry.
- Gamers8 lineup: nawwk, jkaem, kyxsan, sense, CacaNito.
After the extremely successful BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Apeks changed their line-up. The 13th team of the world was completed by Macedonian CacaNito, who replaced in the roster headliner jL, who moved to NaVi.
After the roster shake-up, Apeks continued to perform at all sorts of tournaments. Their portfolio includes appearances at Gamers8 (TOP-16), CCT North Europe Series #7 (TOP-16), absolutely failed EPL Season 18 (TOP-28), CCT East Europe Series #2 (TOP-4).
Just before Roobet Cup 2023 Apeks took part in ESL Challenger At DreamHack Winter 2023: Europe Qualifier and IEM Sydney 2023. At the qualifier event they took TOP-6, but in Sydney they reached TOP-12.
At the Roobet Cup 2023 Apeks got into Group C, where they were opposed by BIG, 9INE and Astralis. The quartet, to put it bluntly, was not the easiest, nevertheless Apeks managed to reach the play-offs from the second place, losing only to BIG at the beginning of the group stage. However, having started well, they finished so badly: the final place - TOP-8, which is not bad in principle, but obviously could be better.
Apeks map pool
Apeks has an extensive map pool. The most frequent map is Inferno (12 maps, 83% wins).
Mirage (63% wins in 11 matches), Anubis (62% wins, 8 matches), Ancient (46% wins, 13 matches).
Among the worst are Overpass and Vertigo. They have 37% winrate with 13 cards each.
Nuke is not playing.
History of head-to-head meetings MOUZ - Apeks
The last time the teams played each other was at the Elisa Invitational Spring 2023. Apeks won then, which was a rather unexpected outcome.
Predicted result of MOUZ vs Apeks at Elisa Masters Espoo 2023
In this match I don't see any obstacles for MOUZ. "Mice" will have no problem taking the game, and they will do it easily.
Bottom line: MOUZ wins.