SAW and Digital Athletics will meet on day two of the VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA group stage. That's where the Portuguese will make their debut, which will be an interesting place to watch at The International.
As for Digital Athletics, the Turkish squad still have to play Apeks there, but I think the Turkish squad is still a long way off from that level.
All in all, I'm a little surprised by the odds, which are heavily in favour of Digital Athletics. So I'd lean on the SAW team card here, as I think the Portuguese will shoot and surprise.
SAW's form
The second team in the European rankings went through VALORANT Challengers 2023 Portugal: Tempest Split 1 quite confidently, where they suffered only one defeat and took the championship.
The Portuguese side kept their wits about them and went on to win VALORANT Challengers 2023 Portugal: Tempest Split 2, once again edging out every opponent in their path.
Still, there are questions about SAW so far, as the team has kept a low profile from their region and not featured anywhere. But we'll see - the Portuguese could surprise.
Recent SAW results:
- A 13-15 defeat to GTZ Esports.
- A 13-10 win over For The Win Esports.
- A 13-4 win over Panthers Esports.
- 2-0 win over GTZ Esports.
- A 3-0 win over GTZ Esports.
Top SAW scores:
- Fracture - 100% wins.
- Split - 100% wins.
- Ascent - 100% wins.
- Lotus - 100% wins.
- Haven - 89% wins.
- Pearl - 67% wins.
Interestingly, the Portuguese team does not usually appear on the Bind map.
Digital Athletics form
The 22nd-ranked team in Europe started the season in open qualifiers, and even in the qualifiers Digital Athletics took the second place, but still made it to the VALORANT Challengers.
Moreover, the Turkish squad had a poor showing at the VALORANT Challengers Turkey: Birlik - Split 1, with a very poor performance and only seventh place in the final.
However, Digital Athletics surprisingly came through at the end of the regional season, sensationally winning VALORANT Challengers Turkey: Birlik - Split 2.
Digital Athletics' latest results:
- A 1-2 defeat to SuperMassive Esports.
- 2-0 win over Fire Flux Esports.
- 2-0 win over Galakticos.
- 3-1 win over Galatasaray Esports.
- Beat S2G Esports 3-0.
Digital Athletics top scorers:
- Lotus - 83% wins.
- Split - 80% wins.
- Pearl - 67% wins.
- Fracture - 60% wins.
- Haven - 58% wins.
In turn, the Turkish team does not risk showing up on the Bind map.
SAW - Digital Athletics encounter statistics
The teams have not met before.
Forecast for SAW - Digital Athletics
To be honest, I'm surprised by the way the odds are lined up. It is clear that SAW sat all season in their Portugal, but the same Turkish team actually miraculously got here, having shot at the last championship.
Thus, such quotes towards Digital Athletics are very contradictory, as the team from Turkey itself is a sub-surprise.
Therefore, in this case, I would recommend betting on the Forum on map (+1.5) for the SAW team.
