On October 25, Eternal Fire will face B8 Esports in the group stage of ESL Challenger Katowice 2024. The match is scheduled to start at 13:00 EEST and will be played in a best-of-1 format. We have prepared an analysis and prediction for the upcoming match.

Current Form

Eternal Fire has been showing inconsistent yet occasionally impressive performances in major tournaments. The team's average rating at S-tier events over the past month is 5.7. Recently, they participated in two S-tier events — ESL Pro League Season 20 and IEM Rio 2024. At ESL Pro League, they surprised many by reaching the final, where they put up a strong fight against Natus Vincere but ultimately lost 2:3. However, they were unable to replicate that success at IEM Rio 2024, exiting during the group stage.

Eternal Fire's last five matches have been mixed: they won two games against G2 Esports and MIBR but lost to NAVI, Astralis, and The Mongolz. Overall, despite their inconsistency, the team enters ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 as one of the contenders for the trophy.

B8 has not competed in S-tier tournaments for a long time and mostly participates in lower-tier championships. In the past month, they took part in Elisa Masters Espoo 2024, where they performed decently, reaching the playoffs and securing 3rd-4th place. In the semifinals, B8 lost to HEROIC.

The team won 2 of their last 5 matches, but their opponents were weaker compared to Eternal Fire — they claimed victories over Ninjas in Pyjamas and JANO, while losses came against GamerLegion, The Mongolz, and HEROIC. Despite their progress, the level of opposition B8 faces is significantly lower.

Map Pool

Eternal Fire typically starts by banning the map Ancient, having done so 32 times. Additionally, depending on the opponent, they may ban Nuke (20 times) and Mirage (14 times). Their preferred map is Anubis, which they have picked 20 times with a 75% win rate. Other strong maps for the team include Vertigo with a 64% win rate and Dust2 with 62%. In this match, it is likely that Eternal Fire will ban Ancient and possibly Nuke to eliminate B8's strong maps. They might lean towards picking Anubis, considering their experience on this map.

B8, on the other hand, tends to ban Vertigo (62 times) and Dust2 (41 times) to avoid uncomfortable maps. The team frequently picks Mirage (62 times with a 63% win rate) and Ancient (51 times with a 69% win rate). In this match, B8 will likely ban Vertigo and Dust2, leaving maps like Inferno or Mirage as possible options. However, if Eternal Fire tries to steer the game toward Anubis, B8 could be at a disadvantage due to their limited practice on this map.

Head-to-Head

The last meeting between Eternal Fire and B8 took place about two months ago. At that time, Eternal Fire won convincingly with a 2:0 score, dominating their opponent on Mirage (13:2) and Dust2 (13:7).

Bo3.gg Prediction

Given the current form of both teams, Eternal Fire appears to be the clear favorite in this best-of-1 encounter. They have a strong map pool and are already well-established among the top teams in the world. Although B8 has shown improvements in recent tournaments, the level of their opponents has been significantly lower than that of Eternal Fire. Eternal Fire enters the match as the overwhelming favorite, and only a miracle could stop them.

PREDICTION: Victory for Eternal Fire

ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 will take place from October 25 to 27 in Poland. Teams will compete for a prize pool of $100,000, with the champion also earning a spot at ESL Pro League Season 21. You can follow the schedule and results of the event through the link.