Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023 Tournament Tips & Preview – Who’ll Qualify For IEM Cologne?

By Tit Krajnik

26 May 2023

Tit Krajnik 26 May 2023

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Intel Extreme Masters 2023 is set to kick off on May 29, 2023
Heroic are priced as the main favourites to win
G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, and Cloud9 are strong candidates to go all the way

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2023 Counter-Strike Global Offensive (Getty Images)

IEM Dallas 2023 Predictions

Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023 is an upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament scheduled for May 29 - June 4 at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. It’ll welcome 16 CS:GO teams, competing for the lion’s share of the $250,000 prize pool and BLAST Premier points.

The champions will take home a $100,000 winner’s share, 2,400 BLAST Premier points, and will secure a direct invite to IEM Cologne 2023, set to take place on July 25-August 28 with $1,000,000 on the line.

IEM Dallas 2023 will feature some of the best teams in the world, including G2 Esports (4.50), Heroic (3.25), FaZe Clan (4.50), and Cloud9 (5.00), as well as Fnatic (who replaced Virtus.pro). However, while IEM Dallas 2023 will welcome a stacked lineup, only a handful of teams stand out as serious candidates to win it all; Heroic, G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, and Cloud9.

Heroic, G2 Esports and FaZe Clan lead the outright betting markets
Cloud9, Team Liquid, and ENCE round up a list of dark horses
Will any of the outsiders manage to cook up an upset?

IEM Dallas 2023 Odds

Esports bookmakers have made it very clear how IEM Dallas 2023 should go, pricing Heroic (3.25) as the main favourites to go all the way, and G2 Esports (4.50) and FaZe Clan (4.50) as the two serious candidates to spoil Heroic’s plans.

Cloud9 (5.00), Team Liquid (9.00), and ENCE (9.00) can all be viewed as potential contenders either because they field a stacked roster or due to their recent strong showings, yet neither is at the level needed to take on the top dogs – or so it seems.

The rest of the field consists of compete outsiders, including Astralis (15.00), who’ve not achieved much over the last year, FURIA (21.00), who can have their moments, but those have become very rare of late, MOUZ (23.00), who are strong, but not strong enough, and the rest in Fnatic (51.00), OG (67.0), Complexity (76.00), Grayhound (101.00), 9z Team (151.00), Nouns (251.00), and Evil Geniuses (251.00).

Teams That Can Do Well

I’m keeping my eye on Cloud9 (9.00), who enter IEM Dallas as fourth favourites to win the tournament, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Cloud9 have the players to win the whole thing. This is a very interesting squad since they definitely have enough talent to be one of the best in the world, but they haven’t shown that lately.

Cloud9 failed to qualify for Paris Major, which was shocking, but let’s zoom out for a second and see what Cloud9 have accomplished this season. They were second at ESL Pro League Season 17, and won BLAST Premier: Spring European Showdown 2023 and BetBoom Playlist. Urbanistic, reached the semifinals of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 and won Brazy Party at the start of May.

Their only disappointing showing of 2023 (besides IEM Katowice 2023 in February) happened at the European RMR – which resulted in Cloud9 not qualifying for the Major.

Team Liquid is another team that might do well, but a lot will have to go right for them to go all the way. We saw what Team Liquid are capable of throughout this season, and they have had a few solid tournament showings – including the semifinals at IEM Katowice 2023. They even reached the quarterfinals at the Major before losing to Apeks (0-2).

Unfortunately, while I believe that Liquid can reach IEM Dallas 2023 playoffs, they’ve not been consistent enough throughout the year for me to bet on them to win it all.

The Leading Trio

If the latest CS:GO betting odds are correct, IEM Dallas 2023 will be contested between three teams – Heroic, G2 Esports, and FaZe Clan. And while anything can happen, this sounds like a fair assessment.

G2 Esports had a disappointing run at the Paris Major, where they didn’t make the playoffs; however, this is still a solid team and looking at their bracket at IEM Dallas 2023, they shouldn’t struggle to reach the final six.

With only Nouns, OG, and FURIA standing in their way to reach the upper bracket finals of Group A, G2 Esports are all but guaranteed to qualify for IEM Dallas 2023 playoffs, and from there, they’ll be just one or two steps away from hoisting the trophy.

Heroic are in a very similar position, sitting on the other side of Group A, as they’ll first meet with 9z Team, who Heroic should sweep, and the winner of MOUZ vs Fnatic (who’re playing with a stand-in). So barring any surprises, G2 Esports and Heroic should clash in Group A upper bracket final, meaning both teams will make the playoffs unless they suffer two massive upsets in the group stage.

FaZe Clan, who enter IEM Dallas 2023 as strong candidates to win, will also have a straightforward road to the playoffs, as they’ll meet with Evil Geniuses and the winner of ENCE vs Complexity for a spot in the upper bracket finals. However, FaZe didn’t impress at the Major, and they already achieved qualification for IEM Cologne – by winning ESL Pro League Season 17 – so they might not be as motivated to win in Dallas.

Verdict

Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023

Heroic, G2 Esports, and FaZe are the leading favourites to win IEM Dallas 2023, which is fair, but straight from the start, I would cross out FaZe Clan. They’ve not been playing well recently, and they don’t really need to win the tournament, so as much as I have hope that FaZe will bounce back by the end of the year, I’m not betting on them at the offered betting odds.

Picking between G2 and Heroic isn’t easy either, but the offered odds make it a bit easier. G2 Esports are priced at better odds than Heroic, which sounds fair considering their poor performance at the Major, but G2 Esports are undeniably good enough to win the tournament.

They were considered the clear best team in the world ahead of the Major, so there’s no reason to lose hope in them after one shaky showing.

For similar reasons, I like Cloud9 to reach the finals. Their recent record isn’t as inspiring, but this is an incredibly stacked team (easily top-three in the world) with enough talent to defeat anyone. The only question is whether Cloud9 will manage to show that to the world in Dallas.

G2 Esports To Win

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Cloud9 To Reach Finals

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