CS:GO Daily Fantasy Helper: ESL Pro League, Road to Rio, Friday 5/15/20

With traditional sports on hold for now, esports has taken the front seat in DFS, and we now have Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to play on FanDuel. Affectionately known as CS:GO, two teams of five players compete on each map until one team reaches 16 rounds. Most series are played as a best-of-three and will feature teams from the ESL Pro League in North America, the CIS region, and Europe.

If you are new to esports DFS or CS:GO DFS, take a look at the introduction piece with a rundown of format and scoring. All matches are best-of-three, and players will receive a bonus for completing a 2-0 sweep.

Astralis versus FaZe Clan

Astralis are the number one ranked team in the world currently and the greatest CS:GO team of all time. They face a familiar foe in FaZe Clan today -- a team loaded with firepower. All five players for each team are truly great, but who has the highest ceiling?

On the Astralis side of things, they are led by device ($11,700), who comes in with a team-high +93 kill-to-death differential and averaging 21 kills per map. No other player on Astralis averaged over 20 kills per map -- he is simply their best and most consistent option.

Magisk ($11,500) is clearly the number two option on Astralis and flashed a nice ceiling throughout the group stage, posting 30 kills or more two times. Magisk and device are the only two players on the team to post 30 kills or more on a map.

Xyp9x ($11,200) has a lower Headshot (HS) percentage compared to dupreeh ($9,800), but has the higher kill-to-death differential -- and a generally higher upside. gla1ve ($9,900) is the in-game-leader for the Danish squad and normally doesn't produce a ton of a ton of fantasy points. He is a role player on an amazing team -- and "fall" into points simply for being on the winning side.

FaZe Clan come into this match with a 39.2% implied win probability and are not a team you should underestimate. They are the seventh-ranked team in the world and are one of very few teams who can go head-to-head with the powerhouse that is Astralis.

NiKo ($11,900) comes in with the most kills for FaZe but the third-highest kill-to-death differential. coldzera ($11,800) was right behind NiKo with three fewer kills but had a higher kill-to-death differential by +17.

broky ($11,600) is the cheapest among their top three options, had the fewest kills out of the three, but holds the highest kill-to-death differential. He doesn't have as high of a ceiling compared to NiKo or coldzera, but going for leverage and using him in the MVP spot is a viable choice.

Both rain ($11,000) and olofmeister ($10,100) are viable options but hold lower ceilings compared to the top three options.

Team Vitality versus G2 Esports

A matchup of two French teams will bring out the best in both and it should result in top-tier CS:GO. Both teams are ranked in the top 13 in the world and we see Team Vitality coming in as the favorite with a 58.8% implied win probability. We are in for a close series, so let's break it down.

As always with Vitality, the goal is to spend up for ZwyOo ($12,000), who is the most expensive player on the slate and the best player in the world. He comes in averaging 22 kills per map, has a kill-to-death differential sitting at +122 -- and the only player on his team with a positive differential. He posted 30 kills or more in two of the three maps he played yesterday and is a clear choice for the MVP spot.

shox ($9,600) was a player I mentioned yesterday to target for fantasy production and he went out there and posted 25, 25, and 30 kills over the three maps. Amazing performance and you should be looking to him again at a great price tag.

apEX ($9,400) also put up solid numbers in the three maps yesterday with 22, 23, and 24 kills. Grabbing a few players from Vitality, adding a few from Astralis, and maybe a solo from another team is looking like a solid roster construction path.

All five players from G2 Esports come in with a positive kill-to-death differential but you look to target kennyS ($11,800), despite the fact he is coming off a rough three maps yesterday. Call it an outlier, call it a bad performance, he is much better than 18, 15, and 13 kills.

With low numbers from kennyS, G2 saw huNter ($10,500) step up and post 20 kills or more in all three of their maps yesterday -- and one of my favorite overall plays on the slate today. His combination of consistency and modest price tag is very valuable on a slate with only four teams.

Nexa ($10,800) also stepped up yesterday, posting 24 kills or more in two of their three maps. It's a coin flip between huNter and Nexa, since they are nearly the same price and offer a similar level of production.