by Starting May 30 and wrapping up on June 5, IEM Dallas 2022 will feature 16 teams battling it out for a US$250,000 prize pool, with the winner taking home $100,000. This will be an event full of talent and very good Counter-Strike, as 14 of the 16 teams are ranked in the top 20 of the ESL world rankings. These are our best bets for the tournament, with odds from BetOnline.
Outright winner: FaZe Clan
They have won IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 15 and, most recently, the Antwerp PGL Major in the last four months, meaning FaZe Clan have won every major event that has been played in the 2022 CS:GO season. Most players would dream of winning just one of those titles. What they are doing on the CS:GO scene this year is something to behold. Astralis were the last team to do anything like it, winning three CS:GO Majors from late 2018 to late 2019.
So far in 2022, FaZe Clan have won just under $1.2 million in prize money. They also were the first completely international roster to win a Major in CS:GO history, with Havard “rain” Nygaard (Norway), Helvijs “broky” Saukants (Latvia), Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken (Canada), Finn “karrigan” Anderson (Denmark) and Robin “ropz” Kool (Estonia) combining to take out the PGL Major in Antwerp.
FaZe will be short favourites to win IEM Dallas, and who would have the guts to bet against them? They have won everything so far in 2022, and now that Natus Vincere won’t be at this event, there is even less competition for them. FaZe are the number one team in the world, and it will take a Herculean effort from another roster to beat FaZe Clan to the IEM Dallas crown.
FaZe Clan to win outright
To make the final: Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas are the fifth-ranked team in the world, and they will be the fourth-ranked team (behind FaZE Clan, ENCE and Heroic) at IEM Dallas. After their 5th-8th finish at the PGL Major Antwerp – where they exited in the quarter-finals, losing 1-2 to FaZe – they should be confident of going the distance as long as they don’t see the favourites before the final.
From the recent results at IEM Katowice and the PGL Major, the boys from Ninjas in Pyjamas should be confident that the recent addition of Patrick “es3tag” Hansen and Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin has made a difference. Heroic will be their only real obstacle in the group stage, which should mean NiP avoid FaZe in the early rounds of playoffs. If this does happen, then we should see Ninjas in Pyjamas against FaZe Clan in the final.
