by ESB’s free StarCraft II betting predictions for Friday, September 22, focus on a pair of games at PiG Sty Festival 4.0. Here are our selections for Cho “Maru” Seong-ju vs Jang “NightMare” Wook and Kim “herO” Joon-ho vs Gabriel Raffaele “HeRoMaRinE” Segat.
MARU vs NIGHTMARE SCII BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Maru -5000 at BetOnline | NightMare +950 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 22, 2023 | 19:00 AEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/x5_pig) |
Cho “Maru” Seong-ju has not lost against Jang “NightMare” Wook once (9-0) since 2015. That includes a perfect 4-0 head-to-head record this year and a 2-1 victory from last week at WardiTV Korean Royale Season 2.
Maru’s flawless record against NightMare explains why the 26-year-old is priced as such a big favourite for this match, on top of the fact that Maru is the current no.1 on the ESL Pro Tour 2023/24 Korea with 2145 points to his name.
Maru is the most successful Korean SCII esports pro player of the year and a back-to-back 2023 Global StarCraft II League: Code S champion. However, he failed to deliver at ESL SC2 Masters 2023 Summer (9th-12th), Gamers8 2023 (5th-8th), and Master’s Coliseum 6 (4th).
Even though Maru should win, NightMare has won a map in two of his last four meetings, making backing the outsider with a 2.5-map advantage at +125 hard to pass on.
NightMare +2.5 maps
HERO vs HEROMARINE SCII BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | herO -333.33 at BetOnline | HeRoMaRinE +240 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 22, 2023 | 20:00 AEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/x5_pig) |
Kim “herO” Joon-ho has met with Gabriel Raffaele “HeRoMaRinE” Segat twice this year. He lost the first clash (1-2) in May and got his revenge (2-1) last month during the Gamers8 2023 group stage. Tied at 1-1 on the year and 3-3 all-time, herO and HeRoMaRinE look evenly matched on paper, but that’s not entirely true.
HerO is the current no.9 on the ESL Pro Tour 2023/24, while HeRoMaRinE is ranked ninth on the European ladder, which is enough to prove herO is a better player. However, neither accomplished much this season.
HerO made the semifinals at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 in February but hasn’t placed higher than top six in the next six premier tournaments. HeRoMaRinE hasn’t finished top three in a single big event since DH SC2 Masters 2022 Valencia: Europe.
Even though herO is a better player, he hasn’t shown much more than the German, and HeRoMaRinE has a fairly solid record against Protoss players (74.55% win rate over the last 55 games). HerO will likely win, but we prefer the outsider with a map advantage.
