The essential BLAST Paris CS:GO Major Legends Stage Pick ‘Em guide

The final Valve-sponsored CS:GO tournament is well underway, with the BLAST.tv Paris Major getting ready for the Legends Stage after the Challengers Stage concluded on May 11.

Thanks to this being the last CS:GO Major, players have the opportunity to pick up their final diamond coin, at least in the current game.

If you’re one of the experts who correctly predicted at least five picks in the Challengers Stage, you’re well on your way to the diamond coin. Although with eight powerful teams entering the fray in the Legends Stage, the challenge becomes even tougher this time around. If you’re unsure about who to pick ahead of the first games in the next stage of the tournament, don’t worry, we’ll give you a hand.

Related: BLAST Paris CS:GO Major’s full schedule

Here’s a helpful guide for making your picks for the Legends Stage of BLAST.tv Paris CS:GO Major.

How to play the Pick ‘Em Challenge

Players can purchase the BLAST.tv Paris CS:GO Major from the game’s main menu. On the store section at the bottom of the main page, head to the Paris section. You can purchase the pass on its own for $10, or pay $18 and get three Souvenir Tokens.

For both the Challengers and Legends Stage, you will make nine selections: one team to go 3-0, one team to go 0-3, and seven teams that will advance past that given stage. For both of these stages, you will need to get five of those nine predictions correct to complete a challenge.

Prior to the start of the Champions Stage, you’ll need to fill out the entire playoff bracket, including who wins the grand finals.

Here is the full list of challenges you can complete during the Pick ‘Em Challenge:

• Activate your coin before the tournament is over.
• Place all nine Pick ‘Em predictions for the Challengers Stage before it begins.
• Get five correct Pick ‘Em predictions for the Challengers Stage.
• Place all nine Pick ‘Em predictions for the Legends Stage before it begins.
• Get five correct Pick ‘Em predictions for the Legends Stage.
• Place all seven Pick ‘Em predictions for the Champions Stage before it begins.
• Place two correct Pick ‘Em predictions for the quarterfinals.
• Place one correct Pick ‘Em prediction for the semifinals.
• Make a correct Pick ‘Em prediction for the grand final.

BLAST Paris CS:GO Major – Legends Stage Pick ‘Em suggestions

It’s always tricky to bet on 3-0 teams. While the strongest teams almost always make it to the next stage, they can lose one match and you’ll lose your bet. But looking at NAVI’s strong seeding, and their first opponents, they should be one of the favorites to make it to the playoffs unscathed.

Bad News Eagles, on the other hand, play ENCE who are more prepared. The latter’s players are having a tremendous event, so they are certain to go through, while BNE are a huge question mark and due to difficult seeding will likely face tough opponents, and could go out with a 0-3 record.

Then we move on to the remaining teams who will make it through. Besides ENCE, Vitality make a strong case by coming in hot after winning IEM Rio. Heroic made the final in this event and are the No. 1 team in HLTV’s ranking right now, which also puts them as favorites. G2 Esports and FaZe Clan have all the firepower to blast through the Legends Stage as well, despite some difficult first matchups.

Related: BLAST Paris CS:GO Major: Scores, standings, and results

We close the list with Ninjas in Pyjamas and 9INE. The former had a fantastic Challengers Stage, with Aleksib calling some superb tactics in every series. If they keep up their momentum, they should advance further. 9INE, on the other hand, have been showing improvement with every event, defeating Vitality, BIG, and G2 in the RMR. While they may pick up a loss or two along the way, the Poles should make it to the playoffs as well.

If you want to keep up with the results, schedule, and brackets, you can follow our dedicated BLAST.tv Paris CS:GO Major hub.

BLAST Paris CS:GO Major – Challengers Stage Pick ‘Em suggestions

Players familiar with the Pick ‘Em challenge are familiar with something called the ‘3-0 dilemma’. Your instinct is to pick one of the best teams, such as G2 or FaZe, but if that team loses one match, you could potentially miss out on two predictions if they end up advancing anyway.

Related: Dot Esports’ BLAST Paris CS:GO Major power rankings

While FaZe and G2 are certainly good selections for the 3-0, I’d like to suggest a team that could very easily go 3-0 or not make it past Challengers at all: Ninjas in Pyjamas. The team certainly has talent on the roster, enough to go on a nice run, but their consistency and cohesion issues could mean failing to get three wins at all.

As for the 0-3 selection, Grayhound and IHC (now known as The Mongolz) were popular choices in Rio that each ended up stealing a win, while both 00 Nation and Imperial fell flat in front of their home crowd. Grayhound and The Mongolz are still solid choices, given how tough their opening matches are, but Fluxo from Brazil has also emerged as a popular selection.

There are four teams ranked in HLTV’s top ten that are in the Challengers Stage: G2, FaZe, Liquid, and ENCE. All four should be booked to advance and potentially considered for the 3-0 spot.