StarCraft II fans have a feast of action ahead of them over the coming three weeks as the ESL StarCraft II Masters play out in both North America and Asia. In the American edition, an opportunity presents itself for some of the stronger players from the United States, Mexico and Canada to display their ability and claim a big title. Despite the presence of many of StarCraft II’s big names, this is shaping up to be a highly competitive tournament nonetheless.
Can the highest ranked American player, Astrea, claim the title? Or will SpeCial and Scarlett ruin the party? We break down the best bets to place on the StarCraft II Masters 2023 Summer: America, with the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 1st, 4:00 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright betting odds from bookmaker William Hill, we can see that this tournament is a two-horse race in terms of the odds. Astrea holds a slight lead and is the favourite at 2.00, but Mexico’s SpeCial is right behind on 2.50. From here, the odds drop significantly to the third favourite, which is Scarlett at 6.50. Trigger and Kelazhur then round out the top five betting favourites at 9.00 and 13.00 respectively.
The big question is can SpeCial upset Astrea or will the No. 1 seed win this tournament as his ranking indicates he should? We say that all signs are pointing towards an Astrea victory here, and the American is a strong bet at 2.00. Astrea is a consistent top 10 player, currently sitting at No. 8 in the global rankings, while SpeCial’s ranking is down at No. 23 in the world. Had Neeb not declined his invitation to this tournament then Astrea would have had some stronger competition, but the world No. 13 has elected not to play StarCraft II Masters 2023 Summer: America.
In terms of form, Astrea has more recent wins than SpeCial right now as well. Astrea has won three of his past four, while SpeCial is on a three-match losing streak. Admittedly, SpeCial went on a good run in the IEM Katowice 2023 and performed better than Astrea and also won their most recent match 2:0 last week. However, these two meeting in a final, which is the most likely outcome in this tournament, is an entirely different prospect.
Astrea has gone deeper in big tournaments more consistently than SpeCial and should have the experience to get the result here in StarCraft II Masters 2023 Summer: America.
