Clément “Clem” Desplanches and Byun “ByuN” Hyun-woo last met during ESL Open Cup #122 Americas, when Byun won the first series (2-0) but lost the rematch (0-2), suffering his first head-to-head defeat against the French SCII pro (3-1) in 2022.

Since the two first met in 2020, they’ve played 15 games, with Byun winning eight (8-7), albeit with a worse map record (22-23). As their past meetings would suggest, this is a match that can go either way, so we’re not too excited about backing Clem at -138.89 even though he holds an 80% win rate in mirrored matchups over the last 35 outings – in contrast to ByuN who has a 70.25% win rate over the previous 74.

There is no clear favourite for this match, and we wouldn’t be surprised with any result. Clem might have a slightly better chance to come out ahead due to his solid form, but knowing how close the recent meetings between Clem and ByuN have been, over 2.5 maps makes the most sense.

Kim “herO” Joon-ho is priced as a -138.89 favourite to defeat Riccardo “Reynor” Romiti, but we would argue that the two StarCraft II esports pro players should be priced much closer. Reynor has yet to lose against herO (3-0) and has already beaten him twice this year – once in April (3-0) and most recently, at the start of August (2-1).

Moreover, the Italian Stallion has improved his ZvP matchup win rate to 72.06% over the last 68 outings, which is seriously impressive. Admittedly, herO’s PvZ win percentage is higher (75%), albeit only over a smaller (36) sample size of games.

This could be a very close affair, but due to his stronger head-to-head record and solid performance figures against Protoss players, we prefer Reynor at even money or better.

Kim “herO” Joon-ho and Byun “ByuN” Hyun-woo have met 63 times since their first meeting in 2013, and they’ve been pretty evenly matched. ByuN leads the head-to-head series won by three (33-30); however, his map win rate is just under 50% (111-113).

The two have locked horns 25 times this year, with ByuN winning 14 series. However, he is 1-3 across their last four meetings, which includes a 0-3 loss at ESL Open Cup #132 Korea at the end of July. So if we compare the head-to-head record, you could argue that herO is in a better spot.

But despite his lack of success when facing his compatriot, ByuN is very efficient in Protoss vs Terran matchups, having won 52 of his last 74 (52-22). Therefore, as one-sided as this affair, ByuN has a realistic chance of winning.

Overs on the map line is a solid option, but there is far more value backing the outsider at +137.

?More esports betting tips

The post SCII AfreecaTV Theatre of Dreams betting picks – Friday, August 19 appeared first on Esport Bet.