Day 3 of week 3 in the CWL Pro League is a long one with multiple series going the distance. There is a clear hierarchy already established with Splyce, eUnited, and Team Heretics looking to be the top dogs.
Check out our recap of the first two days of week 3.
Day 3: Wednesday, Feb. 20
100 Thieves vs. Denial Esports
Series scoreline: 3 – 0 100 Thieves
Despite a thrashing in their first showing, 100 Thieves returned on the second day with a refreshed performance. 100 Thieves looked dominant and methodical on the Hardpoint Hacienda, winning the match 250 – 74. Denial Esports brought it closer in the Search and Destroy Gridlock, but 100 Thieves closed it out 6 – 4. Main Ar Sam “Octane” Larew had crucial sniper picks that always kept 100 Thieves at a man advantage. The series then ended quickly, as 100 Thieves played a dominating Control Gridlock. A strong game from SMG Ian “Enable” Wyatt definitely had an impact on the quick 3 – 0 that 100 Thieves dealt the French squad.
That’s the result @100Thieves were looking for, they get their first win vs @DenialEsports with a 3-0 sweep! https://t.co/NKHQSgV6Gh #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/i6JG4zzT7v
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) February 20, 2019
100 Thieves had their first dominant series, finally displaying their roster’s potential. While the match was against a disorganized Denial Esports, 100 Thieves showed a standard that they couldn’t during the PLQ. Although he had a slow first series yesterday, star SMG Preston “Priestahh” Greiner stepped up today. 100T kept commanding control in matches due to strong coordinated site holds. However, SMG support Enable needs to continue even just half of his performance in the control if this team wants to be of championship caliber. Denial Esports look disjointed and have to get their ranks in order. The roster isn’t filled with overwhelming talent, so their chances of taking a series win rest on strong team play. There isn’t really any standout player for the team that is currently able to go head to head against superstars such as Priestahh.
MVP of the series: Preston “Priestahh” Greiner
Team Heretics vs. Enigma6
Series scoreline: 3 – 2 Team Heretics
Team Heretics maintained their top spot in the division, but not without opposition. The Hardpoint Gridlock was a comfortable win for E6, with a scoreline 250 – 159. Heretics fired back with a swift 6 – 1 in the Search and Destroy Frequency. E6 answered with their own blowout on the Control Arsenal, winning 3 – 0. Heretics took the driver’s wheel for the Hardpoint Frequency, winning 250 – 171. Once again, Heretics displayed their Search and Destroy Hacienda dominance by winning 6 – 2. Teams should realize now that Heretics will play a dominant Hacienda search and should avoid that map.
3-0 in the Pro League!@TeamHeretics win a hard fought series vs @Enigma6Group 3-2 to stay perfect! pic.twitter.com/TWyahWMYki
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) February 20, 2019
Enigma6’s search struggles continue, and it’s due to massive dropoff in performance from SMG Matthew “KiSMET” Tinsley. The team can’t rely on one or two players having monster performances. The supporting cast need to carry their weight just a little bit more. On the side of Team Heretics, their firepower and team fights remain remarkable as always. There is a worry that, at times, their star players start cold and they can’t rely on positional plays from their supporting cast to keep up in games.
MVP of the series: Juan “JurNii” Antonio González
eUnited vs. Excelerate Gaming
Series scoreline: 3 – 2 eUnited
The next match of the day proved to be surprisingly longer than most anticipated. As expected, eUnited took the Hardpoint Frequency easily, 250 – 111. However, Excelerate showed grit, heating up in the Search and Destroy Gridlock, closing it out 6 – 2. They continued this momentum in the Control Seaside, shutting down eUnited 3 – 1. However, eUnited woke back up in the Hardpoint Seaside, taking a brutal victory, 250 – 93. The game 5 Search and Destroy Frequency came down to a round 11 1v1 situation. EUnited clutched up and won the map 6 – 5 as well as the series.
CLUTCH @JKap415! 😱
The 1v1 gunfight wins it for @eUnitedgg over @ExcelerateGG! pic.twitter.com/Pato9DI9mt
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) February 21, 2019
Excelerate’s play style of zipping around an area before pushing for map control worked in their favor early in the series. However, once eUnited was able to wake up, the combination of their SMG frontline with a passive main AR controlled maps a lot better. Star SMG Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris is shining with every game he plays. This will only help his duo with Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson. Their losses were mainly due to bad comms in the matches, something that the team has identified. There is the worry that eUnited is reaching a plateau on their team’s potential. This is something that we’ll see develop as the league continues.
MVP of the series: Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris
Team Envy vs. Splyce
Series scoreline: 3 – 2 Splyce
The last match became a back-and-forth between Team Envy and Splyce. The score-lead in the Hardpoint Frequency constantly changed until Envy won 250 – 217. Team Envy went up 2 – 0 in the series taking the Search and Destroy Gridlock and closed out the map 6 – 5. They would then put themselves in a comfortable position in the Control Gridlock. However, despite taking an early advantage, Splyce came back to win the map 3 – 2. The Hardpoint Hacienda was also a close map, with Splyce taking it 250 – 235. The final Search and Destroy returned to Hacienda and went to the final round as well. Splyce closed out the map, 6 – 5, winning the series.
Reverse sweep! In a series where they were down 0-2 in the series, 0-2 in the Control, @Splyce bring it ALLLL the way back to defeat @Envy! #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/25lGHDklCo
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) February 21, 2019
As talent put it, Team Envy are a coin-flip. This is an apt description as this series showed both sides of Envy. Every single match was close, which is a testament to Envy’s potential. However, Envy can only close out series when three of their players (not even including their star player) play out of their mind. What decided this series was really the map picks. Playing Splyce in multiple maps of Hacienda was detrimental for Envy. Envy’s AR presence simply does not stack well, especially with their main AR Adam “Assault” Garcia’s inconsistency. Another contributing factor is an abysmal performance from flex Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov.
MVP of the series: Jordan “Jurd” Crowley
Call of Duty action continues with the CWL Pro League. Week 3 comes to a close on day 4, so keep updated by following our coverage here on Daily Esports.
