Cross-divisional Call of Duty play continues in CWL Pro League Week 5, and it’s surprising outcomes all around. Every team is fighting to improve its record on the ranking in time for the next major open, CWL London. Check out the previous day’s CWL recap if you missed any of the action.
Day 3: Wednesday, March 27
Team Heretics vs. Red Reserve
Series scoreline: 3 – 0 Team Heretics
- Hardpoint (Hacienda): 250 – 204 (Team Heretics)
- Search and Destroy (Gridlock): 6 – 4 (Team Heretics)
- Control (Gridlock): 3 – 2 (Team Heretics)
The vamos! is back, with Team Heretics taking a sweeping 3 – 0 to start the day off. While Team Heretics still remains tactically predictable, they pulled off their comeback. Though they were described by casters as “reckless,” their play style can be seen as “ambitious.” Every player on the squad is capable of going off in the series. It becomes a matter of the rest of the team filling in the holes. Despite being read by the opposition, Team Heretics would either have someone go big or clutch up as a team. Competitive CoD fans simply have to watch the final Control map to see how explosive Team Heretics is.
WHATTTT.@TeamHeretics with a last-second contest in the Control round 5, they complete the sweep of @RedReserve! https://t.co/NKHQSgV6Gh #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/nrFdqPet0M
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 27, 2019
It looks like the end for the Red Reserve squad. Following a reverse sweep yesterday and a standard sweep today, the team has imploded. Players are either being mopped or playing inconsistently aside from Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall. It says a lot about team synergy when Skrapz drops close to 40 kills for the map loss. It’s not that Red Reserve is clueless, but rather, most of the players were uncomfortable with the positions they played.
MVP of the series: Jorge “MethodZsick” Bancells
MethodZSick looked comfortable in his new SMG position now, having an amazing game despite underperforming the past month. In this series specifically, he would simply play solidly, getting impactful kills to alleviate pressure from the team. While I don’t expect MethodZsick to continue at this rate, it does appear that he has found a fitting role.
UYU vs. Excelerate Gaming
Series scoreline: 3 – 0 Excelerate Gaming
- Hardpoint (Arsenal): 250 – 98 (Excelerate Gaming)
- Search and Destroy (Payload): 6 – 3 (Excelerate Gaming)
- Control (Gridlock): 3 – 1 (Excelerate Gaming)
It’s a new lease on life for the makeshift Excelerate Gaming. Following a heavy loss yesterday, Excelerate Gaming looked fresh and prepared today. Like yesterday, they played fundamentally sound but sprinkled in a little creativity in their tactics. With multiple players playing well, this freed up star AR Carson “Brack” Newberry to play unconventional routes to pressure UYU. The most impressive showing from the squad was its ability to make unexpected plays to throw off UYU. This is the type of out-of-the-box thinking that can push the team into the higher echelon.
That’s the first series win for the new @ExcelerateGG squad, they take a 3-0 over @UYU! https://t.co/NKHQSgV6Gh #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/fvsR0jLm3h
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 27, 2019
UYU massively underperformed today, with an abysmal stat line across the board for the team. The only player who was even close to staying positive on average was Mehran “Mayhem” Anjomshoa. With their SMG players already underperforming, slow games from the rest of their ARs proved to be disastrous. UYU has solid starts but slowly spirals into chaos during the mid-game. This indicates a lack of composure, with players potentially unable to mentally reset.
MVP of the series: Cesar “Skyz” Bueno
Ever since moving back into the main AR role, Skyz has been constantly improving. His individual skill showed in this series, solidly holding down the front against star ARs on the side of UYU. In addition, his Tempest play seems underrated, always managing to get good production out of the specialist. His solid performance this series simply provided a good foundation for the rest of his team to play comfortably.
Team Envy vs. Evil Geniuses
Series scoreline: 3 – 1 Evil Geniuses
- Hardpoint (Frequency): 250 – 204 (Team Envy)
- Search and Destroy (Frequency): 6 – 5 (Evil Geniuses)
- Control (Gridlock): 3 – 0 (Evil Geniuses)
- Hardpoint (Hacienda): 250 – 226 (Evil Geniuses)
Evil Geniuses finally breaks its victory drought in a 3 – 1 fashion, the first four-game series in the cross-division split. Their victory can be attributed to wonderful performances from their SMG players. The team has been slowly improving and tightening its fundamentals. Now with all the players starting to get on the same page, Evil Geniuses can focus on cleaning up the small mistakes. However, this entirely depends on consistent decent performance from SMG players.
.@EvilGeniuses get their first win of the week, they defeat @Envy in the 3-1 result! https://t.co/NKHQSgV6Gh #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/NO6xri9Q6e
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 27, 2019
Team Envy takes a tumble, despite clutching up the past two days. Once again, player inconsistency is costing them maps, with an overreliance on star Cuyler “Huke” Garland. Excluding Huke, everyone was up and down this series, taking turns performing or struggling. The big turning point of the series was losing the SnD map in round 11. Their go-to SnD player, Patrick “ACHES” Price, failed to impact the map this time around. This map loss set the tone for Team Envy the rest of the series, simply failing to clutch.
MVP of the series: Dillon “Attach” Price
Attach has been a refreshing addition to the Evil Geniuses squad. His play brings a consistent slaying presence that the team has desperately needed. While he may not be the young superstar he was back in Advanced Warfare, Attach is one of the most well-rounded players. Along with talent, he brings a new type of veteran experience to rejuvenate the Evil Geniuses team.
eUnited vs. Luminosity Gaming
Series scoreline: 3 – 2 Luminosity Gaming
- Hardpoint (Frequency): 250 – 214 (Luminosity Gaming)
- Search and Destroy (Gridlock): 6 – 5 (eUnited)
- Control (Gridlock): 3 – 0 (eUnited)
- Hardpoint (Arsenal): 250 – 208 (Luminosity Gaming)
- Search and Destroy (Hacienda): 6 – 2 (Luminosity Gaming)
Luminosity Gaming is taking care of business. Still sticking to its guns (in the Rampart specifically), the squad came out against a red hot eUnited. While there is some lingering rust, this was overcome by each player taking turns having an amazing map. The supporting cast is as strong as always, and previously underperforming players have found their place on the team. Even the lowest-performing player in the map would still keep up, and that’s all Luminosity can ask for.
With the 6-2 game 5 S&D, @Luminosity take the series win over @eUnitedgg! #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/DZtaJ9jtKd
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 28, 2019
Despite another strong performance from the eUnited SMG duo, aptly named “The Tiny Terrors,” eUnited faltered. This comes down to a lack of performance from the remaining core three. The Tiny Terrors will always consistently perform, but someone has to be there to back them up. Today, it just seemed like the team was a little off-pace, losing team fights especially in the respawns.
MVP of the series: Matthew “FormaL” Piper
Everyone on the squad took turns having an outstanding performance. As such, the focus is put on the consistent play of main AR FormaL. While he hasn’t had the MVP numbers he is known for, FormaL played at a level that was solid. Multiple times in team fights, the Luminosity squad could count on FormaL to tip the trade balance in their favor.
