AMES MATTONE – CWL Pro League
The 2018 Call of Duty World League Pro League Stage 1 Playoffs, Presented by PlayStation 4, ended with FaZe Clan earning their first major championship since the 2015 MLG Pro League Season 3 Playoffs.
After wading through the Losers Bracket, FaZe beat OpTic Gaming in the Stage 1 Grand Finals, taking the Stage 1 title with back-to-back five game series victories.
Here’s how OpTic and FaZe made it to the Stage 1 Grand Finals and what happened in that epic showdown:
OpTic Shuts Down Luminosity, Advances to Grand Finals.
After losing the Winners Finals’ first game, OpTic rebounded in an 11-round Search and Destroy on London Docks that ended with Matthew “FormaL” Piper winning the game-deciding duel.
The Green Wall closed out the series with a shutout in Capture the Flag on Flak Tower and a 61-point victory in a Hardpoint on London Docks.
FaZe Rallies Through Losers Bracket to Grand Finals
After FaZe won the series’ first two games, they skated out to a 2-2 draw in a CTF on Flak Tower. Although tK captured the game’s first overtime flag in 42 seconds, FaZe beat the clock and advanced to the Losers Finals.
Down 2-0 in the series, FaZe fought back for the reverse sweep, winning the series in an S&D on London Docks thanks to Preston “Preistahh’ Greiner’s 12-3 performance.
FaZe Reset the Bracket, Break Their Curse
Led by James “Replays” Crowder, FaZe denied OpTic an easy HP on London Docks victory by making an 80-point comeback for the 250-242 win.
FaZe then worked their way out of a 5-1 hole to steal game two, an S&D on London Docks. Dillon “Attach” Price played the hero for FaZe in this 6-5 victory, sealing the game with an incredible 11th round 1v3 clutch.
OpTic took games three and four in the series, but FaZe ultimately reset the bracket with a game five win in an S&D on Ardennes Forest.
Congratulations to FaZe Clan for winning the CWL Pro League Stage 1 Championship and to Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto for winning the Stage 1 MVP award.
We would also like to thank all of the Stage 1 teams for participating in the Pro League and the fans for watching the past three months of Stage 1 action. We hope to see you all at the CWL Seattle Open coming up on April 20 through April 22!
For more intel about Call of Duty World League, be sure to visit CallofDuty.com/esports and follow @CallofDuty and @CODWorldLeague on Twitter.