The Call of Duty\u00ae World League, Presented by PlayStation\u00ae4 Finals of Stage 1 Pro Division concluded this weekend with the best Pro Division teams in North America earning their share of the more than $3 million prize pool for 2016. In addition to the cash payout, OpTic Gaming moved closer to securing a qualifying spot at the 2016 Call of Duty\u00ae Championship, Presented by PlayStation\u00ae4 later this year. Eager fans in attendance at ESL Studios in Burbank, online via livestream and tuning-in directly through the in-game (Black Ops III PS4) Live Event Viewer, witnessed the thrilling conclusion to months of rigorous competition of Stage 1, as the first step toward the year\u2019s grand competition and piece of the overall $3 million dollars in the year-long prize pool of the CWL.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe First Stage of the CWL has featured some great gameplay, close matches and some of the best competition that Call of Duty\u00ae has ever seen,\u201d said Rob Kostich, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Call of Duty. \u201cCall of Duty eSports has a strong foundation dating back to Call of Duty XP back in 2011, but the CWL has already taken it to new heights and we can\u2019t wait to continue that growth during the Second Stage and the Call of Duty Championship this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The top eight North American teams battled over the weekend. After falling behind OpTic Gaming 3-0, Rise Nation fought back to force a winner takes all game 7, thousands of Call of Duty fans saw OpTic Gaming emerge victorious as they were crowned Stage 1 champions in the first major tournament on the road to the highly-anticipated Call of Duty Championship later this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what we are capable of and that we are the best team in Call of Duty,\u201d Said Seth \u201cScump\u201d Abner, Captain of OpTic Gaming. \u201cWe haven\u2019t always shown what we can do, so having this win under our belt is good for the rest of our season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, established players and aspiring amateurs alike competed as top teams from the CWL Challenge Division earned a chance at a spot in the Pro Division for Stage 2. As part of the Relegation tournament, the top four Challenge Division teams, Cloud 9, Team Liquid, Cloud 9 Eclipse and King Papey faced off against the bottom four Pro Division teams. Dream Team and H2K Gaming held onto their Pro Division spots while Cloud 9 and King Papey won their matches and will participate in the CWL North American Pro Division Stage 2 for their chance to qualify for the Call of Duty Championship.<\/p>\n
The North American Stage 1 Finals followed the Australia\/New Zealand and European regional finals last week. All 30 CWL Pro Division teams competed in multiple week regional seasons prior to each set of finals. Mindfreak (ANZ) and Millenium (EU) took home the top spots in their regions and their share of CWL prize pools respectively.<\/p>\n
The ANZ region featured a few different key match ups as perennial favourite Mindfreak beat Team Immunity and Tainted Minds on their way to being the CWL ANZ Pro Division Stage 1 Champions. New team, Incept, beat Exile.5 in Relegation for a spot in Stage 2 as Nv, Chiefs eSports Club and Apotheon eSports all beat their challengers to remain in the Pro Division for Stage 2.<\/p>\n
The EU region had multiple top teams vying for the Stage 1 prize pool. Millenium and Splyce met in the finals with Millenium winning the series handily 4 maps to 1. The road to the finals for each team was very different with Splyce fighting off top ranked Team Infused and exceL eSports in back to back 4-3 series wins to make the finals. Millenium, who earned the number two seed in the tournament because of their success during the 18 match season, only had to beat Epsilon eSports in a 4-1 series to reach the finals, thanks to a first round bye. Similar to the ANZ region, one team was replaced in Relegation. French team, PuLse Gaming, was beaten by UK team Exertus 4 maps to 1. Vitality, Team LDLC and Giants Gaming all beat their opponents to continue in Stage 2 of the CWL Pro Division.<\/p>\n
Here are the final rankings for each CWL Stage 1 Pro Division region:<\/p>\n
North America
\n1st OpTiC Gaming
\n\u00b7 Seth \u201cScump\u201d Abner
\n\u00b7 Ian \u201cCrimsix\u201d Porter
\n\u00b7 Matthew \u201cFormal\u201d Piper
\n\u00b7 Damon \u201cKarma\u201d Barlow
\n2nd Rise Nation
\n3rd \u2013 4th Faze Clan\/Team Elevate
\n5th \u2013 8th compLexity Gaming\/Luminosity Gaming\/Team EnVyUs\/Team SoloMid<\/p>\n
Europe
\n1st Millenium
\n\u00b7 Callum \u201cSwanny\u201d Swan
\n\u00b7 Jordan \u201cJurd\u201d Crowley
\n\u00b7 Thomas \u201cTommey\u201d Trewen
\n\u00b7 Dylan \u201cMadCat\u201d Daly
\n2nd Splyce
\n3rd \u2013 4th Epsilon eSports\/Team Infused
\n5th \u2013 6th exceL eSports\/TCM Gaming<\/p>\n
Australia\/New Zealand
\n1st Mindfreak
\n\u00b7 Mitchell \u201cBuzzo\u201d Mader
\n\u00b7 Denholm \u201cDenz\u201d Taylor
\n\u00b7 Lincoln \u201cFighta\u201d Ferguson
\n\u00b7 Conrad \u201cShockz\u201d Rymarek
\n2nd Tainted Minds
\n3rd – 4th Orbit\/Team Immunity<\/p>\n