Call of Duty World League Pro League
The 2018 Call of Duty World League Pro League, Presented by PlayStation 4, began its second half of Stage 1 competition this week, as the eight Division A teams returned to the MLG Arena and continued to fight for a shot at the Stage 1 title.
Rise Nation (1st, 10-1, 31-11) and OpTic Gaming (2nd, 8-2, 27-13) both clinched Stage 1 Playoff spots with their records this week, so let’s take a look at how both teams performed.
Rise Nation Punch the First Stage 1 Playoffs Ticket
Rise Nation entered Division A’s third week with a 6-1 series record and were locked in a battle for first with OpTic Gaming.
Lurking below those two teams was Team Kaliber (4th, 7-4, 24-22) who was Rise’s first opponent in week three. After narrowly escaping a series against eRa Eternity (6th, 3-8, 16-28) earlier in the day, tK could not catch Rise and dropped the series 3-0.
Rise then had two matches on deck: one against Mindfreak (7th, 3-8, 16-27) and the other against Red Reserve (3rd, 7-3, 27-13). Rise’s quick sweep of Mindfreak set them up to clinch their Stage 1 Playoff spot against Red Reserve.
Rise Nation and Red Reserve traded wins throughout four games, with Red forcing a game five with a win in Hardpoint on Sainte Marie Du Mont.
Despite the round loss, Rise delivered a knockout blow to Red with a 6-1 victory in Search and Destroy on Ardennes Forest, officially qualifying the team for the Stage 1 Playoffs.
Rise ended the week with a close 3-2 series win against Echo Fox (5th, 3-7, 16-22), which had its fair share of epic moments.
Despite eRa Upset, OpTic Advance to Playoffs Through Team Kaliber
Rise’s win over Echo Fox opened the door for OpTic to clinch their own Playoff spot.
OpTic won the first two games in their series against eRa Eternity, but the Division A underdogs eventually tied the series after some clutch plays from eRa’s Richard “Ricky” Stacy on Flak Tower CTF, and their ability to close out a Sainte Marie Du Mont Hardpoint.
eRa Eternity then completed the reverse sweep after OpTic committed two unfortunate team kills in what would be the series-deciding round in Search and Destroy on USS Texas.
The OpTic Green Wall responded, making quick work of Mindfreak with a 3-1 series win.
With its win over Mindfreak, OpTic was given an opportunity to clinch their own Stage 1 Playoff spot against back-to-back CWL Open champs Team Kaliber – a team also looking to secure a playoff berth.
Team Kaliber tried to break the Green Wall down in the week’s final match, with Kenny “Kenny” Williams shooting on point with his PPSh-41 throughout the series.
Ultimately, OpTic was able to sweep tK, and Damon “Karma” Barlow started his team’s celebration early by overkilling a few of his enemies at the end of the series.
Both Red and tK will have to wait until Division A’s final week, which starts on Feb. 27, for their chance at qualifying through to the Stage 1 Playoffs. In fact, their matchup is what commentator Clint “Maven” Evans is most looking forward to:
“Team Kaliber struggled this week. Both of their victories came in Game 5’s over lesser opponents in eRa Eternity and Vitality. When matched against other top teams in Division A, OpTic Gaming, and Rise Nation, they fell 0-3 in both series. I think Team Kaliber needs to bounce back with a strong performance versus Red Reserve next week. I’m excited to see if they can do just that.”
The CWL Pro League resumes on February 27, 2018 at MLG.com/CallofDuty, where you watch source quality video, engage with fans in the Scorestreak mini-game, and see real-time player statistics.
For more intel about Call of Duty World League, be sure to visit CallofDuty.com/esports and follow @CallofDuty and @CODWorldLeague on Twitter.