This weekend, the best Call of Duty teams in the world descended upon Saudi Arabia to take part in the Esports World Cup. Over a four-day window, 16 squads took to a grand stage in Riyadh, with $1.8 million on the line, but following a dominating streak, it was Atlanta FaZe that secured the $600,000 grand prize.
It was a relatively surprising event all around. From Toronto Ultra being ejected from the playoffs by 100 Thieves to Cloud9 crumbling again against OpTic, this weekend proved to be just as exciting as one of the biggest events in the Call of Duty League calendar.
Monumental Performance
It wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying that the Esports World Cup has been exciting of late. This weekend, Modern Warfare 3 entered the limelight, with a range of CDL and Challengers-grade teams competing for a massive cash prize. As the group stage unravelled, eight teams fell at the first post:
- OMiT Brooklyn
- Vegas Legion
- G2 Esports
- Gentle Mates
- Stallions
- Team Heretics
- Lore Gaming
- Team Falcons
When the tournament progressed into the playoffs, only the CDL teams remained in the running, which made it feel like COD Champs all over again. Many thought OpTic Gaming would snatch the top spot after steamrolling over OMiT, Carolina Royal Ravens, and Cloud9, but Atlanta FaZe proved to be too powerful for the reigning world champions to overcome.
Bizarrely, the grand final took place between Atlanta FaZe and 100 Thieves, represented by the LA Thieves squad. These teams hadn’t met at this point in a tournament for years, and the hype train was in full flow as the grand final kicked off. To get there, 100 Thieves had to eliminate Toronto Ultra and Vancouver Surge, and the squad entered the GF with immense momentum.
Unfortunately, Atlanta FaZe’s respawn game was just too clean, with the team securing the first and second rounds of Hardpoint. Two huge map wins were landed by 100 Thieves in the first rounds of Control and Search, but yet another win from FaZe in the second Search seemed to all but seal the deal.
Going into the second round of Control, Atlanta FaZe maintained the pressure with a scoreline of 3 – 2 (in a best-of-seven), 100 Thieves put up one hell of a fight, but with FaZe dominating the round on Invasion with ease, it wasn’t long before the squad of Cellium, aBeZy, Simp, and Drazah was lifting the tournament trophy and celebrating a $600,000 win.
For more Insider Gaming Esports, check out the news that Team Falcons won the $7 million Club Championship
FaZe is cooked Banks turned it to a dumpster fire bringing in the cringe creators bro is having his mid life crisis it’s sad the way he acts honestly I say keep a red flag on him he’s next for the pred list. Let FaZe die instead of it becoming what it is now they’re worse than AMP.