CWL Seattle Day Two: As It Stands, Conclusion of Pool Play
By Ford James ·
Day one saw plenty of action in both pool play and the open bracket, and day two is about to get underway. We know the fifth team in each of the pools, but who is going to come out on top and progress through to the championship bracket?
Day one came to a close yesterday, and we saw plenty of action across all four pools. The European teams haven’t come out too hot, and neither have the Australians, but the usual suspects are in and amongst the top performers, with three teams sitting at 3-0, while pool C is looking to be a close call. Here’s our power rankings going into day two.
Pool A
FaZe Clan were by far the favourites to dominate pool A, coming in as the winners of stage one, but Echo Fox are the ones who have showcased their strengths. The roster of Faccento, Aqua, Saints and Temp have shown that they’re a force to be reckoned with, winning every matchup and going 9-4 on map count. Elsewhere in the pool, Rise Nation, champions of CWL Atlanta, fell to both Echo Fox and FaZe, only defeating Tainted Minds, while TM fell to all three, only taking one map against FaZe. Lightning Pandas, second seed from the open bracket, have taken the final spot in the pool and will be coming into today’s matches with momentum and confidence from yesterday’s play.
UPDATE: At the time of writing, LP have completed their first game against Tainted Minds and taken it 3-0.
Pool B
Featuring the renowned eClasico, pool B is split half and half between North America and Europe. UniLad and Epsilon Esports represent Britain, while esteemed organisations Team EnVyUs and OpTic Gaming are the guys from America, and they’re the ones leading the group. EnVy came out on top in the eClasico, defeating OpTic 3-1, along with another 3-1 over UniLad and a 3-0 over Epsilon. OpTic didn’t struggle much against either British team also, while UniLad came out on top with a 3-0 shutout in the battle of the Brits. Epsilon haven’t won a map so far, so while EnVy and OpTic are set to top the group, Ghost Gaming have taken the fifth spot and Epsilon will be looking to at least find a consolation victory over them.
UPDATE: Epsilon have fought valiantly against Ghost Gaming, but this isn't their event as they fell 3-0 for the fourth consecutive shutout in a row.
Pool C
Undoubtedly the closest group on paper, and while Call of Duty isn’t played with a pen, it’s proven to be the case with every team dropping at least one game. Luminosity were the favourites for the group, coming in with the number three seed, but they’ve not played as they know they can, falling 3-1 and 3-2 to CompLexity and Mindfreak respectively. Their only victory came against eUnited, who actually top the group alongside CompLexity, while Mindfreak haven’t been able to replicate their performance against Luminosity and sit at the bottom of the table. Enigma6 have progressed through the open bracket, only dropping one map throughout all of yesterday, so they’ll be confident of causing an upset or two throughout today.
UPDATE: Enigma6 couldn't continue their dominance from open bracket, losing to Australian outfit Mindfreak 3-1.
Pool D
Another pool that is split 50/50 between European and North American teams, pool D has CWL Nola champions Team Kaliber topping the group 3-0, showing their pickup of Methodz and Fero to be worth it. Evil Geniuses are in second, falling only to the group leaders, while both European teams once again take up the final two spots. Red Reserve’s only victory came as a 3-0 sweep against fellow Brits Splyce, while EZG Blue have taken the final spot in pool play.
UPDATE: At the time of writing, they’ve fallen 3-1 to Splyce, granting the boys in yellow their first victory.
It’s all to play for, including the current losers bracket teams, but Echo Fox, EnVyUs and Team Kaliber have been the strongest teams right out of the gate this time around. Tune in at the official Twitch channels to watch all of the action:
(Header image courtesy of Dexerto.com. Pool play images courtesy of Reddit.com/r/CoDCompetitive.)