Call of Duty Championship: Pool A Preview
| Tags: Call of Duty
| Author Matt Pryor
Call of Duty Championship Breakdown by the Pool
The stage is set for the greatest Call of Duty players in the world to compete against one another at the Call of Duty Championship. A $2M USD prize pool is at stake and competitors are additionally seeking the often elusive championship ring. Thirty-two of the best teams will enter the Pauley Pavillion in Los Angeles, California, and only one will leave the victor. Of the thirty-two teams, sixteen have qualified through the CWL Pro League. The remaining sixteen qualified through the CWL Amateur Finals. The group stage is the first layer of defense against the World Championship. Four teams compete in each group, but only two will make it to the Knockout Stage. Today we'll examine Group A, which contains eUnited, Elevate, The Bhoys, and RBL Esports.
eUnited
The team of Alec ‘Arcitys’ Sanderson, Preston ‘Prestinni’ Sanderson, James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks, Tyler ‘aBeZy’ Pharris and Chris ‘Simp’ Lehr have been a cohesive unit since CWL London back in May. After a falling out with former member Jordan ‘JKap’ Kaplan, the eU roster has come into their own. After JKap’s departure, eUnited achieved a second, fifth, and a first-place finish in their last three tournaments. The eU squad also managed to pick up second place in the CWL Pro League with their overall record. Adding Simp back in March proved a wise choice by Clayster and company. As a highly-touted prospect out of FC Black, Simp showcased his SMG skills for eUnited. His steady improvement culminated at the CWL Pro League finals where eUnited won and Simp earned the title of MVP.
eUnited is peaking at the right time coming off of their momentous performance at the Pro League Finals. Throughout that event, eUnited dropped just two maps before reaching Grand Finals. It was at this time they were forced to battle back against Gen G after falling behind 3-0 in the first series. eUnited followed their first series up with a 3-0 of their own to secure victory. The Call of Duty Championship is the time of year where seemingly anything can happen. Clayster is looking to add to his one championship ring from back in 2015. Both Prestinni and Arcitys are seeking their first through their long tenure with eUnited. With Simp and aBeZy running rampant with SMGs, there is a good chance eUnited will be hanging around until late on Sunday.
Elevate
After being absent from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for the majority of the season, Elevate entered in April of this year. Their reemergence into the scene took place after purchasing the CWL Pro League spot from Excelerate Gaming. After some controversial roster changes, Elevate settled on Chris ‘ProFeeZy’ Astudillo, Wailers ‘Wailers’ Locart, Mike ‘MRuiz’ Ruiz, Austin ‘Believe’ Smith and Andres ‘Lacefield’ Lacefield as their championship team. Since entering the scene in May of this year, Elevate has seen respectable results. Their last three major tournaments provided results of T-16, T-12 and T-8. They are coming off of their best finish at the CWL Pro League Finals much like eUnited.
The majority of Elevate’s players have been competing since 2015. As underdogs in this pool, an upset is always in play when it comes to competitive Call of Duty. All it takes is one Search and Destroy game to flip momentum. Although many are underestimating Elevate’s chances to win the pool, it is possible for them to advance to the Knockout Stage. With solid tournament history coming in, Elevate is a team looking to dethrone eUnited. The recent acquisitions of Lacefield and Believe should help them on this path heading into the Call of Duty Championship.
The Bhoys
Although The Bhoys is not an actual organization, it still is a team of extremely talented players. Representing the UK, The Bhoys’ roster includes Sean ‘Seany’ O’Connor, Shea ‘QwiKeR’ Sweeney, Ben ‘Bance’ Bance, Byron ‘Nastie’ Plumridge and Sam ‘Chain’ Dineley. This team has been on quite an adventure en route to the Call of Duty Championship. All of the players on this roster were on different teams prior to the CWL Amateur Finals. These different teams include Vitality, Reciprocity and Team Sween. After failing to qualify for the CWL Pro League, the five aforementioned players formed a team to make one last push toward Los Angeles.
The Bhoys’ performance at the CWL Amateur Finals was inspiring, to say the least. The team from the UK dropped just one series en route to victory, losing only to Team WaR in the finals. Make no mistake about it, this is a team that is likely to challenge eUnited in Pool A. The Bhoys are coming in with all of the momenta and are ready to turn some heads.
RBL Esports
One of the newer organizations on the scene, RBL Esports has been through a lot since joining Call of Duty in June of this year. RBL has managed an entire roster overhaul in just over a month. This took place due to the initial roster performing below expectations at the CWL Amateur Finals. After a T-48 finish and not qualifying for the Call of Duty Championship, RBL Esports dropped their roster. The RBL organization would acquire the qualified players of Fires Sticks Gaming in order to appear at the Call of Duty Championship.
The team of Seth ‘Glory’ Donskey, Sebastian ‘Gunsiii’ Martinez, Brendan ‘2ReaL’ Stockdale, Brett ‘KlinK’ Kovach and Jesus ‘HumanJesus’ Hernandez placed T-16 at the CWL Amateur Finals. The former Fire Sticks Gaming squad would fall victim to The Bhoys and Team Singularity during their run but would lock up a position on the world’s stage. RBL Esports does not have much of a documented history outside of a UMG and Gamebattles tournament. Nonetheless, RBL Esports will be aiming for some upsets to secure a spot in the Knockout Round.
The clear favorite to win this group is eUnited fresh off of their CWL Championship win. The Bhoys are in a position to surprise onlookers after their strong play after such a short time playing together. The pressure is on for these two teams while RBL Esports and Elevate look to capitalize in underdog roles. Stay tuned as we continue our coverage of each group leading up to the Call of Duty Championship.
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Featured image via Call of Duty World League.
Matt is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. He appreciates all esports titles but primarily focuses on Fortnite and Call of Duty. Matt continuously analyzes gameplay and plays the games himself to better understand in-game decisions by the best players in the world.