Call of Duty Pro League Recap: Day 3, Week 1, Cross-Division Play
| Tags: Call of Duty
| Author Phillip Miner
Day 3 of cross-divisional play is completed, and we continued to get some entertaining matchups! Two of the matches were shorter complete sweeps this time around, but we did have one go the distance to Game 5. The first match of the day demonstrated the long road Red Reserve must take to become prominent in the Pro League again, as they were shut out by Team Heretics. Secondly, Excelerate Gaming finally get their act together to score their first cross-division win against UYU. Third, Evil Geniuses surprised us all when they caught Team Envy off guard for a series win. And finally, the game that went the distance was none other than Luminosity Gaming vs. EUnited, and it was just as exciting as you’d expect.
Match 1: Red Reserve vs. Team Heretics
Red Reserve’s Call of Duty team had much internal drama to sort through prior to today’s match. Unfortunately, their heartbreaking loss against Team Heretics isn’t going to help matters, especially as it exposed Red Reserve’s inability to close out matches effectively. Game 1 (Hardpoint) was a demonstration of this flaw. They attempted comeback after comeback and kept the score close with the Heretics, but it was not meant to be as Heretics won Game 1 250-204.
Game 2 (Search & Destroy) continued the heartbreak. Team Heretics were up by four rounds at one point, and Red Reserve was on the verge of an epic comeback as they answered back by winning four rounds of their own. But that comeback was squashed as Team Heretics won Game 2 with a round score of 6-4. And Game 3 (Control) probably created the biggest chest pains of all for the Red Reserve players and fans alike. Red Reserve came excruciatingly close to closing out Round 5 of Control by two seconds, but then a downright heroic play by Heretics’ Jorge “Methodzsick” Bancells snatched it away. Heretics won Game 3 with a score of 3-2, and Red Reserve’s woes continue.
Match 2: Excelerate Gaming vs. UYU
This match wasn’t even close. Excelerate Gaming proved themselves the superior rookie team here as they easily dominated UYU for three straight maps. In Game 1 (Hardpoint), Excelerate hit UYU hard and hit them fast, and UYU simply could not keep up as Excelerate won 250-98. Excelerate continued to floor the gas pedal in Game 2 (Search & Destroy). UYU tried to fight back, but Excelerate shut down any attempts at coming back, as they won Game 2 with a round score of 6-3. UYU were on the ropes in Game 3 (Control), and they managed to win one round. It proved futile, however, and Excelerate crushed UYU’s resistance by winning that map 3-1.
Match 3: Evil Geniuses vs. Team Envy
Evil Geniuses were clearly struggling to get wins prior to this match, so many predicted an easy victory for Team Envy. Color us all flabbergasted, because Evil Geniuses not only won against Team Envy but won convincingly. You wouldn’t know this outcome looking at Game 1 (Hardpoint) alone, though, as Team Envy decimated Evil Geniuses with a win by a score of 250-204. However, Evil Geniuses were ready to shed more blood, sweat, and tears for a win. Game 2 (Search & Destroy) was agonizingly close, but the Evil Geniuses by some miracle edged out a game win with a round count of 6-5.
From here, Team Envy was caught with their pants down as they couldn’t withstand a renewed Evil Geniuses. EG utterly destroyed the unprepared Team Envy in Game 3 (Control) with a 3-0 shutout. Team Envy rallied to attempt to put Evil Geniuses in their place in Game 4 (Hardpoint) and came close to doing so. But EG surprised us all by clutching up and securing Game 4 with a narrow lead of 250-226, claiming the match win 3-1.
Match 4: Luminosity Gaming vs. EUnited
Luminosity Gaming and EUnited both had something to prove in this highly anticipated matchup. Luminosity wanted to defend their status as the current best team in the Pro League following their victory at CWL Fort Worth. Meanwhile, EUnited’s roster with new player Chris “Simp” Lehr wanted to prove their worthiness as contenders following the changes to the squad. Game 1 (Hardpoint) went in Luminosity’s favor with a score of 250-214, as EUnited had the Game 1 jitters. Those jitters were put to rest in the next two games, as they answered back with a narrow clutch in Game 2 (Search & Destroy), which EUnited won 6-5.
From there, EUnited continued to take advantage of a disoriented Luminosity. Game 3 (Control) saw LG get flattened under EUnited’s assault as they took the game with a 3-0 round shutout. However, from here Luminosity started to rally. Their rally was successful as they defeated EUnited in Game 4 (Hardpoint) by a margin of 250-208. A shattered EUnited was easy pickings for the renewed Luminosity in Game 5 (Search & Destroy), where they declared their supremacy over EUnited with a 6-2 round count.
Stick with us for coverage of Day 4 of CWL Pro League cross-division play! Tomorrow we’ll see more heavy-hitting matchups like UYU vs. Team Envy, Evil Geniuses vs. Excelerate Gaming, EUnited vs. Red Reserve, and Team Heretics vs. Luminosity Gaming. You can watch on twitch.tv/callofduty or of course here on ESTNN TV.
Phillip has been a freelance writer covering video games for over a decade. He's had video game articles published in places from local newspapers to The Escapist. Call of Duty has been a passion of his since the first Black Ops. You can learn more about Phillip on our About page.