Call of Duty Pro League Recap: Day 4, Division B
| Tags: Call of Duty
| Author Phillip Miner
Week 1 of Division B has ended, and it ended with a bang! We saw some great matches that (at least temporarily) settled some anticipated grudges and established just who was the superior Call of Duty pro team at the time. For the first match, Team Heretics proved themselves to be the better new kid on the block against fellow newcomers Excelerate Gaming. Next, Denial Esports continue to be the proverbial punching bag of Division B as they lose yet another match to Team Envy. Third, Splyce defeat Enigma6 Group in what was an illusorily close match. In the last match of the day, EUnited edged out a victory against would-be rivals 100 Thieves.
Match 1: Team Heretics vs. Excelerate Gaming
Heretics and Excelerate are both excellent newcomer teams, but this match settled, at least for now, which one is genuinely better, and this time it was Heretics. Game 1 Hardpoint went in Heretics’ favor, as they won with a score of 250-219. Heretics outpaced Excelerate for the most part, but Austin “Believe” Smith certainly helped Excelerate keep the game as close as it was thanks to his 37/18 KD. Game 2 Search & Destroy, on the other hand, was clearly dominated by Heretics. Excelerate attempted to put up a fight, especially Christopher “ProFeeZy” Astudillo with his 13 kills. Heretics quickly shut that down as they won Game 2 with a score of 6-3.
Game 3 Control was a closer match. Excelerate usually comes out on top in Control games, as they did with Team Envy and EUnited. Heretics, however, proved to be the better Control players on this map. Heretics won this tense game of Control 3-2.
Match 2: Denial Esports vs. Team Envy
It’s kind of sad to see the struggles that Denial Esports are going through, as they’ve yet to win a single series in this Division. They get map victories, but not enough to close out a series. Game 1 Hardpoint was a heartbreaking defeat for Denial. They lost by a very slim margin to Team Envy with a score of 250-246 in favor of Envy. Of course, Cuyler “Huke” Garland going off with a very impressive KD of 43/23 didn’t help Denial’s odds. Denial answered back in Game 2 Search & Destroy, but only got that game on their scoreboard after much struggle, winning that game by a margin of 6-5.
Denial suffered yet another heartbreaking defeat in Game 3 Control, as again they lost by the slimmest margin. Envy won Game 3 Control 3-2 in a game that could have easily gone either way. The loss probably broke Denial’s morale down even further, as Game 4 Hardpoint was hardly any contest. Envy won against Denial 250-58.
Match 3: Splyce vs. Enigma6 Group
Splyce won this series 3-1 against Enigma6, but it easily could have gone 3-2, and it easily could have been an Enigma6 victory. It was deceptively close, and it’s a mere illusion to say that one team is clearly better. Splyce started things off by winning Game 1 Hardpoint, and as you probably guessed, it was a close game with a score of 250-202. What decided that particular game was Splyce’s slaying being marginally better, as Enigma6 overall had more deaths. Game 2 Search & Destroy was similarly close. Splyce won the game with a round score of 6-5. Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi and Ulysses “Aqua” Silva brought the clutch factor with 11 kills each.
Game 3 Control was again close. However, an unorthodox strategy on the part of Enigma6, where they bum-rushed and captured the harder of the two Control points on the Seaside map first, proved to be the deciding factor. That turned the game in Enigma6’s favor as they won Game 3 Control 3-2. Sadly, this momentum would not last for Enigma6. Game 4 Hardpoint proved to be an even closer victory than Game 1, but Splyce still clutched it with a score of 250-230.
Match 4: EUnited vs. 100 Thieves
Now, this match was entertaining to watch. However, one thing to note about the match right away is that both teams settled upon a “gentleman’s agreement” to not use the Specialist Seraph, as they felt her Annihilator weapon was too powerful and game-changing. This may be an agreement observed by other teams as well in the future; we’ll have to see. Moving onto the match itself, Game 1 Hardpoint was yet another back-and-forth slobberknocker, one team claiming a substantial lead only for that lead to be eclipsed. EUnited clutched Game 1 though with a score of 250-242. Game 2 Search & Destroy was, of course, nail-biting to watch, with EUnited coming out on top eventually 6-5.
Game 3 Control was where 100 Thieves attempted to turn things around, and for a time they were doing just that. 100 Thieves shut out EUnited 3-0 thanks to some hyper-aggression. Game 4 Hardpoint was a continuation of the momentum of 100 Thieves as they clutched Game 4 with a score of 250-225. However, 100 Thieves’ comeback fell apart on Game 5 Search & Destroy. To be blunt, 100 Thieves choked the early lead they had, allowing EUnited to snatch victory from their jaws. EUnited won Game 5 Control 6-4.
Stay tuned next week as we cover the continuation of Division B’s games! On Monday expect Envy to take on 100 Thieves, and Excelerate Gaming vs. Splyce. Watch on Twitch.tv/callofduty or right 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.