CoD: 100 Thieves Dominate CWL Anaheim to Become Back-to-Back LAN Champions

Frankly, the champions were never truly tested. On their march to victory, 100 Thieves lost all of four maps the entire tournament. Their closest matches, against OpTic Gaming and Gen. G, they closed out in hotly-contested map fours. They were never taken to a final map five.

Some MVP Controversy

Austin “Slasher” Liddecoat ultimately took home the MVP trophy which caused some controversy. Several fans pointed to better statistical records from fellow Assault Rifle players Sam “Octane” Larew and Kenny “Kenny” Williams. That being said, let’s give Slasher some credit. Firstly, all three of these AR players were dominant. According to codstats.gg, as of yesterday night, “All 3 members 100 Thieves Main AR Core are above 1.15 in adjusted K/D (aKD). No other team has more than 2 players in the Top 15 in aKD.”

Moreover, according to CWL statistician JPKrez, “at [CWL] London, 100 Thieves became 1 of 3 teams to ever win an event with a losing SnD [Search and Destroy] record. At Anaheim, they finished with a 6-1 SnD Record while still maintaining a 15-3 record in Respawns.”

A lot of this credit goes to James “Crowder” Crowder, 100 Thieves’ coach and arguably the best coach in Competitive Call of Duty. But much of the in-game leadership comes from Slasher, the team’s captain. It is primarily because of his leadership that 100 Thieves have become such a dominant force in every facet of the game.

Again according to codstats.gg, 100 Thieves’ final SnD statistics:

#1 K/D: 1.26

#1 Score Per Round: 484

#1 Damage Per Round: 651

#2 First Blood %: 58.5%

#1 Round Win %: 63.1%

Sure Kenny and Octane played amazingly, but frankly, anybody on 100 Thieves could have gotten the MVP award. The entire team was all so consistently good. And judging by how massively 100 Thieves improved their SnD play, Slasher deserves the MVP as much as anybody.

What About Everybody Else?

Here are the final placings from CWL Anaheim:

Gen. G came in second place after a nervy map five win against OpTic Gaming. Prior to that match, they had been 1-4 in their last 5 map fives. OpTic, on the other hand, were undefeated in the tournament in map fives prior to that loss.

Nevertheless, despite beating EUnited and OpTic Gaming, Gen. G lost to 100 Thieves twice. They will be happy with this result but will need to come up with something extra to take them over the top in the future.

OpTic finish 3^rd in an event they could have won. A couple of critical mistakes against 100 Thieves during their map four Hardpoint and some gut-wrenching round losses via a 1 vs. 3 and a 1 vs. 4 choke against Gen. G cost them their real chance to win.

However, OpTic’s Hardpoint record against good teams this tournament really shows their weak spots. OpTic lost both Hardpoint maps to FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves. They also had a tough time against many other teams. They will need to significantly polish that game mode if they are to challenge for the final two championships of the year.

FaZe Clan finish 4^th in CWL Anaheim largely due to their Search and Destroy play. Both of their losses came at the hands of OpTic Gaming via map five Search and Destroy losses. However, for a relatively new team, FaZe flashed their potential. If they can improve their Search play, they too can challenge for a championship this season.

Summary:

CWL Anaheim was arguably the most exciting tournament so far this year. However, 100 Thieves ultimately looked clinical in their march to victory.

We will have some more coverage of this event and thoughts on the remaining teams in the near future. Moreover, with the roster movement period upon us, the Call of Duty scene is due for an exciting next few weeks. Then, a deep breath as we begin the sprint to the finish of the Black Ops 4 season.

Images via: CWL Twitter