CWL Fort Worth Day Two Recap

Welcome to our CWL Fort Worth Day 2 Recap! After a tumultuous day of pool play, bracket play presented even more drama. Several championship contenders fell early to an absolute gauntlet of a loser’s bracket, but after the dust settled, some familiar names still remained on top.

Winner’s Bracket

The first match of the day featured two absolute heavyweights in Gen. G and Luminosity Gaming. That said, they were close games when Gen.G took both of the Hardpoints, each by less than 20 points. Luminosity blew Gen. G out in the first Search and Destroy 6-2 (marking Gen. G’s first loss in the game mode in 12 matches) before taking the Control as well and setting up a pivotal map 5. Again, Luminosity had all of the answers for the Search and Destroy powerhouse, easily winning the map 6-1 and sending Gen. G to the loser’s bracket.

Luminosity would go on to face Enigma 6. Enigma took advantage of Team Reciprocity’s penchant for inconsistency to beat them handily 3-0.  In the winner’s bracket semifinals, however, it was Luminosity who took care of business, defeating Engima 6 in a comfortable 3-0 fashion.

On the lower side of the bracket, Splyce faced a tough test in their first matchup of the day but were able to take out a Denial roster that had been making some waves at CWL Fort Worth in a close 3-2 manner. They then faced Red Reserve who took out another roster known for their inconsistency, Team EnvyUs. Envy’s clutch gene failed them in this match as they lost both a final round 11 of Search and Destroy as well as a final round 5 of Control on their way to a 3-0 loss. However, Red Reserve would go on to lose 3-0 as well at the hands of Splyce, as Splyce set up an epic winner’s bracket final clash against Luminosity on the final day of play.

Loser’s Bracket

Losses in Pool D, dubbed the “pool of death,” meant both EUnited and OpTic Gaming, our grand finalists in our last full LAN tournament, began bracket play in the loser’s bracket. This was an obstacle that neither were able to overcome.

EUnited faced an incredibly tough task  going up against their co-Division B Pro League leaders, 100 Thieves. Unfortunately for EUnited, 100 Thieves simply came out the better team, winning both of the Hardpoints handily. They also clutched a round 11 of Search and Destroy on their way to a 3-1 series victory.

OpTic, on the other hand, relied on a furious map 1 Hardpoint comeback to propel them to a 3-0 victory against an Evil Geniuses roster that has been struggling as of late, before running into a formidable foe in Pro League Division A leaders, Gen. G.

Gen. G handily took the map 1 Hardpoint, but uncharacteristically lost yet another Search and Destroy. They would go on to come back from 2-0 down to take the Control 3-2 but lost convincingly in the map 4 Hardpoint. This set up a pivotal map 5 Search and Destroy. This time, however, Gen. G took advantage of some frustrating misplays by OpTic to take the map and move on to face Team Reciprocity.

Reciprocity has had some map 5 magic of their own. After defeating Team EnvyUs in map 5 to make it out of the aforementioned pool of death, they went on to beat UYU (who easily advanced past the newly-constructed Midnight Esports) in another map 5. However, their tournament magic faced it’s most significant test against Gen. G.

Gen.G Struggles

Here, Gen. G’s recent struggles in Search and Destroy continued to plague them. After going up 5-2, Gen. G simply could not close out Reciprocity, and in their most ridiculous display of map 5 magic yet, Reciprocity relied on the insane clutch gene of new pickup Dylan “Dylan” Henderson who won both a 1 vs. 1 and a 1 vs. 2 in the final round on their way to a 6-5 map 5, and 3-2 series win. Team Reciprocity now sets up a date in the loser’s bracket quarterfinals against fellow European roster, Red Reserve, and will seek vengeance for their convincing 3-0 defeat at their hands that took place in the CWL Pro League.

100Thieves Losers bracket run

The other major story of the loser’s bracket is 100 Thieves. After taking down a strong EUnited roster 3-1, 100 Thieves went on to defeat a tricky Denial squad, as well as fellow Pro League Division B leading team, Team Heretics, both in a 3-0 fashion.

Heretics themselves faced a tough test in both Excelerate Gaming and an inconsistent Team EnvyUs, but took those matches 3-2 and 3-1 respectively. 100 Thieves, however, simply proved too big a beast to slay.

With Sam “Octane” Larew and Kenny “Kenny” Williams both having their best event of the season thus far, and their teamwork vastly improved since adding their coach James “Replays” Crowder, there’s no telling how far this 100 Thieves roster can go. They will begin Championship Sunday by facing a floundering, but talented Enigma 6 roster, and if they win, a big test against the winner of Red Reserve and Team Reciprocity.

Championship Sunday

CWL Fort Worth has proved to be one of the most unpredictable and exciting Call of Duty events to date and Sunday is sure to provide more of the same. Action on the side stations begins at 11:00 AM EST and main stage action will begin at 2:00 PM EST. You can watch all of the action on www.twitch.tv/callofduty and their related channels.