CWL Pro League Recap: Day 3, Division A
| Tags: Call of Duty
| Author Phillip Miner
Day 3 of the CWL Pro League Division A is done and dusted, and quality matches happened as usual. Reciprocity matched up against Gen.G for the first time in the first match of the day, with some neck-and-neck respawn games. Next, Luminosity Gaming’s struggles continued as UYU exposed cracks in their resolve. Third, Midnight chalked up another series victory against Red Reserve, though not without cost. Finally, OpTic Gaming returned to form against Evil Geniuses.
Match 1: Team Reciprocity vs. Gen.G Esports
Reciprocity had a lot to prove against Gen.G, and Game 1 Hardpoint was their opportunity to do just that. High caliber slaying defined this game as streaks were earned and then called in left and right, especially from Jared “Nagafen” Harrell on Gen.G and from Thomas “Tommey” Trewren on Reciprocity. These streaks were what kept this game as even-steven as it was, up until Reciprocity finally claimed victory 250-243.
Gen.G, however, repaid Reciprocity’s first strike threefold over the next three games. Game 2 Search & Destroy saw more back-and-forth battling between the two teams, but Gen.G edged out a 6-4 game win. Game 3 Control was another clutch win for Gen.G with a score of 3-2, as they always were one step ahead of Reciprocity despite their counter-attacks. Finally, Gen.G earned the clutch victory that mattered the most in Game 4 Hardpoint with a score of 250-240, where they shut down yet another attempted comeback by Reciprocity and sealed the series victory.
Match 2: UYU vs. Luminosity Gaming
Regardless of whether or not it’s time to panic for Luminosity, you can bet that the thought crossed their minds after UYU handed them a convincing series loss. The surprising thing about this loss for Luminosity is that it was the polar opposite type of loss from the day before versus Reciprocity. They won the sole Search & Destroy round but got utterly stomped in the respawn rounds. Game 1 Hardpoint saw Luminosity lose by over 100 points as UYU shut down push after push, UYU winning the game with a score of 250-147. Luminosity seemed like they temporarily learned from their S&D mistakes during Game 2 Search & Destroy, as they clinched a 6-4 win that game.
During Game 3 Control, however, they made all new mistakes. They couldn’t get a single round win under their belts as UYU shut them out 3-0. Game 4 Hardpoint was an opportunity for Luminosity to redeem themselves, and they came close to doing so. But UYU put a stop to their redemption arc by handing them a heartbreaking defeat, UYU winning 250-229.
Match 3: Midnight vs. Red Reserve
Midnight continued their tear through the Pro League as they remained undefeated in series victories against Red Reserve. However. Red Reserve came closer than any other team so far to cutting Midnight’s win streak short. Game 1 Hardpoint was clutched by Midnight gaming in their usual fashion, coming from behind like their other Game 1 Hardpoint games to win against Red Reserve 250-234. However, Midnight had their confidence, and certainly their momentum, temporarily shattered when Red Reserve won Game 2 Search & Destroy by a substantial margin of 6-2.
Midnight attempted to get their groove back in Game 3 control, but Red Reserve remained on top as they clutched a 3-2 win during a decisive Round 5 where they had Midnight’s number with a huge life surplus over them. But Midnight was not deterred, for they were down but not out. Midnight clawed their way back into the dominant position over Red Reserve during Game 4 Hardpoint where they savaged Red Reserve in a 250-130 win. Their momentum continued into Game 5 Search & Destroy, for a while Red Reserve made a valiant effort to stop them, Midnight was one step ahead. Nothing expressed this better than a quad feed that Carson “Brack” Newberry claimed against Red Reserve with a single Lightning Strike score streak he called in during Round 6.
Match 4: OpTic Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses
After getting a loss handed to them on a plate by Midnight and almost losing again to up-and-comers UYU, many wondered if we’d ever see the OpTic Gaming we saw at CWL Vegas ever again. Wonder no more, as OpTic Gaming has returned to their glory, or at least they did against Evil Geniuses.
The Evil Geniuses put up a valiant fight in Game 1 Hardpoint, but key misplays, such as missed shots from the Tempest by Jevon “Goonjar” Gooljar-Lim, allowed OpTic to win that game 250-212. Game 2 Search & Destroy was almost no contest, as the Evil Geniuses were only able to put up a single round win against OpTic, as OpTic Gaming ran away with that game 6-1. Game 3 Control, debatably OpTic’s worst game mode, was still a struggle for OpTic, but Seth “Scump” Abner helped clutch the victory against Evil Geniuses by picking up the Maddox assault rifle and going nuts with it. OpTic Gaming won Game 3 Control 3-2.
Check back tomorrow for more Pro League mayhem!
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.