After a year of jetpacks, nonsense, and innovation in Call of Duty eSports, the fans, players, and organizations are ready to move on to bigger and better things. Including wall runing, swimming, and strategy. It all begins this Saturday (November 14th) hosted by Twitch at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored by Totino's.
Since the game is literally a week old, there isn't much known yet. So we're going to tell you what we do know so you can be fully prepared for all of the action on Saturday. What better way to start than to preview the rosters.
OpTic Gaming: Made up of Scumpii, Crimsix, Karma, and Formal, these four ravaged the competitive Call of Duty scene all of last year. Crim and Karma had been destroying teams together for another year before that on Evil Geniuses. OpTic will look to add onto the NINE championships they won last year by going one-for-one to start the year. Although it's worth noting they finished second at the first event last year.
FaZe: The team classified as the "OpTic Killers". The org won four championships last year including the first event of the season, also winning three of the last five. The squad is made up of Clayster, Enable, Zoomaa, and Attach. Although sometimes inconsistent, this team can be the best team in the world at the flip of the switch. Also along with OpTic, they are one of only two teams who haven't made a roster change coming into Black Ops 3. So the team chemistry is clearly there.
EnVyUs: This org got completely shut down last year and only bring back one player from their last roster, JKap is that last remaining player as he teams with Teepee, Slasher (who won the first event last year), and Aches (who has won the first event in every game that he's competed in). Aches and Teepee are the most legendary duo in CoD history, having won 18 championships together. Although for both, last year was a year to forget about. But those two, along with JKap, are looking to rise back up the mountain while Slasher tries to find his first long sting of success.
Team Kaliber: They're back baby! Once again, tK has assembled the roster of Theory, Sharp, Goonjar, and Neslo. This is like the story that never ends for these guys. Considering their best placing together is second, and none of them have ever found real success, it's safe to assume that earning a trophy remains something they won't do.
eLevate: Another returning squad from old. Aqua, Faccento, Remy, and Nagafen are back together. This roster is most noted for finishing second at CoD Champs with Revenge last year. They broke up shortly after, trying to find some mojo but none of them did. Now they're back together and looking to finish what they started.
Rise Nation: A few good mid-tier players here who are dying to break through finally. Slacked, Classic, and Loony have been at this for a couple years while Octane just joined the scene last year. Octane looks like he has the makings of a great player. It may come down to if his team can step up along with him so they can all take the next step.
Luminosity: The org is new to CoD but the players have been around the block several times. This lineup is very veteran heavy with Replays, Proofy, Spacely, and John. This team in all is a mixed bag. These players aren't who you would expect to match up with. But so far, they look fine. But now the test drive is over, and it's time for the tune-up.
compLexity: The org that once dominated the Call of Duty scene has made their return. The roster looks good with two world champions on it with Parasite and MirX along with two players who know how to win with Ricky and Nameless. All four players have experience together, for better or worse. This roster could succeed. But it could also fail and tarnish the legacy that coL once had.
The tournament is a single elimination, eight team bracket. Most likely Best-of-5 although no major details have been announced quite yet. No bracket has been announced yet either but these are the matchups we expect to see in the first round:
Team Kaliber - FaZe, EnVyUs - compLexity, Rise Nation - Luminosity, OpTic - eLevate
The eight teams will be competing for a $50,000 prize pool and the matches begin at 1PM EST on Twitch.tv.
