The 2019 Call of Duty World League (CWL) is in full swing. The last two weeks have been packed full of action, surprise, disappointment and plenty of controversy as we watched the eight (8) teams from the Pro League’s ‘Division A’ battle for glory and the chance to be declared CWL Champions. The current standings see Gen.G eSports, Midnight Esports, OpTic Gaming, and the ex-Red Reserve roster currently sitting in the four Playoff spots, while UYU, Luminosity, Team Reciprocity, and Evil Geniuses round off the bottom four positions.
Crowd favorite, and winner of CWL Las Vegas, OpTic Gaming, shocked fans and foes alike when they announced that the star of their team and CWL Vegas MVP, Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell would not be playing for the first two weeks of the season and his roster spot would be temporarily filled by FaZe Clan’s Tommy ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto. The announcement sparked controversy as many believed it to be a joke. Fans questioned ZooMaa’s ability to fill Dashy’s role on the team considering that FaZe Clan failed to qualify for the Pro League and Dashy, as MVP, was ranked #1 at CWL Vegas with an average kill to death ratio of 1.56, while ZooMaa was ranked #94 with an Average kill to death ratio of 0.84. The skepticism seemed to be validated when OpTic Gaming fell to Midnight eSports in disappointing fashion (0-3) in their first match of the league on February 4th. Despite their rocky start, OpTic Gaming still managed to finish Top 3 with a record of 4-3.
Another team that stirred controversy was Luminosity Gaming (LG). After placing Top 4 in CWL Vegas, fans were hoping to see LG power through this division but were disappointed when they lost their first four matches and fell to 0-4. With such a substandard record it appeared
that LG had lost all momentum and talks of potential roster changes flooded social media. However, something clicked and LG turned it around and won their final three (3) matches in week 2, including a dominant 3-0 showing against Midnight eSports and a seemingly miraculous reverse sweep against OpTic Gaming. Luminosity Gaming currently sits in 6th place with a record of 3-4.
Leading the division with a 6-1 record is Gen. G eSports. While they may not have the best map win percentage in the division, they have definitely proven themselves as the team to beat in ‘Division A’. Many believed that they were unbeatable until they fell 1-3 to Midnight eSports in their final game of Week 2.
‘Division B’ play is set to begin on Monday. The two divisions will continue competing through April 4. The top four teams from each division automatically move into the double-elimination playoffs, which will be held in July, while the bottom four teams in each division will fight for play-in spots. Each team will receive $44,375 for the regular season. The playoffs carry a $1.25 million prize pool, with $500,000 going to the winning side and $300,000 to the runner-up.
For more information on the CWL Pro League you can visit https://www.callofduty.com/esports/
