What started with 32 teams is now down to 16 with the completion of pool play at the Call of Duty: Championships 2015. In a day with many sweeps, and plenty of matches that went the distance, who made it out on top? (More importantly, how’s your fantasy team doing?) Let’s jump right into the recap and find out how everyone fared.
Group A
Group A saw OpTic Gaming, Team Orbit, Vitality.X from France, and NxG.Rapid from Germany face off, with OpTic Gaming and Team Orbit moving to bracket play on Saturday. OpTic Gaming ended the day with a 3-0 record, first in the pool, starting the day with a quick 3-0 of Vitality.X. There, they won Bio Lab Hardpoint 248-184, dominated Riot Search and Destroy 60, and ended the sweep with a 8-2 win on Detroit Uplink. From there, they took on NxG.Rapid and continued their win streak; taking Solar Hardpoint 250-76, Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-0, and 8-1 on Retreat Capture the Flag. Their last match would be a 3-1 win against Team Orbit, winning Retreat Hardpoint 233-149, followed by an uncharacteristic 6-1 loss on Drift Search and Destroy, but recovered with a 6-2 win on Bio Lab Capture the Flag and a big 15-6 win on Comeback Uplink.
They finished the day 2-1, but Team Orbit began their day with a 3-0 victory against NxG.Rapid, 242-155 on Bio Lab Hardpoint, 6-5 on Riot Search and Destroy, and 11-1 on Detroit Hardpoint. Before eventually facing OpTic Gaming in their last match of the pool, they went up against Vitality.X and swept them in convincing fashion; 250-99 on Solar Hardpoint, 6-0 on Bio Lab Search and Destroy, and 4-1 on Retreat Capture the Flag.
Group B
The action in Group B consisted of Denial eSports, Prophecy, HyperGames from France, and Klar1ty Gaming from the United Arab Emirates, with Prophecy and Denial eSports advancing to Saturday. Prophecy ended 3-0 on the day, beginning with a sweep of HyperGames; 242-170 on Bio Lab Hardpoint, 6-1 on Riot Search and Destroy, and 9-4 win on Detroit Uplink. From there, they faced Denial eSports in their second game of pool play, and after dropping the first two games, Retreat Hardpoint 239-172 and Drift Search and Destroy 6-0, won Bio Lab Capture the Flag 5-4, Comeback Uplink 10-6, and Terrace Search and Destroy 6-1. Their final match of pool play was against Klar1ty Gaming, where they closed out the day with a 3-0 sweep, starting with a 219-109 win on Solar Hardpoint, a 6-1 win on Bio Lab Search and Destroy, and closing with a 5-2 win on Bio Retreat Capture the Flag.
In a surprising turn, Denial eSports ended the day with a 2-1 record and second place in the group. Their run began with a 3-0 rout of Klar1ty Gaming, consisting of a 250-36 blowout on Bio Lab Hardpoint, 6-1 win on Detroit Hardpoint, and 21-0 victory on Detroit Uplink. They faced Prophecy in their second game of pool play, and after their 3-2 loss in that series, faced HyperGames for their final match of Friday. There, they secured another victory, winning Solar Hardpoint 250-85, sweeping Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-0, and ending the series with a 6-0 win on Retreat Capture the Flag.
Group C
In Group C, FaZe.Red, Automatic Reload, fabE.Germany, and fabE.Allstars from the Netherlands squared off, with FaZe.Red and Automatic Reload moving to Saturday. First place in the pool, unsurprisingly, went to FaZe.Red, as they finished the night 3-0. Their first match of the day was against Automatic Reload, where, after a slow start found themselves down two games as Automatic Reload took Retreat Hardpoint 214-170 and Drift Search and Destroy 6-5, but came back to win Bio Lab Capture the Flag in overtime 5-4, Comeback Uplink 13-11, and Terrace Search and Destroy 6-5 to take the series 3-2. Their second match of the day was against fabE.AllStars, which they took 3-0 with a 250-145 Bio Lab Hardpoint win, a 6-5 win on Riot Search and Destroy, and closing with a 10-4 win on Detroit Uplink. They closed their night against fabE.Germany with another sweep, winning Solar Hardpoint 221-128, Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-3, and Retreat Capture the Flag 3-2.
On their road to second place in the pool, Automatic Reload took down fabE.AllStars 3-1; winning Solar Hardpoint 236-147, Retreat Capture the Flag 4-2 and Bio Lab Uplink 8-7. The only game fabE.Allstars managed to take from them was Bio Lab Search and Destroy, the Dutch team winning it in round eleven. After their loss to FaZe.Red, they took on fabE.Germany, and completed their night with a 3-0 sweep, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 212182, Riot Search and Destroy 6-4, and Detroit Uplink 7-4.
Group D
From Group D, OpTic Nation and Gamers2 from Spain punched their tickets to Saturday in a pool that also included SSOF Gaming from Brazil and Exile5.T1 from Austrailia. Finishing first in the pool, OpTic Nation swept SSOF Gaming in their first match, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 243-176, Riot Search and Destroy 6-4, and Detroit Uplink 14-4. Their second match of the pool, against Gamers2, followed in similar fashion as they won a close Solar Hardpoint game 188-182, Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-4, and Retreat Capture the Flag 4-3. The closed pool play with a 3-1 of Exile5.T1, winning a close Retreat Hardpoint 209-190, dropping Bio Lab Search and Destroy 64, but came back to win Bio Lab Capture the Flag 7-3, and Comeback Uplink 14-12.
Gamers2 snagged second place in the pool, finishing overall with a 2-1 record after 3-0ing Exile, starting with a 250-151 win on Bio Lab Hardpoint, 6-3 win on Riot Search and Destroy, and 12-4 win on Detroit Uplink. After their loss against OpTic Nation, they secured their place in Saturday’s bracket play with a 3-1 win against SSOF Gaming, only dropping the opening Retreat Hardpoint 206-145 before rebounding to win Drift Search and Destroy 6-2, Bio Lab Capture the Flag 4-1, and Comeback Uplink 16-11.
Group E
Team EnVyUs, Team Menace from Finland, Underratix Gaming from Germany and Plantronics.Mindfreak from Australia met in Group E, where Team EnVyUs and Plantronics.Mindfreak advanced to Saturday. Winning the pool 3-0, Team EnVyUs started the day sweeping Team Menace, beginning with a 250-134 win on Solar Hardpoint, a 6-5 win on Bio Lab Search and Destroy, and a 5-2 win on Retreat Capture the Flag. They 3-0’d
Platronics.Mindfreak in their second game of the day in a match that would later determine who would finish first in the pool, winning Retreat Hardpoint 185-166, Drift Search and Destroy 6-3, and Bio Lab Capture the Flag 5-3. To secure first place in the pool, they took on Underratix Gaming, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 250-65, Riot Search and Destroy 6-4, and Detroit Uplink 8-3.
On their way to securing second place in the pool, Platronics.Mindfreak met Underratix Gaming in their first match of the day, kicking off with a 250-129 win on Solar Hardpoint, a 6-4 win on Bio Lab Search and Destroy, a 5-4 loss on Retreat Capture the Flag, but brought the series home with a 17-1 win on Bio Lab Uplink. After their loss to Team EnVyUs, they took on Team Menace to clinch second place, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 246-141, dropping Riot Search and Destroy 6-3, and rebounding to win Detroit Uplink 10-4 and Ascend Capture the Flag 6-5.
Group F
Group F’s action consisted of Team Revenge, 3sUP Enterprises, and Aware.EU and Team Infused from the United Kingdom, and Team Revenge and Aware.EU came out on top to advance to Saturday. Finishing first in the pool with a 3-0 record, Team Revenge started their morning against Aware.EU. After dropping Solar Hardpoint to the English squad 197-187, they took Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-1, Retreat Capture the Flag 5-4, and Bio Lab Uplink 7-2. In their next game against 3sUP Enterprises, they started with a victory on Retreat Hardpoint 208-161, dropped Drift Search and Destroy 6-3, but came back to win Bio Lab Capture the Flag 6-1 and Comeback Uplink 21-6. For their final game of the evening, they took on Team Infused, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 250-137, Riot Search and Destroy 6-0, and Detroit Uplink 8-3. \
Aware.EU finished the pool 2-1, with their only loss being to Team Revenge. Before that game, though, they faced off against Team Infused, a team that they knew very well coming into this tournament. They lost a close game of Retreat Hardpoint 187-185 before winning Drift Search and Destroy 6-2, Bio Lab Capture the Flag 5-3, and Comeback Uplink 20-1 to finish that series 31, and, in the final game of pool play faced 3sUP Enterprises, where they swept the American team, taking Bio Lab Hardpoint 250-172, Riot Search and Destroy 6-3, and Detroit Uplink 11-4.
Group G
FaZe.Black, DA.BelowZero, TCM Gaming from the United Kingdom and Ascentia Gaming from France made up Group G, with FaZe.Black and DA.BelowZero coming out on top to move onto Saturday. FaZe.Black came out of the pool on top with a record of 3-0, beginning with a close match against DA.BelowZero. That match went all the way to game five as FaZe.Black won Retreat Hardpoint 203-187 and followed that with a 6-4 win on Drift Search and Destroy, but in the next two games, DA.BelowZero came alive with a 2-1 win on Bio Lab Capture the Flag, and 10-7 win on Comeback Uplink. FaZe.Black was able to bring it back with a 6-4 win on Terrace Search and Destroy to take the series 3-2. They followed that victory with another against TCM Gaming, winning Solar Hardpoint 220-145 and Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-4 before dropping Retreat Capture the Flag 32, but rebounded to win Biolab Uplink 16-9 to win the series 3-1. They would complete their sweep of the pool against Ascentia Gaming, taking Bio Lab Hardpoint 247-148, Riot Search and Destroy 6-3, and Detroit Uplink 107.
Their loss to FaZe.Black was the only loss on the day for DA.BelowZero, as they went on to 3-1 Ascentia Gaming; beginning with a 193-172 win on Solar Hardpoint, followed by dropping Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-4, and rebounding to win Retreat Capture the Flag in a match that took place off stream, and finishing the series with a 10-5 win on Bio Lab Uplink. Their last match of the night was a 3-0 victory against TCM Gaming, starting with a 239-172 win on Bio Lab Hardpoint, 6-3 win on Riot Search and Destroy, and a 6-4 win on Detroit Uplink, securing second place in the pool.
Group H
Going into this event, Group H was considered the most ‘interesting’ group in pool play, consisting of Team Kaliber, Strictly Business, Integral Nation from Austrailia, and Epsilon eSports from the United Kingdom. Team Kaliber finished first in the pool, beginning their day against Integral Nation with an easy 3-0, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 250-55, Riot Search and Destroy 6-4, and 10-0 on Detroit Uplink. Their second match, against TCM Gaming, found them down 2-0 as the European squad won Solar Hardpoint 196-149 and Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-5, but rallied to win Retreat Capture the Flag 5-1, Bio Lab Uplink 6-1, and Detroit Search and Destroy 64. They took on Strictly Business in their last match of the night, winning Retreat Hardpoint 215-195, dropping Drift Search and Destroy 6-0, but bouncing back to take Bio Lab Capture the Flag 3-2, and Comeback Uplink 9-7.
Strictly Business, in their quest to secure the second seed in Group H, started the day with a surprise 3-1 of TCM Gaming, winning Bio Lab Hardpoint 231-200, dropping Riot Search and Destroy 6-3, but coming back to win Detroit Uplink 6-4 and Ascent Capture the Flag 4-2. They followed that performance with a 3-0 sweep of Integral Nation, winning Solar Hardpoint 250-120, Bio Lab Search and Destroy 6-2, and Retreat Capture the Flag 4-2, before their loss to Team Kaliber.
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