The first Gfinity Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Spring Masters took place this weekend, where 16 teams congregated on London from all corners of the globe, battling it out with one another with hopes of attaining the title of Gfinity Champions as well as a slice of the $25,000 prize pool on offer. There were upsets, exceptional plays and a full weekend of exciting Call of Duty action. The European teams managed to make more of an impact on their eternal North American rivals than usual, but it all ended up with a grand finals for the ages: OpTic Gaming versus a Team Prophecy outfit led by Aches.
Final Placements
1st: OpTic Gaming | Scump, Formal, Crimsix, Enable | $15,000
2nd: Team Prophecy | Aches, Apathy, AquA, Nagafen | $5,000
3rd/4th: TCM Gaming | Gunshy, Shane, Jurd, Moose | $2,500
3rd/4th: OpTic Nation | Killa, Ricky, MBoze, MirX | $2,500
5th/8th: Epsilon eSports | Joshh, Tommey, Swanny, MadCat
5th/8th: Team EnVy | Merk, ProoFy, TeePee, Loony
5th/8th: Aware Gaming | Rated, Watson, Peatie, Joee
5th/8th: Denial eSports | Clayster, Replays, JKap, Attach
OpTic Gaming's Road to Victory
OpTic Gaming are coming in hot, once again utilising the substitute that helped them achieve victory last weekend at ESWC in Enable. By far the event favourites, they showed perfection in their craft to take the championship in a completely dominating fashion.
Group Stages
OpTic Gaming 3 - 0 Gamers2
OpTic Gaming 3 - 1 Epsilon eSports
OpTic avoided facing their North American brothers Strictly Business in the group stages this event, not actually facing up against another team from the United States until the grand finals. Gamers2 was a rather straight forward match for them, a Spanish team forged of the best from that region but nothing less than the world's top class could rival the Green Wall this weekend. They fell quickly.
Epsilon eSports was a similar affair: talented players that individually may have been able to consider themselves among the best of the best, but they were no match for the earth-shattering unit that OpTic Gaming had become. It certainly didn't help that the half-British, half-American team had been unable to practise with one another before the event as well.
Bracket Play
OpTic Gaming 3 - 0 Aware Gaming
OpTic Gaming 3 - 1 TCM Gaming
Aware Gaming and TCM Gaming were both extremely formidable rosters representing the very best that Europe had to offer. Talented, well practised, and with enough time together as a core team to coordinate their efforts and develop tactics. Aware fell to OpTic with little resistance, unable to put up the same kind of fight that had enabled them to progress through the groups tage in the first place. TCM was somewhat of a different story. Whilst respawn continuously went to the Green Wall with very few moments that could be considered truly intense, Search and Destroy was a clinic. TCM proved their calibre in the non-respawn game mode by literally decimating OG, proving that their armour may well have a couple of chinks.
Grand Final
OpTic Gaming 3 - 2 Team Prophecy
Aches had made it once again, forming a completely new roster and leading them onwards to the Grand Finals to face off against his old teammate, Crimsix. The entire series was a crazily intense affair, with plays and subsequently maps being traded back and forth. It's honestly worth heading on over to the Gfinity YouTube channel and checking out the VOD of the Grand Finals if you didn't get a chance to watch them live, because it was certainly the highlight of the entire weekend.
Alas, Prophecy was eventually overcome, and OpTic took their trophy and crown as champions, once again.
OpTic Gaming's collaboration with Enable is over: at their next event we shall see them competing with Karma taking back his place to fill out the full official lineup. It'll be exciting to see whether the Green Wall improve even further with their fourth of choice, or if Enable was a match made in heaven for them. Congratulations on the back-to-back victories, OG!
Gfinity is bringing Counter Strike: Global Offensive back to London with the Spring Masters II, taking place May 15-17th. More information and tickets are available now.
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