With CWL London firmly in the rear view mirror and the second half of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 season beginning, the 16 Pro League teams and hundreds of amateur rosters will descend on Anaheim. It has been an exciting few months for Call of Duty fans with the announcement of Modern Warfare and Black Ops 4's 'Days of Summer', the good times continue to roll on with the next major event CWL Anaheim.
CWL Anaheim, which takes place on the 14th-16th June at the Anaheim Conventionm Center, could feature a 4th major champion for the year. Previously, we had had OpTic Gaming win in Vegas, Luminsoity win in Fort Worth and 100 Thieves win in London. In this article, I’ll be breaking down each pool, attempt to predict them and take a look at some of the notable names doing battle in the Open Bracket.
Pool A
North American powerhouse OpTic Gaming headline Pool A alongside the Spaniards of Heretics, fellow North Americans Evil Geniuses and the Anglo-American roster, Denial Esports.
The Green Wall are certainly the favourites to take the top spot in the pool, especially with players like OpTic Dashy firing in the Pro League, but second place is a much closer contest. Heretics look to have found their feet after numerous role changes while Evil Geniuses and Team Pinnington have been making significant improvements in the Pro League.
Could any of these rosters challenge OpTic in this pool?
Predictions:1st - OpTic2nd - Evil Geniuses3rd - Heretics4th - Denial Esports
Your predictions on Twitter:
#CWLAnaheim is this weekend! 😁Who do you think will top pool A?
— Gfinity Esports (@Gfinity)
June 13, 2019
Pool B
Pool B is similar to A, with eUnited the clear favourite where second place is set to have a thrilling outcome with Team Reciprocity, UYU and Elevate all looking to escape the pool with second place.
After a convincing 3-0 sweep of CWL London champions, 100 Thieves, eUnited are heading into the tournament as championship contenders and are the favourites in this pool.
Team Reciprocity have been improving since adding Denholm “Denz” Taylor to the starting line-up, making their match against the Franco-American side of Elevate a must-watch.
Elevate have been on an upward path since London. Big victories in the Pro League have put them in contention to get second place in the pool while UYU have been struggling.
Predictions:
1st - eUnited2nd - Team Reciprocity3rd - Elevate4th - UYU
Your predictions on Twitter:
Who will finish first in pool B at #CWLAnaheim? ☝️
— Gfinity Esports (@Gfinity)
June 13, 2019
Pool C
Pool C looks to be a much closer contest than A and B. Both FaZe Clan and Splyce have been on the front foot, while Midnight Esports and Enigma6 are more than capable of an upset.
Since their return to the Pro League, FaZe have looked very strong. With Trei “Zer0” Morris moving to the main ICR role, while the other four players can roam the map and slay their opponents, they have certainly looked like a top team.
Splyce have added Nick “Nolson” Nolson to the line-up after some turbulent weeks in the league. Will he be the difference and give Splyce their third top three finish this year?
Midnight and E6 can easily spring a surprising result in this pool. If either one of these teams can take down FaZe or Splyce, this pool could be flipped on its head.
Predictions:
1st - FaZe2nd - Splyce3rd - Midnight Esports4th - Enigma6
Your predictions on Twitter:
Your #CWLAnaheim pool C winner is...🤔
— Gfinity Esports (@Gfinity)
June 13, 2019
Pool D
The fourth and final pool looks to be the most competitive out of all of them.
Reigning champions 100 Thieves will be looking to be the first team to win back-to-back championships, while Gen.G will be wanting to take their league form and turn it into a solid performance.
Envy have been hit and miss, while Luminosity have substituted Peirce “Gunless” Hillman for coach Richard “Ricky” Stacy in an attempt to reverse their fortunes.
The game to watch is certainly 100 Thieves against Gen.G as it could decide who gets top spot in the pool. Envy could snatch second place away from those teams, while Luminosity are heading into the tournament as an unknown entity after their roster change. Could they catch everyone off guard?
Predictions:
1st - Gen.G2nd - 100 Thieves3rd - Team Envy4th - Luminosity Gaming
Your predictions on Twitter:
And finally, who survives the #CWLAnaheim group of Death? 💀
— Gfinity Esports (@Gfinity)
June 13, 2019
Open Bracket
The Anaheim Open tournament will see nearly 200 teams face off for a share of $75,000 in prize money and get some practice against the world’s best amateur teams ahead of CWL Miami. Let’s take a look at some teams that will be contending for the championship.
Mindfreak The Australians have dominated the amateur scene for the majority of the year, taking an impressive victory at CWL London, they beat Kairos Esports twice to take home the title. They will be intent on keeping their run of form going with another victory as we head towards the world championship qualification at CWL Miami.
Team WaR North American organisation Team WaR have acquired one of Europe’s best amateur rosters for CWL Anaheim. With Nolson moving to Splyce, the ex-Kairos roster have acquired the services of charismatic Welshman, David “Dqvee” Davies ahead of the tournament. After falling in the finals of CWL London, can this team bounce back and take home a long-awaited title?
Fierce Esports Fierce Esports are one of the latest UK organisations to debut into Call of Duty. Their roster consisting of notable names Shea “Quiker” Sweeney and Tom “Moose” Handley have the potential to make a deep run and bring the fight to some of North Americas best.
Mindfreak won the CWL London Open Bracket in May
Who do you think will win CWL Anaheim? Could we see a new champion? Tweet us!
Written ByJon Nicholson@MrJonno_95
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