eUnited took on the #GreenWall in the CWL Atlanta Grand Final, and despite a 3-0 slip-up, took home a crucial game five to become the new #1 team in North America.
Three straight losses plagued eUnited, including a Search and Destroy match where the team could not close out a large lead. Heading into the next series though, Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson said that his team had to shake off the rust and play their game.
“We talked to each other, and told each other that they’ve been warmed up and playing for a while now,” said Prestinni. “It’s not to take anything away from them, but they were warmed up and we just had to get it together.”
It was not as simple for eUnited to come back, but the team started strong with a 250-204 win on Throwback Hardpoint. OpTic Gaming were persistent though, coming back from a 4-2 deficit on Precinct Search & Destroy in a similar fashion to their comeback against PNDA Gaming.
With “choke” chants coming in from the packed Georgia World Congress Center, OG took in the Uplink game by scoring six points in the first and not allowing a single score in the second. When it came back to Hardpoint though, eUnited found their stride back, and rode that momentum to a 6-3 Throwback S&D victory.
Justin “SiLLY” Fargo-Palmer told GAMURS earlier on Sunday that he wanted to face OpTic, and a win over them validated his statement.
“Coming from that online tag, it just takes that old tag away. We’re not just onliners now,” said SiLLY.
Throughout the tournament, Pierce “Gunless” Hillman made clutch plays and had solid streaks in several of the games against OpTic, ending up with a 1.1 K/D for the event. Because of that, he was named the Kontrol Freek MVP of the event, although when asked why he think he won the MVP award, he said that “it wasn’t me, it was more my teammates”
One of the co-General Managers of eUnited is Matthew “Burns” Potthoff, a veteran of the Call of Duty competitive scene who could not find a title in his career. With a trophy now in his case, Burns attributes it to putting the right players together to win the title.
“We (himself and co-GM Clerky) have an eye for talent acquisition,” said Burns. “We are trying to bring eUnited to the top and all the five games right now.”
The so-called “online warriors” proved that they can hang with the best of the best without their routers, and despite heading to Paris as an Open Bracket team, SiLLY has some major confidence for competing over in Europe and beyond.
“Honestly at this rate, we can win Paris as well,” said SiLLY. “And I see this team doing really well throughout the year.”
Despite coming up short, OpTic Gaming has earned the second spot in NA Pro Points by making an incredible losers bracket run and finishing second, and will have a pool play spot in Paris. They will look to take down eUnited then, should they escape the grueling open bracket grind.
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James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
