The Blue Group in the Call of Duty World League Global Pro League was all tied up heading into the final day of round robin play. Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, and Rise Nation all began Sunday’s action with a 2-2 match record.
In the first match of the day, EG took out FaZe Clan for the second time, defeating them 3-1 after sweeping FaZe on Saturday. FaZe won the opening Hardpoint map, but EG rattled off three wins in a row to clinch their third series victory of the weekend.
Rise came out on top in the next series against Fnatic, thanks to a strong showing from Ulysses “Aqua” Silva in the last two maps. Aqua totaled 56 combined kills over the Uplink and second Hardpoint to help his team improve to 3-2 on the weekend.
The next series put Fnatic’s 2-3 record to the test against Evil Geniuses. A win for EG meant a playoff berth, while a loss for Fnatic would doom them to relegation. But, EG’s momentum was just too strong for Fnatic. Riding a three-match win streak coming into the series, EG rolled over the Europeans, quickly sweeping them to secure the top spot in the Blue Group.
With Fnatic’s loss, FaZe clinched a spot in the second season of the CWL Global Pro League. But, they needed a win against Rise Nation in the final match of the night to crack into the playoffs. In the teams’ previous matchup on Friday, FaZe defeated Rise in fairly convincing fashion.
But in the rematch, Rise didn’t plan on going down as easily. Rise looked dominant in the first Hardpoint, winning 250-160 while Ian “Enable” Wyatt continued to struggle. The Halo legend was at the bottom of the lobby in kills, finishing with 18. Rise continued to roll over FaZe, taking the Search and Destroy 6-2. Enable finished 1-7, while Tyler “Felo” Johnson of Rise Nation led the way for his team.
FaZe rebounded in Uplink behind a strong showing from Enable and James “Clayster” Eubanks, with the duo both netting at least 30 kills. FaZe took the next map as well, completing one of the greatest single-game comebacks in Call of Duty history. FaZe overcame a 100-point deficit on Breakout Hardpoint to steal the map away from Rise, 250-249.
Rise Nation completely lost focus after the fourth game and were quickly swept 6-0 in Crusher Search and Destroy. That win gave FaZe the 3-2 series win, and Clayster and crew effectively clinched the second Blue Group playoff spot. Rise finished in third with the loss, despite having a better map record at the weekend’s conclusion.
The Blue Group offered a lot of memorable moments, and Call of Duty fans will be looking forward to next weekend when the Yellow Group travels to Columbus, Ohio for more CWL GPL action.
