The first major Call of Duty World League event is quickly approaching, and hundreds of teams are aiming to make an impact at the beginning of the season.
With $250,000 at stake, the best CoD teams in the world will have plenty to play for. Team Envy, who won the 2018 CWL Championship in August, will be looking to defend their title of best team in the world. OpTic Gaming will also be a team to watch, with the 2017 world champions debuting their new roster. The team, who shockingly went winless last season, have been noticeably strong in online play in Black Ops 4.
Here is a viewer’s guide to the 2018 CWL Las Vegas Open.
Stream
CWL Las Vegas Open matches can be viewed starting on Friday, Dec. 7 via several streams. The event will be available on both MLG’s website and the official Call of Duty Twitch channels.
The event can be also be watched via the Live Event Viewer on the main menu of Black Ops 4.
Format
The 16 original pool play teams are split into four groups, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the winners bracket portion of the double-elimination championship bracket. The other teams will also advance to the championship bracket, but they’ll be placed in the losers bracket.
The four undefeated open bracket teams will be placed into pool play, while the four one-loss open bracket teams will go to the championship bracket losers bracket.
Teams
Like past open events, the CWL Las Vegas Open features 16 pool play teams and hundreds of open bracket teams. The top 12 squads automatically qualified for pool play, with some securing a spot through their placings in Stage Two of the CWL Pro League, while others qualified with WWII pro points.
The final four pool play teams were determined via an eight-team play-in tournament, which featured the eight teams with the most pro points that aren’t already in pool play. The qualifier took place on Thursday, Dec. 6.
Here are the pool play groups for the 2018 CWL Las Vegas Open.
Pool A
- 100 Thieves: Kenny Williams, Maurice “Fero” Henriquez, Ian “Enable” Wyatt, Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat, and Sam “Octane” Larew
- eUnited: James “Clayster” Eubanks, Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson, Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson, Jordan “JKap” Kaplan, and Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris
- Team Reciprocity: Thomas “Tommey” Trewren, Bradley “Wuskin” Marshall, Sean “Seany” O’Connor, Zach “Zed” Denyer, and Denholm “Denz” Taylor
- Mindfreak: Mitchell “BuZZO” Mader, Cody “Excite” Rugolo, Lincoln “Fighta” Ferguson, Luke “Louqa” Rigas, and Conrad “Shockz” Rymarek
- Open bracket team
Pool B
- Luminosity: Josiah “Slacked” Berry, Johnathan “John” Perez, Matthew “FormaL” Piper, and Peirce “Gunless” Hillman, and Nicholas “Classic” DiCostanzo
- Red Reserve: Ben Bance, Joseph “Joee” Pinnington, Rhys “Rated” Price, Trei “Zer0” Morris, and Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall
- Evil Geniuses: John “Xotic” Bruno, Tyler “FeLo” Johnson, Renato “Saints” Forza, Jevon “Goonjar” Gooljar-Lim, and Matthew “Royalty” Faithfull
- UYU: Mehran “Mayhem” Anjomshoa, Dakota “Nova” Williams, Nicholas “Proto” Maldonado, Cesar “Skyz” Bueno, Tristan “Spoof” Green
- Open bracket team
Pool C
- FaZe Clan: Anthony “Methodz” Zinni, Dillon “Attach” Price, Preston “Priestahh” Greiner, James “Replays” Crowder, and Tommy “ZooMaa” Paparatto
- Team Envy: Patrick “ACHES” Price, Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov, Adam “Assault” Garcia, and Justin “SiLLY” Fargo-Palmer, and Cuyler “Huke” Garland
- Lightning Pandas: Dylan “MadCat” Daly, Joshua-Lee “Joshh” Sheppard, David “Dqvee” Davies, Alex “Alexx” Carpenter, and Adam “Peatie” Peate
- Str8 Rippin: Michael “SpaceLy” Schmale, Chance “Maux” Moncivaez, Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak, Jared “Nagafen” Harrell, and Colt “Havok” McLendon
- Open bracket team
Pool D
- Splyce: Jordan “Jurd” Crowley, Donovan “Temp” Laroda, Ulysses “Aqua” Silva, Daniel “Loony” Loza, and Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi
- OpTic Gaming: Damon “Karma” Barlow, Tommy “TJHaLy” Haly, Brandon “Dashy” Otell, Seth “Scump” Abner, and Ian “Crimsix” Porter
- G2 Esports: Martin Chino, Jacob “Decemate” Cato, Richard “Ricky” Stacy, Rasim “Blazt” Ogresevic, and Brice Faccento
- Pittsburgh Knights: Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, Adam “GodRx” Brown, Andres Lacefield, Casey “Pandur” Romano, and Dylan “Theory” McGee
- Open bracket team
Schedule
Matches begin at 4pm CT on Friday and Saturday. And on Sunday, the first match will start at 1:30pm CT.
Friday, Dec. 7
- 4pm CT: Evil Geniuses vs. UYU
- 4pm CT: OpTic Gaming vs. Pittsburgh Knights
- 4pm CT: Splyce vs. G2 Esports
- 4pm CT: Luminosity vs. Red Reserve
- 5:30pm CT: FaZe Clan vs. Team Envy
- 5:30pm CT: eUnited vs. Mindfreak
- 5:30pm CT: Lightning Pandas vs. Str8 Rippin
- 5:30pm CT: 100 Thieves vs. Team Reciprocity
- 7pm CT: OpTic Gaming vs. G2 Esports
- 7pm CT: Splyce vs. Pittsburgh Knights
- 7pm CT: Luminosity vs. UYU
- 7pm CT: Red Reserve vs. Evil Geniuses
- 8:30pm CT: 100 Thieves vs. Mindfreak
- 8:30pm CT: Team Envy vs. Lightning Pandas
- 8:30pm CT: eUnited vs. Team Reciprocity
- 8:30pm CT: FaZe Clan vs. Str8 Rippin
- 10pm CT: Splyce vs. OpTic Gaming
- 10pm CT: Luminosity vs. Evil Geniuses
- 10pm CT: Red Reserve vs. UYU
- 10pm CT: G2 Esports vs. Pittsburgh Knights
- 11:30pm CT: 100 Thieves vs. eUnited
- 11:30pm CT: Team Reciprocity vs. Mindfreak
- 11:30pm CT: Team Envy vs. Str8 Rippin
- 11:30pm CT: FaZe Clan vs. Lightning Pandas
The complete schedule for the weekend will be updated as it is announced.
