Approximately one month from now, 10 of the best North American teams, as well as six of the best European sides, will enter MLG Atlanta through pool play; and the Pro Points system will be the best friend of those 16 teams.
Along with the points doled out at MLG Las Vegas, there are two 2K tournaments scheduled so far in January, as well as the ladder that will give out pro points to the pros who can grind it out the most. Scoring for the ladder is 10 points for the first win of the day, and five points for each win afterwards.
This idea is not wholely unique, as Kieran, a Call of Duty player going under the name MMastrix and playing in the EU, was the trendsetter with a few tweets calculating exact values of pro points for each team. It would be rude to not shout him out for blazing a trail, as this writer, tired from all the mathematics done in calculating this list on his own, now appreciates how much work he did for his spreadsheet on his Twitter (which you all should follow) in order to do this every Sunday. Furthermore, to give him a bit of respect for his work each Sunday as he plans, we’ll be updating our Pro Point standings every Monday and Friday leading up to MLG Atlanta in seperate articles for each date.
With all that said, let’s kick off the new year with a look at the top 10 NA teams, the top six EU teams, and a few teams that are in the hunt for each region:
(Note: All pro points are accurate as 3 a.m. EST Monday morning)
NORTH AMERICA
#1 – Rise Nation – 42,370 Pro Points
- Daniel “Loony“ Loza (10,660)
- Tyler “FeLonY” Johnson (10,620)
- Brice “Faccento” Faccento (10,565)
- Ulysses “Aqua” Silva (10,525)
Unsurprisingly, the current kings of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare sit atop the pro point standings, and it is incredibly unlikely that they will be anything but the #1 seed going into MLG Atlanta.
The bigger question is if they will enlist themselves in the 2K Pro Point tournaments for practice, or if they will slack in this “offseason.” Expect the former rather than the latter, but they don’t exactly need to grind the ladder as much as other teams.
#2 – Cloud9 – 30,240
- Patrick “ACHES” Price (7,880)
- Richard “Ricky” Stacy (7,465)
- Adam “Assault” Garcia (7,460)
- Andres “Lacefield” Lacefield (7,435)
Patty P and Co. are the grind kings.
Not only did they take home second at MLG Vegas, they also busted their butts on the GameBattles ladder, taking home an impressive 100 game win-streak.
Now currently competing as “Cloud5 CWL” on the ladder, they are absolutely focused on kicking butt and taking names on a non-stop grind until Atlanta.
#3 – OpTic Gaming – 21,040
- Damon “Karma” Barlow (5,395)
- Ian “Crimsix“ Porter (5,215)
- Seth “Scump” Abner (5,215)
- Matthew “FormaL“ Piper (5,215)
OG may have exited Vegas earlier than expected, but after some grinding online, OpTic has leaped over two teams placed higher than them at the event.
Karma has clearly put in some more games online than his peers, but nevertheless, it just goes to show how much this pro point system affects the rankings for teams.
#4 – FaZe Clan – 19,080
- Dillon “Attach” Price (5,060)
- Tommy “ZooMaa” Paparratto (4,805)
- James “Clayster“ Eubanks (4,600)
- Ian “Enable” Wyatt (4,615)
Unfortunately for FaZe, they may have won the battle in Vegas, but are not winning on GameBattles at the moment.
Dropping to 2,000 below their biggest rivals, Attach and ZooMaa will have to pick up their teammates’ online dropoff, as the difference between Attach and Clayster is a good 400 points.
#5 – Team Allegiance – 17,605
- Jonathan “SinfuL” Baez (4,480)
- Matthew “Royalty“ Faithfull (4,390)
- Steve “Mochila” Canle (4,340)
- Remington “Remy“ Ihringer (4,395)
Allegiance marks the next 1,000 point drop-off in the standings, dangerously teetering above the Evil Geniuses, but luckily, they are staying active enough on the ladder and personal play to keep their top five spot.
#6 – Evil Genuises – 17,475
- Jared “Nagafen“ Harrell (4,660)
- Anthony “NAMELESS” Wheeler (4,395)
- Jeremy “StuDyy” Astacio (4,240)
- Colt “Havok” McLendon (4,180)
One 2K win or a week of straight grinding easily could turn EG into a top five team. But, on a positive note, Nagafen has clearly been putting in the time, as he is almost 300 points ahead of his next closest teammate.
#7 – Enigma6 – 15,595
- Nicholas “Proto” Maldonado (3,960)
- Jordon “General” Holloway (3,895)
- Mike “MRuiz” Ruiz (3,880)
- Kade “Kade“ Jones (3,860)
You must respect the grind if you are talking about Enigma6, as they have been patiently waiting for their time since the announcement of the over-18 rule.
After a top-eight place finish in Vegas, this team turned around and currently sits at the top of the GameBattles ladder for a single team name with a 120-2 record.
It’ll be interesting to see how this team plays in the first 2K of 2017, but until then, we’ll just have to see if they can chase down EG and keep Luminosity off their toes.
#8 – Luminosity Gaming – 15,080
- Renato “Saints” Forza (3,865)
- Nicholas “Classic” DiCostanzo (3,815)
- Josiah “Slacked” Berry (3,770)
- Sam “Octane” Larew (3,630)
Luminosity had the luxury of placing at the same level as OpTic Gaming, however, Enigma6 and EG lapped them in the standings due to a lack of online play.
Compare this side and OG, who placed about the same, and you can see once again how much these online contests weigh in the standings.
TUESDAY UPDATE (Numbers are from Tuesday’s standings):
#9 – Orgless Team #1 – 12,120
- Anthony “DraMa“ Padilla (4,075)
- Preston “Priest” Greiner (2,565)
- Chance “Maux” Moncivaez (2,560)
- John “Xotic“ Bruno (2,920)
According to sources close to GAMURS, DraMa is now teaming with these three players, and this four man side is in the hunt for an MLG Atlanta qualifying spot, with several players high in pro points.
Don’t be surprised if these four get snatched up by a team within the next week or so though.
#10 – eUnited – 11,560
- Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson (3,490)
- Pierce “Gunless“ Hillman (3,455)
- Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson (3,225)
- Justin “SiLLY” Fargo-Palmer (1,390)
Dropping down almost 4,000 points comes eUnited, who is essentially the hull of The Gosu Crew from Vegas, save SiLLY being the only carry-over from the eUnited Vegas roster.
eUnited got themselves a wealth of points to go along with three new members on this side, however, this cushion could disappear at the first online tournament, with a few teams within 2,000 or so points of them.
UNDER THE MLG ATLANTA CUTOFF
#11 – Echo Fox – 11,015
- Jeremy “Neslo” Olsen (3,045)
- Tanner “Mosh” Clark (2,685)
- Teegan “TcM” McCarthy (2,710)
- Anthony “Methodz“ Zinni (2,575)
Another not ideal finish turned this side into grinders. Echo Fox took their Vegas placing and turned it into them almost making the Atlanta cut-off… until the new team on the block came around.
If they want to get their spot back, they will have to grind the ladder, but it was nice for them to have a top-10 spot heading into 2017 for a day or so.
#12 – Team EnVyUs – 10,495
- Jordan “JKap” Kaplan (2,760)
- Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat (2,605)
- Johnathon “John” Perez (2,575)
- Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov (2,555)
Oh lord, what on earth is going on here?
EnVyUs was shocked out of MLG Vegas, thanks to a 3-1 loss to Luminosity in the third round of the losers bracket, and now they are in danger of having to compete in the open bracket in Atlanta.
Granted, there has not been a pro point tournament yet in 2017, but if this team winds up being lost in the shuffle due to the top-10 teams grinding it out, nV will be in an interesting situation come February.
#13 – Red Reserve – 9,515
- Christopher “Parasite” Duarte (2,710)
- Mike “Swarley” Carter (2,705)
- Devin “LlamaGod” Tran (2,530)
- Jonathan “Pacman” Tucker (1,570)
With Red Reserve’s entrance into the CWL this year, they did well by picking up almost all of the former-compLexity roster.
However, if they want to take the easy road to Atlanta, these four need to grind themselves out of the cut-off zone ahead of nV and Echo Fox at the very least.
EUROPE
#1 – Splyce – 12,890
- Joshua-Lee “Joshh” Shephard (3,445)
- Dylan “MadCat” Daly (3,420)
- Ben “Bance” Bance (3,090)
- Jordan “Jurd” Crowley (2,935)
The sole top-12 EU Team at MLG Vegas sits atop the EU picture, as Splyce
Unfortunately, their celebration needs to be short-lived, because…
#2 – Team Infused – 11,860
- Tom “Moose” Handley (3,085)
- Mark “MarkyB” Bryceland (2,955)
- Nick “Nolson” Nolson (2,955)
- Adam “Peatie” Peate (2,865)
Infused is only 1,000 points away, which is essentially a good tournament or two and a good amount of grinding.
After finishing in the top-16 in Vegas, this squad seems to be in a decent spot, and should be one of the favorites out of the EU to qualify for Atlanta.
#3 – Elevate EU – 11,450
- Sean “Seany” O’Connor (3,020)
- Zach “Zed“ Denyer (2,875)
- Josh “Watson” Watson (2,780)
- Jordan “Reedy“ Reed (2,775)
Elevate fell a spot after taking top-12 in Vegas, but there are only a few 100 points seperating themselves from Infused.
#4 – Supremacy – 10,710
- Eazy (2,740)
- SenKa (2,670)
- Brandon “Vortex“ Gomes (2,665)
- Hosterz (2,635)
This French side was not seen at MLG Vegas, but they competed for their lives online and have a top-four spot to show for it.
The EU grind side has my total respect, and they definitely deserve someone telling them “bien joué” (I hope I got that right).
#5 – Orgless Team #1 – 9,280
- Shea “QwiKeR” Sweeney (2,175)
- Deleo “Zerg“ Devitt (2,400)
- wuskin (2,385)
- Niall “Niall” Sunderland (2,320)
Do you want a European side that has a good amount of experience, including Advanced Warfare breakout Niall, who clearly has One Direction, and that is to MLG Atlanta (yes, I had to make the Niall joke)?
Then pick up this solid four-man side, who has a bit of a safety net in their top-five spot in Europe, and instantly profit (that is, of course, if they keep up their work).
#6 – Aware Gaming.EU – 8,390
UNDER THE MLG ATLANTA CUTOFF
#7 – Orbit eSport EU – 8,050
- Joe “Joee” Pinnington (2,135)
- David “Urban“ Marsh (2,050)
- Rhys “Rated” Price (1,965)
- Trei “Zer0” Morris (1,900)
Like EnVyUs, this is not where people expected Orbit to start 2017.
An upset of the century by SetToDestroyX saw this side kicked out of the open bracket, however, the online grind was real for this side.
Expect this team to bounce into the top-six by the end of “Pro Point Mania,” and make it across the pond to Georgia in February.
#8 – exceL eSports – 7,940
- Brad “endurAAA” Hughes (2,090)
- SamB (1,985)
- Weeman (1,950)
- BoabyCee (1,915)
Nipping right at the heels of Orbit is a side that is owned by a fairly young organization in exceL.
They may have themselves a free trip to Atlanta if they can jump a formidable side in Orbit and another strong side, and if they have a good week on the ladder, they could possibly do just that.
For all your Call of Duty and other esports updates, make sure you are following us on Twitter, @GAMURScom.
James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
