With upsets galore on the second day of play, an old favorite rose above the rest to take home the PlayStation Invitational title and the largest share of the $20,000 prize pool.
FaZe Clan will be walking out of the event with a nice payday, as well as the right to say that they won the first Call of Duty LAN in the Infinite Warfare era.
Here is how today’s matches shaped up:
Group Stage Losers Finals
Orbit eSport EU vs. Renegades
Trei “Zer0” Morris probably had the best morning breakfast of his life, as he went off in both game one (31 kills, 5 defends) and game three (33 kills, 22 deaths) to help Orbit sweep Renegades out of the tournament.
This series was not really considered a close one, as Renegades was just out-played in every sense by the European side.
Game One: Hardpoint – Scorch
Game Final: ORB 250 – 97 RNG
Match Score: ORB 1 – 0 RNG
Game Two: Search and Destroy – Throwback
Game Final: ORB 6 – 1 RNG
Match Score: ORB 2 – 0 RNG
Game Three: Uplink – Frost
Game Final: ORB 6 – 1 RNG
Match Final: ORB 3 – 0 RNG
Group Stage Losers Finals
Elevate EU vs. Rise Nation
Well, this day got a lot more interesting after the first game in this series…
A crazy end to the Hardpoint as @TheRiseNation hold on in a 250-249 victory! https://t.co/r1KUVZvvEq https://t.co/NKHQSgV6Gh #PSX16 pic.twitter.com/1jLce4HRfb
— CWL @ #PSX16 (@CODWorldLeague) December 4, 2016
The teams traded games back and forth, with Rise handedly taking the only Uplink of the series thanks to a 31 kill and three point game by Tyler “FeLonY” Johnson.
In game five, though, Rise absolutely destroyed Elevate, crushing them thanks to Ulysses “Aqua” Silva’s perfect 10-0 performance.
Besides that complete domination, this series was close for the European side, but sadly, the finals were only big enough for one European team to move on.
Game One: Hardpoint – Scorch
Game Final: Rise 250 – 249 Elv
Match Score: Rise 1 – 0 Elv
Game Two: Search and Destroy – Retaliation
Game Final: Elv 6 – 4 Rise
Match Score: Elv 1 – 1 Rise
Game Three: Uplink – Frost
Game Final: Rise 8 – 2 Elv
Match Score: Rise 2 – 1 Elv
Game Four: Hardpoint – Throwback
Game Final: Elv 250 – 216 Rise
Match Score: Elv 2 – 2 Rise
Game Five: Search and Destroy – Crusher
Game Final: Rise 6 – 0 Elv
Match Final: Rise 3 – 2 Elv
Semifinal
Luminosity Gaming vs. Orbit eSport EU
To sum up this series in one image for Luminosity:
????
From the CODWorldLeague Instagram: https://t.co/XujpyHnyoE pic.twitter.com/9CbDBirQI6
— CWL @ #PSX16 (@CODWorldLeague) December 4, 2016
Pure, unadulterated disappointment from LG, as the Europeans made their way into the finals by blowing out Luminosity in all three games.
There was no clear MVP for Orbit, as ZeR0 had 43 kills and one minute and 43 seconds of hill time in game one, Rhys “Rated” Price had three plants, seven kills and the best K/D in game two, and David “Urban” Marsh was lights out with 34 kills and two captures in game three.
Game One: Hardpoint – Breakout
Game Final: ORB 250 – 199 LG
Match Score: ORB 1 – 0 LG
Game Two: Search and Destroy – Retaliation
Game Final: ORB 6 – 1 LG
Match Score: ORB 2 – 0 LG
Game Three: Uplink – Frost
Game Final: ORB 8 – 1 LG
Match Final: ORB 3 – 0 LG
Semifinal
FaZe Clan vs. Rise Nation
FeLonY had the audacity to have a 13 kill game in the only Search and Destroy contest, but the slaying power of Rise could not match the objective prowess of FaZe.
Ian “Enable” Wyatt sat on hills like it was his job in game one, taking in 2:16 of hardpoint time and getting 15 defensive kills. Unfortunately for him, his team beat Rise too fast for him even to get to the minute mark in the final game of the series, but he may not be too worried about that.
Game One: Hardpoint – Breakout
Game Final: FaZe 250 – 209 Rise
Match Score: FaZe 1 – 1 RN
Game Two: Search and Destroy – Retaliation
Game Final: Rise 6 – 3 FaZe
Match Score: Rise 1 – 1 FaZe
Game Three: Uplink – Throwback
Game Final: FaZe 6 – 4 Rise
Match Score: FaZe 2 – 1 Rise
Game Four: Hardpoint – Retaliation
Game Final: FaZe 250 – 101 Rise
Match Final: FaZe 3 – 1 Rise
Final
FaZe Clan vs. Orbit eSport EU
Admit it, you were cheering for the European underdogs to take home a victory over the clear favorite of this tournament.
If you were, then you should know that storybook endings only live on paper, and FaZe was able to wake up after a loss in game one.
But, in game four, magic happened:
What a comeback! @FaZeClan make an incredible comeback to take the win at the @CoDWorldLeague #PSX16 Grand Finals! https://t.co/Fhsd4oqF1b
— MLG (@MLG) December 4, 2016
That incredible last minute comeback was the reason why FaZe became the champions at this event, and just proves that no lead is safe in Call of Duty.
Game One: Hardpoint – Scorch
Game Final: ORB 250 – 198 FaZe
Match Score: ORB 1 – 0 FaZe
Game Two: Search and Destroy – Crusher
Game Final: FaZe 6 – 4 ORB
Match Score: FaZe 1 – 1 ORB
Game Three: Uplink – Precinct
Game Final: FaZe 10 – 6 ORB
Match Score: FaZe 2 – 1 ORB
Game Four: Hardpoint – Breakout
Game Final: FaZe 250 – 245 ORB
Match Final: FaZe 3 – 1 ORB
Finally, here are the final placings from this event:
- 1st:
- FaZe Clan
- 2nd:
- Orbit eSport EU
- 3rd-4th:
- Rise Nation
- Luminosity Gaming
- 5th-6th:
- Elevate EU
- Renegades
- 7th-8th:
- Evil Geniuses
- eUnited
For all your Call of Duty and general esports news and updates, make sure you are following us on Twitter, @GAMURScom.
James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
