2018 Cod Champs Pool Play Preview

Group A
Team Kaliber - Kenny, Fero, Accuracy, Enable
Epsilon - Vortex, Dqvee, Hawqeh, Reedy
Heretics - Jurnii, Lucky, MethodZ, Sukry
Lightning Pandas - Goonjar, Theory, Royalty, Xotic

Group A - Team Kaliber should dominate this group, the only problem they will probably face will be Lightning Pandas and they should have a clear path to the winners bracket. Epsilon will most likely fighting for 3rd with heretics unless they surprise us, they looked alright during week 6 with their win against Envy but they’re still pretty dogshit, especially Vortex who had a 0.76 respawn k/d, which is the worst in the league, worse than Doug Censor Martin. For Heretics one player you should look out for is Lucky, he had an event where he looked really good. For Lighting Pandas, as long as they play to their full potential, they should be a lock for 2nd.

Group B
Rise Nation - SlasheR, Gunless, Loony, TJHaLy
Tainted Minds - Swifty, Swiftaz0r, Nimble, Damage
Lethal Gaming - TeddyRecKs, Ramby, Zaptius, Super
Brash - Benji, DREAL, Nevo, Dylan

After losing to Team Kaliber at Playoffs, Rise will look for revenge and they will surely take first in their pool and I also have them winning the whole event. Tainted Minds are absolutely solid, they only got 3-0’d twice in week 7 and week 8 to Luminosity and UNILAD and I know that sounds really bad but they have improved so much and they beat OpTic and maybe OpTic just “choked” but a win is a win. I’m going to be honest I don’t know shit about Lethal Gaming and Brash but I do know that TeddyRecKs gets turned on a lot so I’m going to predict that Brash gets 3rd over Lethal.

Group C
Red Reserve - Skrapz, Rated, Zer0, Joee
Mindfreak - BuZZO, Denz, Shockz, Fighta
Ghost Gaming - Parasite, GodRx, Pandur, Lacefield
Zone - Bidz, Cammy, endurAAA, Defrag

Red Reserve is a strong contender to win the whole event and I think it depends on Zer0’s performance, when Red got 2nd at Anaheim Zer0 made a huge impact with his slaying and his 1.13 k/d. Red needs MVP Trei “Zer0” Morris and with the help of Skrapz and Rated, this team could go really far. I don’t think much of Mindfreak and I don’t expect them to go far or even get 2nd in their pool but they’ve beaten Luminosity and Complexity and even went as far as pushing their match against Rise to a Game 5. In playoffs the only team that could 3-0 them was UNILAD and I think their placement in their pool depends on if teams underestimate them or not. Ghost Gaming is a team I expect to be a big surprise and they have placed Top 6 with this team at CWL Anaheim and I think that they will place Top 6 again if they play to their fullest potential. Zone is going to get last in their pool.

Group D
eUnited - Clayster, Arcitys, Prestinni, FeLonY
Splyce - Bance, Jurd, Joshh, MadCat
EZG - RobbieB, Parzelion, Atura, Apox
Sween - Peatie, QwiKeR, Moose, Weeman

eUnited is a team that currently looks like they are playing their best they have played all year and despite their placement in playoffs they have been amazing. And credit has to be given to Prestinni who has played fantastic recently with his aggressive sub play, and as long as he wins his gunfights and plays with confidence he can bring eUnited a long way along with Arcitys who has been playing pretty good all year. Splyce has to be the most disappointing team recently since Stage 1 of the Pro League when they placed 6th in their division. Since then, they have playced Top 20 at CWL Seattle, then they made a roster change (swapped Joshh for Tommey), placed Top 12 at Anaheim, and then placed 7th in their division. EZG looks like a threat for 2nd in their pool after dominating the Last Chance Qualifier when they knocked Lightning Pandas into the losers bracket so definitely keep an eye out for them. There’s not that much to say about Team Sween other than they have Moose and Peatie on their team so they will be their key players but they will most likely take 4th in their pool.

Group E
FaZe Clan - Replays, Attach, ZooMaa, Priestahh
CompLexity - Censor, Dashy, Blazt, Ricky
Enigma6 - General, aBeZy, Sender, Diabolic
Morituri - Nova, Mayhem, Phantomz, Spoof

Group E is probably the most scariest pool we have ever seen with the likes of FaZe, Complexity, Enigma 6, and Morituri which has the roster of GGEA Orange minus Believe plus Phantomz. FaZe has recently placed Top 6 in the CWL Stage 2 Pro League where they were taken out by Red Reserve. For Complexity you have the young guns of Dashy and Blazt. Dashy is one of the best in the game, one of the most skilled players in the game, one of the best slayers in the game, and my favorite player to watch. Complexity’s placement at Champs depends on whether Censor can support, help out and win key gunfights for the team. At Stage 2 Censor had the second lowest respawn k/d (0.82) but he ranked 14th in HP Assists with 10.67 which shows that he needs to finish his kills or they are just being stolen. Enigma 6 has gotten into the weirdest situations all year and they have finally gotten a roster that’s pretty good. aBeZy is the biggest player to watch and has been thought to be top notch. Morturi is not in contention for first or second and will most likely be fighting for third.

Group F
UNILAD - Wuskin, Seany, Alexx, Zed
Team Envy - Classic, Chino, Decemate, Huke
Les Blues - Malls, Wailers, TonyJs, Zayrox
Mentality - Demise, Hate, Tisch, GRVTY

UNILAD have really shown up recently since the departure of Moose and Skrapz. Alexx is an aggressive sub slayer whose playstyle has been described as annoying and right up in your face. Wuskin had an incredible Stage 2 performance ranking 1st in respawn k/d (1.22) and he is definitely the player to watch for this squad. Envy has been disheartening and their team just doesn’t mesh well and I don’t see them going far at all, maybe a Top 16 or Top 12 finish. For Les Blues, not much is known about them, they took out Gone Gaming, a team of Havok, LlamaGod, Evasion, and Skyz, and they have Wailers who has played for Vitality in the past and placed Top 20 three events in a row. For Mentality, they have a decent roster containing Demise, Hate, Tisch, and GRVTY. Tisch and GRVTY were on the Conquest team that really showed how good they each individually were along side Kismet and Phantomz. Hate was on the Lethal Gaming team with JuJu (remember when he got turned on by Prestinni at Champs?) prayers to Hate for having to team up with him. Honestly not much you can say about that squad.

Group G
Echo Fox - Temp, AquA, Faccento, Saints
Luminosity - JKap, Slacked, FormaL, John
Team Vitality - Tommey, Denza, Chain, Maple
HavoK - FA5TBALLA, Beehzy, Remy, MRuiz

Echo Fox is one of those forgotten top teams, they recently placed Top 8 at Stage 2 Playoffs where they brought Red Reserve to a game 5. Slaying wise they were all pretty good except for Faccento, the key player for me is Saints he had a good showing and was quite flashy at some times. Luminosity have shown that they can be a Top 4 team at Anaheim but they have been disappointing recently after the trade of Formal and Octane. Vitality, I mean they have Tommey, and well Tommey. HavoK have an alright squad that could contend for 3rd in their pool as long as Fastball doesn’t pinch arch.

Group H
OpTic Gaming - Scump, Crimsix, Octane, Methodz
Evil Geniuses - Aches, Apathy, SiLLY, Assault
Elevate - SpaceLy, MajorManiak, Maux, Proto
Supremacy - Eazy, Natshay, Brezsy, ATLAS

OpTic are probably the best slaying, if not one of the best slaying teams, in the world. Their biggest problems are winning their SnDs and CTFs. They had a 50% win rate in both SnD and CTF during at Stage 2. Evil Geniuses were so close to qualifying for playoffs but they choked, they went on a 6 series win streak and then went from 6-2 to 7-7, they went 1-5 in their last 6 games. They are the most inconsistent team at the moment and there’s no doubt about that. This has been a wasted year for both Apathy and Assault who could’ve been more useful on different teams. Elevate consists of Maux and SpaceLy from the old Ghost Gaming roster that placed Top 48. MajorManiak also placed Top 48 this year at Atlanta. Proto was on Lightning Pandas and he was pretty solid until he was benched for Censor and loaned to Vast eSports. Maux looked pretty good at the Last Chance Qualifier and he is the key player on that team. Not much you could say about Supremacy except they are French and they are going to fuck shit up.