With Week Two in the books, Stage One of the CoD World League Global Pro League is almost half way through. So far we have seen Team EnVyUs, Splyce, FaZe Clan, and Evil Geniuses qualify for Playoffs.
This week we will watch North American powerhouses eUnited and Luminosity Gaming as well as European teams Millenium and Epsilon Esports battle it out at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
As with every week of the GPL, each team will face one another in a double round-robin format. The top two placing teams will advance to Playoffs as well as qualify for Stage Two of the Global Pro League, Pool Play at CWL Anaheim, and Call of Duty World Championship later this year. The 3rd place team will also qualify for Stage Two of the Global Pro League, Pool Play at CWL Anaheim, and Call of Duty World Championship. The team that places last will face Relegation in order to qualify for Stage Two.
Being that eUnited and Luminosity are regarded as the 2nd and 4th best teams in NA respectively, their EU competitors will have their work cut out for them.
eUnited
Labeled at the beginning of Infinite Warfare as “warriors” (players that are only good online), eUnited has proven the doubters wrong. They have proven to be the only team that can consistently compete with OpTic Gaming on LAN.
eUnited’s roster consists of team captain Justin “SiLLY” Fargo-Palmer, Pierce “Gunless” Hillman, and twin brothers Alec “Arcitys” and Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson. Having acquired Gunless, Arcitys, and Prestinni after CWL Vegas, eUnited shocked everyone as they took home 1st place at CWL Atlanta. They would go on to place 13-16th at CWL Paris, and later put on an incredible performance against OpTic in the Grand Finals of CWL Dallas, ultimately placing 2nd.
Currently ranked as the 2nd best team in the world, eUnited look poised to take the 1st place seed in Week Three.
Luminosity Gaming
At the start of the IW season, Luminosity underwent a massive team change as Nicholas “Classic” Di Costanzo, Josiah “Slacked” Berry, and Sam “Octane” Larew left Rise Nation to join Renato “Saints” Forza under LG. Boasting an incredible amount of slaying power, LG has yet to live up to the hype generated earlier in the season.
Plagued by an inability to consistently win Search & Destroy rounds, LG has yet to place higher than 4th at a major LAN event this year. LG’s recent performances include 5-6th at CWL Vegas, 4th at CWL Atlanta, 9-12th at CWL Paris, and 7-8th at CWL Dallas.
This weekend LG will most likely be battling Millenium and Epsilon for the 2nd place spot in the group. However, if LG has improved on the S&D gameplay, they have the potential to take 1st.
Millenium
One of two European teams competing in Week Three of the GPL, Millenium enter the weekend as underdogs. With the recent performance Epsilon had at CWL Birmingham, Millenium will need to bring their A-game to avoid relegation.
Having stuck together through the massive EU rostermania following CWL Paris, the lineup consists of EU CoD veteran Mark “MarkyB” Bryceland, Adam “Peatie” Peate, Tom “Moose” Handley, and Nick “Nolson” Nolson. The former Team Infused lineup joined the French organization after promising finishes including 4th at CWL London, 5-6th at CWL Atlanta, and 4th at CWL Paris. Unfortunately, their first showing under Millenium was a disappointing 13-16th finish at CWL Dallas.
Millenium has been boot camping in Ohio for the last week and a half as they prepare for a stacked Week Three. Only time will tell if their practice is enough to secure them a spot in the Stage One Playoffs.
Epsilon Esports
Saying that Epsilon had a shaky start to Infinite Warfare would be an understatement. The European team, playing under FAB Games at the time, was able to make waves as they placed 4th at the 2016 CoD Championships. However, they started this year with placings including a 29-36th at CWL Vegas, 7-8th at CWL London, 21-24th at CWL Atlanta, and a dismal 21-24th at CWL Dallas.
At the beginning of March, Joshua-Lee “Joshh” Shepard would kick off the EU rostermaina by replacing Ben “Desire” Wright on the Epsilon team. David “Dqvee” Davies, Stephen “Vortex” Allen, and Billy “Hawqeh” Harris round out the team.
After the team change, Epsilon caused a huge upset as they took down Splyce in the Grand Finals of CWL Birmingham, coming out of the Loser’s Bracket and winning both series 3-0. Now under the leadership of Joshh, Epsilon stand a great chance of making it to the Stage One Playoffs.
Predictions
1st. eUnited
2nd. Luminosity
3rd. Epsilon
4th. Millenium
Jack Waters is an avid Call of Duty Esports fan and wants to hear from YOU! Find him on Twitter.
Images: CallofDuty.com, MLG, CWL Twitter
Video: Millenium Twitter
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