After four weeks of intense competition at the MLG Arena in Columbus, only half of the regular season teams remain. EnVy, Splyce, Evil Geniuses, FaZe, eUnited, Luminosity, OpTic, and Enigma6 will battle next weekend for their share of a $500,000 prize pool. Yesterday MLG held a live bracket draw to fill out the first round matches of the S1 Playoffs.
This is without a doubt the most stacked bracket we have seen in a tournament thus far in Infinite Warfare. While the top half of the bracket seems to be more stacked than the bottom, there are plenty of chances for upsets.
OpTic v FaZe
At the very top of the bracket, OpTic and FaZe will meet in the first round. This matchup has always been a classic in Call of Duty esports. At both CWL Paris and Dallas this year, OpTic was able to defeat FaZe with relative ease.
While OpTic went 6-0 in their group in the GPL, FaZe struggled after a strong Friday. They would end up finishing 3-3, mounting an incredible comeback against Rise Nation to secure their spot in the S1 Playoffs.
Prediction: OpTic 3-1
EnVy v Luminosity
Moving down the bracket, the next first round match will be between EnVy and Luminosity. EnVy, the reigning CoD World Champions, has yet to rebound to their dominant form last seen in Black Ops 3. They were able to top their group in Week One, going 5-1 overall, however that was against a shaky Cloud9 and Mindfreak.
Luminosity is another team that many are touting as having not reached their true potential. During their week at the GPL, Luminosity showed their improvement in SnD, a game mode that has haunted them throughout IW. Most notably they were able to defeat eUnited in their last match of the group to clench their Playoff birth.
Prediction: Luminosity 3-2
eUnited v Enigma6
On the other side of the bracket we have eUnited going up against Enigma6. This matchup appears to be the most lopsided game of all the first round matchups.
After an impressive win at CWL Atlanta and a hard fought second place finish at CWL Dallas, both against OpTic, eUnited has become regarded as the second best team in the world. eUnited went 5-1 in their group, only losing 3-2 against Luminosity in their last match.
Enigma6 made waves early in IW at CWL Vegas, but have yet to repeat that success. During their week at the GPL, they went 4-2 overall in series. Both losses came from OpTic, 3-1 and 3-0.
Prediction: eUnited 3-0
Evil Geniuses v Splyce
The last first round matchup will be between Evil Geniuses and the only European team to make it to S1 Playoffs, Splyce.
EG caused a huge upset during their week at the GPL, finishing in first after a 0-2 start to the weekend.
Splyce would finish second in their group, losing the first place seed to EnVy by one map win. While some may still doubt Europe’s chances against the top-tier NA teams, Splyce have proven they’re no pushovers.
Prediction: Splyce 3-1
Jack Waters is an avid Call of Duty Esports fan and wants to hear from YOU! Comment below.
Images: MLG.tv
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