Post written by Matt “Mr.X” Morello, Call of Duty Coach of compLexity Gaming.
Finally, the time has come! Recently we attended the US Regional Championships for Call of Duty Championships 2014 in Orlando Florida. It was held at Full Sail University and brought out the top 16 North American teams to fight for just eight spots at Call of Duty Championships 2014.
The first match of the weekend for the team was versus Final Boss, one of the most respected teams in console gaming history. Former Halo champions Snipedown, Ogre2. and Halo Global Champion Ace made the transition over to Call of Duty smoothly. but stood no match against compLexity. This was a great start for the team because over the past few months the first games have always been an issue due to a limited sense of urgency, and laziness. Final Boss would go out in the qualifier 0-2 which is extremely unfortunate for these legends; with more practice, they can easily crack into the top eight.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUPzMDwVFdA&w=1280&h=720]
The next match of the weekend, versus sB, would be the one to guarantee qualification for Call of Duty Championships. The result was very unexpected, but well deserved – Strictly Business came out and 3-0’d coL. Nobody had seen this coming, and the crowd at Full Sail being pro sB certainly helped their momentum throughout the match. They consistently made big plays after big plays. The MVP for this team was certainly Apathy, who time and time again came up with huge clutch plays near the objectives. The team was certainly stunned – and pissed – at the result, but needed to move beyond on this match and win their lower bracket match to make it to Champs.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo_-G_Q2UF4&w=1280&h=720]
Moving into Loser’s Bracket, the next match would be against Denial East. With Denial boasting a quality lineup, this match was no sure thing. This time coL came out looking like their normal self and won pretty convincingly in a 3-0 fashion. After the match, the team’s attention focused on how to attack sB the next day, fully expecting a rematch in the Grand Finals.
In Loser’s round 3, we found ourselves up against Optic Gaming. This match had by far the biggest turnout of the weekend, as two of the biggest rivals in Call of Duty eSports squared off, fighting for a higher seed going into Champs. coL won 3-1 in a series that was close on every map; we advanced to Loser’s round 4, securing at least a top 6 seed. This match was huge as none of the North American teams wanted to be in the same pool as Epsilon or TCM, by far the the strongest teams from the EU region.
The next match would be played vs FaZe. FaZe had given us trouble in Philly and this match had started off the same way. After going down 0-2 in map count the guys pulled things together on Blitz and started to mount a comeback. By the time the final map had begun, FaZe’s body language was noticeably bad and they seemed already defeated. After winning Search and Destroy on Sovereign, coL completed the unthinkable comeback yet again, and against the same team. FaZe had to be extremely mad going out like this, but I believe they had a great showing and are definitely one of my dark horse teams leading into Champs.
The Loser’s Bracket finals saw coL facing off against their most common opponent – Team Kaliber. Over the past few months, tK had seen coL in the finals more than any other team. With the new addition Formal and the slaying power the team desperately needed, tK had looked strong all weekend. Still, even with the new and improved roster, coL was able to outlast tK and win the series 3-1 with Aches and Crimsix consistently going big. This match would set up the rematch with Strictly Business.
Up until the Grand Finals there was only one thing on the minds and tongues of those at Full Sail – a continuation series rematch between coL and sB. The continuation could have played somewhat into our favor, with the maps going our way near the end of the rotation, but the match never reached that point. Strictly Business was just better that weekend. As I’ve said before, sometimes it just isn’t your day. With their high pace aggressive play style, sB forced tons of small errors and were able to capitalize on them, taking the series in a fairly dominating 6-2 fashion.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMlJbbHHeu8&w=1280&h=720]
Going into Champs, I believe this event will have been a blessing in disguise. It showed that you can’t get by on your ‘B’ or ‘C+’ game, and that teams are studying and catching up. Now the guys are working harder than ever to regain their top spot, working for what they believe they deserve – the title of Call of Duty World Champions. The weekend after regionals we attended the UGC Events studio in De Quoin, IL and played LAN games vs tK, Just Us, and Curse NY. Boot camps or LANs are essential to success at event; the guys were able to get in about four events worth of LAN games in just four days. I practiced my casting :P, as I’ve been selected to cast and be an analyst at Call of Duty Championships. This will be a great opportunity for me to showcase my knowledge of both the game and the players, and also a chance to show my funny side :).
The next 12 days are about to get crazy! I hope the guys put out an amazing effort and achieve their goals – something I believe they can do. Can’t wait to see what happens!