Call of Duty Championship 2019

Call of Duty World League Championship 2019

2019
Tournament information
Sport	Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Location	Los Angeles, United States
Dates	August 14, 2019–August 18, 2019
Administrator(s)	Activision
Tournament format(s)	Pool Play to seed brackets then Double-Elimination.
Venue(s)	Pauley Pavilion
Teams	32
Purse	$2,000,000
Final positions
Champions	eUnited
Runner-up	100 Thieves
MVP	Chris "Simp" Lehr
← 2018

The Call of Duty World League Championship 2019 was a Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 tournament on PlayStation 4 which took place from August 14–18, 2019.^[1] The tournament was won by the eUnited team consisting of Alec "Arcitys" Sanderson, Preston "Prestinni" Sanderson, James "Clayster" Eubanks, Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris and Chris "Simp" Lehr, with Chris Lehr being chosen as the tournament's MVP.

Overview[]

The Call of Duty World Championship is a yearly tournament containing all of the best pro and top amateur teams in the world. The 2019 World Championship had a 2 million dollar prize pool with $800,000 awarded to the winning team. The event took place in Pauley Pavillion in Los Angeles, California.

Rules[]

Each team of the 32 teams that qualified would first be sorted into groups of 4 and would play all 3 other teams in the group. Once finished, the top 2 teams would advance to the winners bracket, the 3rd place team advance to the losers bracket, and the last place team would be eliminated. Teams would then compete in double elimination style bracket until there was crowned a winner. The series were best of 5, with the 3 modes being played. Map 1 and 4 would be Hardpoint (a race to 250 points), map 2 and 5 would be Search and Destroy (a race to 6 round victories), and map 3 would be Control (a race to 3 round victories).

Qualified Teams[]

The 16 teams which qualified for 2019 CWL Pro League were the first teams to qualify for the 2018 Call of Duty Championship. They were joined by the top 16 amateur teams^[2] from the CWL Finals Open Bracket.^[3]

Division A	Division B	Open Bracket Finals
OpTic Gaming	eUnited	TrainHard Esport	Team WaR
Gen.G esports	100 Thieves	Celtic FC Esports[a]	FURY Gaming
FaZe Clan	Splyce	Team Vanity[b]	Sicario Gaming
Team Reciprocity	Team Heretics	Aspire eSports	Mazer Gaming
Midnight Esports	Team Envy	RBL Esports[c]	Team Singularity
Evil Geniuses	UNITS	Carnage Gaming	Animosity eSports[d]
Luminosity Gaming	Enigma6	Fuego Gaming	Hybrid Gaming
UYU	Elevate	LGND	Sage eSports

Flags represent the nationality of the majority of players on a team's active roster, not the country in which the organization is based.

Groups[]

The draw for the groups took place on 31 July 2019.^[4]

Group A
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	eUnited	3–0	100%	9–2	82%	Bracket Play
2	Elevate	1–2	33%	5–7	42%
3	RBL Esports	1–2	33%	5–7	42%	Eliminated
4	Celtic FC Esports	1–2	33%	4–7	36%

Group B
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	Enigma6	3–0	100%	9–1	90%	Bracket Play
2	Team WaR	2–1	67%	6–3	67%
3	Fuego Gaming	1–2	33%	4–8	33%	Eliminated
4	Gen.G esports	0–3	0%	2–9	18%

Group C
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	FaZe Clan	3–0	100%	9–2	82%	Bracket Play
2	UNITS	2–1	67%	6–5	55%
3	Mazer Gaming	1–2	33%	6–7	46%	Eliminated
4	Animosity eSports	0–3	0%	2–9	18%

Group D
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	Team Envy	3–0	100%	9–6	60%	Bracket Play
2	Team Reciprocity	2–1	67%	8–3	73%
3	Sage eSports	1–2	33%	5–6	45%	Eliminated
4	LGND	0–3	33%	2–9	18%

Group E
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	Team Singularity	3–0	100%	9–2	82%	Bracket Play
2	Luminosity Gaming	2–1	67%	6-5	55%
3	UYU	1–2	33%	7–6	54%	Eliminated
4	Team Vanity	0–3	0%	0–9	0%

Group F
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	100 Thieves	3–0	100%	9–2	82%	Bracket Play
2	Sicario Gaming	2–1	67%	6–5	55%
3	Midnight Esports	1–2	33%	6–7	46%	Eliminated
4	FURY Gaming	0–3	0%	2–9	18%

Group G
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	OpTic Gaming	3–0	100%	9–3	75%	Bracket Play
2	Evil Geniuses	2–1	67%	7–4	64%
3	TrainHard Esport	1–2	33%	5–6	45%	Eliminated
4	Carnage Gaming	0–3	0%	1–9	10%

Group H
Pos	Team	Series		Games		Qualification
1	Splyce	3–0	100%	9–1	90%	Bracket Play
2	Team Heretics	2–1	67%	6–3	67%
3	Aspire eSports	1–2	33%	3–7	30%	Eliminated
4	Hybrid Gaming	0–3	0%	2–9	18%

Bracket Play[]

Winners Bracket Round 1[]

eUnited vs. Team War

Tournament favorites and winners of the previous Call of Duty eUnited faced off against Team War in the first round of the winners bracket. Team War, a team composed of players strictly from the United Kingdom and one of only four amateur teams to make it to the winners bracket put up a valiant effort and stole one map from eUnited. However, the favorites still won the series handily, winning the series 3-1 in map count.

Evil Geniuses vs. Splyce

Splyce started off the tournament hot, going 3-0 in group play and securing a spot in the winners bracket as their addition of the superstar Cuyler “Huke” Garland seemingly was paying off. However, a first round matchup against Evil Geniuses, a team with loads of experience was too much for them. Led by veteran players such as Jordan “Jkap” Kaplan who had won this tournament in the past, and a fired up Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi who was facing off against the Splyce team that had dropped him earlier in the year, EG was able to secure a comfortable 3-1 win.

Team Singularity vs. Sicario Gaming

This match was a matchup between two team amateur teams who had qualified for the tournament via the open bracket. Singularity, like team War, was a full EU team while Sicario was composed of three amateur North American players and two EU players. One of the EU players on Sicario, Tommey, was one of the most tenured pros in the scene, this would be his last tournament at the pro level. Behind an all around strong team performance by Sicario, they were able to come out ahead of Singularity and beat them 3-1.

Team Envy vs Units

Team Envy had gone through a flurry of roster moves throughout the year, but heading into champs lead by 2x world champion Patrick “Aches” Price and superstar phenom Pierce “Gunless” Hillman they felt much more confident. However, their run was interrupted early, as they came up against “Units”. “Units” was another EU team that qualified through the open bracket, but included a number of obviously pro level players that had ended up needing a new team before the Call of Duty World Championship. Lead by strong performances by former rookie of the year Benjamin “Bance” Bance and inconsistent but extremely talented Joesph “Joee” Pinnington, Units were able to secure a 3-2 victory over Envy by winning a round 11 round of search and destroy during the 5th and final map (search and destroy is the deciding map when the series is tied 2-2 and it is a best out of 11).

Faze Clan vs. Team Reciprocity

A matchup between a hybrid EU and NA team in Faze Clan and an EU and APAC hybrid in Team Reciprocity made this round one matchup a very interesting one. While Faze held the higher seeding over Reciprocity due to their superior record in pool play, they were still taken down by them in a series that ended 3-1. Reciprocity were led in particular by breakout rookie Thomas “Dylan” Henderson. Additionally, this match featured a pair of twins facing off against each other as Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall of Faze Clan and Bradley “Wuskin” Marshall of Reciprocity went head to head for each other. They were not the only league’s twins at the time as eUnited’s Arcitys and Prestinni were also twins.

Luminosity Gaming vs 100 Thieves

Luminosity and 100 Thieves alike were both teams stacked with talent and had already won major tournaments earlier in the year with 100T winning both CWL London and Anaheim while Luminosity won CWL Fort Worth. Going into the matchup it looked as if 100 Thieves were to be the favorite as they finished with a better record in group play and were generally more consistent throughout the year. However, Luminosity came out with fire and led by Matthew “FormaL” Piper who finished the series with a 1.25 kill to death ratio, secured a 3-1 victory over 100 Thieves by winning all 3 respawn maps.

Optic Gaming vs Team Heretics

Coming off an incredibly disappointing performance at CWL playoffs where they were amongst the favorites to win before finishing in 8th place, Optic Gaming came into the 2019 Call of Duty Championship group stages with an unbreakable resolve and secured first place in the group which matched them up with the Spain’s Call of Duty scene pride and joy Team Heretics in the first round of the winners bracket. However, behind a phenomenal performance by Optic’s Brandon “Dashy” O’Tell (1.55 KD), Optics firepower was too much for Heretics to handle and Optic closed out the series 3-1.

Enigma 6 vs. Elevate

Enigma 6 and Elevate made it to this first round matchup in two very different fashions as while Enigma 6 breezed through their group finishing 3-0, Elevate finished 1-2 and only qualified for the winners bracket through a series of intricate tiebreakers. This difference of quality was prevalent throughout the series and Enigma 6 was able to dominate the match winning 3-0 with ease.

Losers Bracket Round 1[]

Team War vs. Splyce

Still reeling from their upset loss against Evil Geniuses, Splyce came out slow early and dropped the first map in the series to a Team War team that was not ready to go home just yet. The series was a back and forth battle with Team War winning maps 1 and 3 while Splyce won maps 2 and 4. Finally the two reached a penultimate game 5 and once again battled back and forth until they reached the all deciding round 11. Towards the end of the round Huke was given an opportunity to clutch up a 1 versus 2 scenario but was unable to thus making Splyce the first team to be eliminated via bracket play.

Team Singularity vs. Team Envy

Much like the Team War vs. Splyce match, this match also featured an underdog EU team (Singularity) versus an big NA team that had suffered a first round upset. Singularity, led by Danish national Tobias “CleanX” Jonnson who boasted a remarkable 1.89 K/D over the two Hardpoint maps in the series, overwhelmed Team Envy and defeated them in a comfortable 3-1 victory. This series was seen as Cleanx’s coming out party as a player as he was then picked up by the Toronto Ultra the following year, and is now a key player for the team which just won the most recent Call of Duty League Major. For Envy, this would be seen as an incredibly disappointing result for a team that had reached the finals of the tournament in back to back years in 2016 and 2017, winning the former. That being said, they would come back and win the championship the following year after a roster overhaul.

Faze Clan vs. 100 Theives

In a surprise elimination matchup so early in the tournament between two teams who were picked as possible favorites to win the entire tournament. Faze Clan started off incredibly strong winning the first two maps and being seconds away from winning the third as well which would see them claim victory of the entire series. However, an incredibly clutch play by 100 Thieves’ Samuel “Octane” Larew and Preston “Priestahh” Greiner during the third map to keep 100 Thieves hopes alive saw them gain all of the momentum in an instant and proceed to win the next 3 maps, sending Faze Clan home in one of the most incredible comebacks of all time.

Team Heretics vs. Elevate

A matchup between two even teams in the final losers bracket round 1 match was shown by the results of the game as Elevate just narrowly escaped with victory due to Chistopher “Profeezy” Astudillo dropping a 2.1 K/D in the final map of the series. Heretics mounted a formiddle comeback, as they battled back from down 2-0 in the series to push it to an all-deciding game 5, but in the end, Astudillo’s heroics were too much for the Spanish side to overcome.

Winners Bracket Round 2[]

eUnitedvs. Evil Geniuses

A matchup littered with storylines, especially that of Jkap going up against the team that had dropped him earlier in the year, this series was a back and forth grudge match that had fans on the edge of their seat the entire time. It looked as if Evil Geniuses were going to pull off the upset as they were 6 points away from winning map 4 and closing out the series 3-1. However, eUnited conducted one of the most impressive comebacks in recent memory as they strung together 80 consecutive points before EG could get their final 6 to send the series to a final map 5. With all the momentum now on their side, EU overpowered EG in the final map and won the series as a whole 3-2. eU was led by their superstar rookied Chris “Simp” Lehr who had a 1.35 K/D for the entire series.

Sicario Gaming vs. Units

In a series between two underdogs, Units experience proved too much for Sicario to handle as they took the first two maps very handedly, winning map 1 by over 100 points and winning map 2 by 3 rounds. Sicario did manage to battle back and win map 3 and push map 4 to be extremely close, but in the end, Units all around superior teamwork and composure allowed them to close out map 4 and advance to the winners bracket semi-finals quite comfortably.

Team Reciprocity vs. Luminosity Gaming

A battle between some of NA’s finest vs. some of EU’s most talented delivered an absolutely electric series with non-stop high intensity gameplay. After dropping the first map, Luminosity followed up by winning the next two, and looked to be comfortably winning the 4th map which would see them win the series. However, with Reciprocity down 50+ points late in map 4, Dylan went on one of, if not the best, tears to end a map ever. While Reciprocity still needed 100 points to win, Dylan was 16-22 in terms of kills to deaths, when the map ended and Reciprocity had come out on top, he had finished 38-24. In the midst of an 100 point comeback, Dylan had gone 22-2 to help them close it out. After their performance in map 4, Reciprocity simply had too much momentum going and were able to breeze by LG in map 5, winning the series 3-2.

Optic Gaming vs. Enigma 6

On paper, Optic Gaming was certainly the better team, and used map 1 as an example for that, winning by over 120 points while their players Dashy and Thomas “TJHaly” Haly were making plays rarely even seen in Call of Duty. Enigma 6 did battle back though, and was able to come out with a narrow victory in map 2. However, after a clutch gravity slam maneuver by Damon “Karma” Barlow in map 3 which gave Optic the victory, and a dominant performance on map 4, Optic closed out the series 3-1 and headed to the winners bracket semi-finals.

Losers Bracket Round 2[]

Enigma 6 vs. Team War

Even after losing so shortly prior to Optic, Enigma 6 did not allow themselves to let that match make them lose composure. Behind an absolutely sensational performance by Adam “Godrx” Brown who had a 1.42 overall series K/D and a game 5 masterclass by Mehran “Mayhem” Anjomshoa who delivered a 3.3 K/D in the all deciding final map of the series Enigma 6 was able to narrowly escape with a 3-2 victory and stay alive to fight another day.

Luminosity Gaming vs. Team Singularity

Like Enigma 6, Luminosity was another showing of a team that is able to put the past behind them and only look forward. Even after their heartbreaking loss to Reciprocity and losing map 1 to Singularity, they came out guns blazing and won the next 3 maps. Singularity had to have felt disappointed, as after going up 1-0 in the series they were one round away from winning map 2 as well. However, Cesar “Skyz” Bueno of Luminosity would simply not allow them to be eliminated, dropping a 1.4 overall series K/D and sending Luminosity further on in the tournament.

100 Thieves vs. Sicario Gaming

One of the more uneven matchups seen so far during the tournament, Sicario would need everything to go right for them in order to stand a chance against an angry 100 Thieves team who did not feel they should be in the losers bracket so early. Unfortunately for Sicario, 100T simply proved to be too much for them, beating them in all 3 respawn game modes. To give credit to Sicario, they did manage to win a search and destroy map 2 by one round, but that was simply not enough to slow down Priestahh (1.28 series K/D) and the rest of 100 Thieves from progressing on.

Evil Geniuses vs. Elevate

Evil Geniuses and Elevate met each other in this series coming off two very different previous matches. While Elevate had recently just won an intense game 5 against Team Heretics, EG had suffered a crippling defeat to eU after failing to capitalize on a large lead in map 4 and spiralling downhill from there for the rest of the series. Many feared that even though EG was the better team on paper, the two very different trends of momentum these teams were on could facilitate an upset. However, veterans on EG such as Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov and Dillon “Attach” Price were able to steady the team and force their prior result out of their minds. EG was able to regain, and dominated in a 3-0 fashion showing impressive resolve to not let their previous series affect them.

Winners Bracket Semi-Finals[]

eUnited vs Units

Both of these teams showed up on the final day of play ready to get that much closer to being champions, but when the match begun it was clear that one team clearly outclassed the other. eUnited beat Units by more than 125 points on the first map, beat them 6-0 on the second map behind some flashy snipes from Simp, and did not allow them to win a single round of control on map three. What looked to be a possibly very close series was anything but that and eU strolled comfortably into the Winners Bracket Finals.

Optic Gaming vs Team Reciprocity

Much like eUnited, Optic Gaming came out with a fire we had not seen from them that consistently this tournament. They were not able to dominate as much as eUnited, dropping map 3, but they still were able to manage an impressive comeback in map 1, a victory on map 2 in a mode that the team had struggled with so far throughout the tournament, and a commanding 100+ point victory in the 4th and final map. The team was led by veteran player Crimsix who already had 2 Call of Duty Championship rings from prior years, as he had 1.42 overall series K/D.

Losers Bracket Round 3[]

Luminosity Gaming vs. Enigma 6

A matchup between two teams very even on paper appeared to be just that as this series unfolded. Luminosity dominated the opening map behind a strong 31-16 performance by 2017 Call of Duty Championship MVP “FormaL”, but Enigma 6 were able to bounce back and secured a 1 round victory over Luminosity in map 2. The back and forth trend continued as Luminosity would win Map 3 but drop map 4. In the final deciding map it was Mayhem and GodRx who stepped up for Enigma 6 once again, both of them dropping double digit kills to send home Luminosity Gaming once and for all

100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses

Unlike the Enigma 6 vs. Luminosity match, this matchup was one that was not so even on paper, as 100 Thieves had boasted one of the strongest lineups all year. That being said, Evil Geniuses’ did boast 3 players with former Call of Duty Champion wins under their belt in players Attach (2015), Apathy (2016), and Jkap (2015, 2016), so to expect them to just roll over at the biggest tournament of the year where they have had prior success seemed unintelligent. Unfortunately for them, they did in fact just roll over as 100 Thieves beat them handily as their momentum from their comeback win against Faze Clan back in losers bracket round 1 pushed them past Evil Geniuses in a dominant 3-0 fashion.

Losers Bracket Round 4[]

Enigma 6 vs Units

With only 4 teams left in the losers bracket and 6 in total, being 100% in single moment of every single match was essential now. The difference between these two teams in this matchup simply came down to mentality. Enigma 6 had just beaten an incredibly talented Luminosity team in a hard fought series that they were still riding high on. Units on the other hand had just been absolutely dismantled by eUnited, and came into this series low on both confidence and spirit. Enigma 6 took full advantage of this, and took the game by the scruff of its neck before Units could even get themselves fully sorted. Enigma 6 dismantled Units and never let them get truly into the match, beating them 3-0 with none of the maps being particularly close. Enigma 6 were once again led by GodRx who had 1.20 series K/D, and was quickly becoming one of the favorites for the tournaments MVP should Enigma 6 get far enough.

100 Thieves vs. Team Reciprocity

Much like how Enigma 6 had benefited from a victory in the previous losers bracket round before this matchup while Units struggled with going immediately from a loss in the winners bracket to their matchup, the same scenario unfolded here. Unable to quickly find their footing against a red-hot 100 Thieves team who had now 3 matches in a row, Team Reciprocity were reeling straight from the get go. 100 Thieves dominated the first two maps, and while Reciprocity eventually settled into the match enough to take map 3, it had simply taken them too long. 100 Thieves bounced back in map four, winning it by more than 140 points and breezed into the losers bracket semi-finals.

Losers Bracket Semi-Finals[]

Enigma 6 vs. 100 Thieves

On paper this matchup looked to be uneven, as 100 Thieves again claimed the far superior roster from top to bottom. That being said Enigma 6 had been playing their best Call of Duty all year at this tournament, and with only one best of 5 left until one of these teams reached a top 3 position, anything could happen. Unfortunately for Enigma 6, 100 Thieves did not care about any of that. With the talent on their roster and the momentum they had from winning so many losers bracket matches in a row, 100 Thieves played like the two time tournament winners they were throughout the entire match. Enigma 6 played both maps 1 and 2 very close, losing by only 33 points in map 1 and 2 rounds in map 2. However, their inability to clutch up and snag one of the close first two maps would come back to haunt them as 100 Thieves smelt blood going into map 3 and closed it out in incredibly quick fashion. Superstar assault rifle player for 100 Thieves “Octane” helped them close it out in map 3 with a 1.71 KD on the final map.

Winners Bracket Finals[]

eUnited vs. Optic Gaming

A rematch of the first grand finals of the 2019 season in which Optic Gaming one, eUnited were ready for revenge against a team that had bested them many months ago. eUnited were the hotter of the two teams though, as there were coming off a win in the most recent tournament, the Call of Duty World League Playoffs. Optic were first to strike though, as the speed that they played at and the pressure they put on eUnited’s players during map 1 allowed them to come out with a near 150 point victory. Optic continued this momentum into map 2, and led 5-3, only one round away from going up 2-0 in the series. However, Optic suffered a shocking collapse, losing three rounds in a row and allowing eUnited to win 3 straight rounds and to win the map and tie up the series 1-1. After this Optic never truly recovered in the series, as they were pulverised in map 3, and absolutely embarrassed in map 4, losing by 198 points. After such a positive start to the series, Optic looked lost towards the end, and eUnited’s tremendous skill, composure, and teamwork shone bright as they moved onto the grand finals.

Losers Bracket Finals[]

100 Thieves vs. Optic Gaming

The constant theme seen throughout all these matches is momentum, and when you viewed these two teams current momentum, it could not be more different. Thieves were coming off their 5th straight win in the losers bracket, while Optic had just choked away a chance at going 2-0 in the winners bracket finals and then proceeded to get annihilated the following two maps for the loss. The sheer difference in the trending of the teams momentum was apparent throughout the entire match as 100 Thieves beat Optic 3-0. Optic did put up a fight, only losing by 40 in map 1 and 2 rounds in map 2. However, putting up a fight doesn’t mean much when it is do or die and Optic was sent home while 100 Thieves won their 6th straight and moved onto the grand finals, looking to finish off what would be one of the most incredible losers bracket runs of all time.

Grand Finals[]

eUnited vs. 100 Thieves

Even on the hot streak that they were, 100 Thieves would have a tall task ahead of them. Due to the fact that they were coming from the losers bracket, they would have to win two best of 5 series, while eUnited would only have to win one as they were coming from the winners bracket. 100 Thieves had no plans on backing down though, as they were able to steady their ship after losing the first map by nearly 125 by winning the following two maps. 100 Thieves looked incredibly close to winning the first best of 5 as they were almost dead even with eUnited on map 4 with both teams only needing 4 more points for the victory. However, due to a phenomenal performance by Tyler “Abezy” Pharris who had a 1.5 KD on the map 4, eUnited sent the match to a map 5. However, whatever thoughts 100 Thieves had about sending the series to a second best of 5 were shut down by phenomenal all around play by the eUnited team as all 5 players went had a positive kill to death ratio in the final map 5. For the eUnited team, this was all of their first Call of Duty Championship victories bar James “Clayster” Eubanks who earned his second all while being the oldest player in the league at 27. The 5 players on the team would split an $800,000 prize pot and the tournament MVP “Simp” would get a bonus as well. Simp had 1.35 overall tournament K/D and would win rookie of the year as well, making him the first rookie in over 7 years to win the Call of Duty Championship in his inaugural season and the first player ever to win the tournament’s MVP award as rookie.

Final standings[]

Place	Team	Prize money
1st	eUnited	$800,000
2nd	100 Thieves	$260,000
3rd	OpTic Gaming	$140,000
4th	Enigma6	$110,000
5th/6th	UNITS	$75,000
	Team Reciprocity
7th/8th	Luminosity Gaming	$50,000
	Evil Geniuses
9th-12th	Team WaR	$35,000
Team Singularity
Sicario Gaming
Elevate
13th-16th	Team Heretics	$25,000
	FaZe Clan
	Team Envy
	Splyce
17th-24th	RBL Esports	$15,000
	Fuego Gaming
	Mazer Gaming
	Sage eSports
	UYU
	Midnight Esports
	TrainHard Esport
	Aspire eSports
25th-32nd	Celtic FC Esports	$10,000
	Gen.G esports
	Animosity eSports
	LGND
	Team Vanity
	FURY Gaming
	Carnage Gaming
	Hybrid Gaming

References[]

External links[]

Preceded by Call of Duty Championship 2018

Call of Duty Championship

Succeeded by Competition ceased