Full Wrap #13

Sir, a second team has gone back-to-back in Black Ops 6. LAT prevailed in the last Major of the regular season and propelled themselves to the #1 Champs seed. Who were the standouts of the weekend? Who were the biggest losers? The Full Wrap has got you covered.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

LAT Repeat as Champs

For the third season in a row, HyDra’s roster has won the final event of the regular season. The Thieves ran an absolute gauntlet at Major 4, leaving no doubt about their dominance over the league right now. Ghosty bullied Surge in Winners’ Round 1 with a 57/31 (1.84) performance. Winners’ Round 2 was their only stumble of the tournament, as SupeR gave Scrap a little wake-up bump after LAT choked away a 2-1 lead. They ended Saturday by ending Toronto’s regular season in 3-1 fashion. 

The first matchup of Sunday also brought LAT’s first matchup with the new-look OpTic. After dropping Map 1 Skyline in a 237-250 nailbiter, the Thieves reeled off three straight maps, punctuating the series with a 250-136 blowout on Vault. This punched their ticket to Losers’ Final and a chance to avenge their loss to Miami. Scrap bumped back with an anger-fueled 69/51 (1.35), leading the lobby in kills with the least deaths and second-most damage. He, HyDra, and Ghosty let SupeR know his earlier antics were not appreciated with an IRL 3v1.

Having beaten the 3, 4, 5, and 7 Champs seeds, there was just one more obstacle in the Thieves’ way: the Atlanta FaZe. Coming from Losers’, FaZe had the veto “advantage,” but it’s hard to veto against a team with no bad maps. The Thieves never trailed in Map 1, a surgical win that improved their Red Card Hardpoint record to 10-0 on the season. Their two MVP candidates combined for 68/53 (1.28) as they bullied the Terrors. Their performance spilled over into Map 2, where HyDra and Scrap were the standouts again, this time combining for 19/11 (1.73), word to Colt Havok. Just when it looked like they were going to run away with it, FaZe fired back, pulling off a 0-2 comeback on Protocol before eking out a 250-235 victory to pull the series level at 2-2. 

But the comeback was over as soon as it started. HyDra slammed FaZe in Map 5 with an 11/3 (3.67) and then opened Map 6 with one of the most ridiculous four pieces you’ll ever see, tacking on a fifth for good measure. In the end, FaZe went out with a whimper as the Thieves dominated Hacienda Control 3-0. Hail HyDra. 

While HyDra dominated the Grand Finals, Scrap was awarded the Event MVP for the second consecutive Major, marking the first time a player has won back-to-back Event MVP awards since Kenny in Vanguard (Major 4, Champs). Season MVP loading?

FaZed Out

Seeking revenge following their Top 6 at Major 3, FaZe had a perfect path to Winners’ Finals, avoiding the teams that have proven to give them trouble with Thieves, Surge and Heretics all on the other side of the bracket. FaZe dispatched Cloud9 3-1 in Winners’ Round 1 thanks to Simp’s 101/68 (1.49) and Drazah’s 95/70 (1.36) series, setting up a Winners’ Semi-Final matchup with OpTic. Once again FaZe proved to be OpTic's boogeyman as Simp shined with a 96/73 (1.32) performance, leading to another 3-1 victory capped off by his 35/19 (1.84) in the close out Map 4. Mr. MVP is back.

FaZe was back to their regular scheduled programming after missing their first Major Sunday since Cold War and had a rematch with the team who sent them home last event; the Miami Heretics. After dropping the Map 1 Hardpoint 250-249 in what could go down as the map of the year, FaZe quickly regained to close the series out for their third 3-1 victory of the weekend. The entire team took turns taking over in the series this time. Simp led the way going 14/4 (3.50) Map 2, The AR duo of Cellium and Drazah combined for a 43/28 (1.54) Map 3, and aBeZy popped off with a 37/20 (1.85) Map 4 to help clinch their third Grand Final this season. FaZe was looking final.

Some true competition finally arrived in the Grand Finals, setting up the Major 1 rematch. Having won every match against LAT on LAN this season and coming off a 3-0 victory against them during the Stage 4 Qualifiers, FaZe was ready to lift a third trophy. Unfortunately, after watching Envoy raise the Major 4 trophy, FaZe will need to wait until Champs for another chance at their third. Have the silver surfers returned?

Rookies Keep Rising

Miami's rookie AR duo of RenKoR and SupeR continue to prove they're the real deal and their third star has arrived. In their first series vs Rokkr, ReeaL made it known that it’s not just the AR’s for Miami, putting in a 73/48 (1.52) performance, leading in kills, damage, and K/D on the way to a 3-0 victory. There’s a new trio in town and they’re Spanish.

The Heretics would have a much tougher matchup in the next round, taking on the reigning champion Thieves. RenKoR took over with a 119/80 (1.49) series to help secure a 3-2 win as the only player positive for Miami. SupeR choosing to wake up the wrong player with a fist bump that sent Scrap’s hand flying back into his face proved to be the last highlight for the Heretics. Mistakes were made.

After starting the event strong, Miami soon felt the power of the undefeated curse, finishing their final two series against FaZe and Thieves with a combined 1-6 map count. The losses resulted in their second Top 3 placing of the season and potentially a sign of things to come with Champs and EWC on the horizon.

Sunday Whites are Back

For the first time this season OpTic fans got to see the Sunday Whites on display at DreamHack. The Green Wall finally was able to secure a Top 4 placing with their shiny new rookie Mercules leading the charge. The rookie was undeniably the team MVP this weekend, leading the roster in overall K/D, Slayer Rating, OBJ/10m, SnD K/D, and First Bloods.

Champs drama was all but over after Friday for OpTic, as they secured their spot with a win over Ultra in Winners’ Round 1. Huke was the match MVP for the squad, posting a 96/74 (1.30) in the 3-1 win. He dominated in Hardpoints, posting 71 kills and a 1.54 K/D in the two maps as OpTic and Mercules picked up their second consecutive win over Toronto since they failed to sign him. Beans over me?

OpTic faltered in their Winners’ Round 2 matchup against FaZe, a matchup that has not been kind to them this season. Despite the lopsided 3-1 final scoreline, OpTic kept the first two maps close, losing 246-250 in the opening Hardpoint and 5-6 in Map 2. That close to a 3-0.

After being knocked into Losers’ Bracket, OpTic set out to end Kenny and Minnesota’s season. Mercules was on a warpath this series, leading OpTic in kills (82), K/D (1.14), and damage. He was undeniable Map 1 with a 32/24 (1.33) performance where he also posted 1:45 in the hill. Rokkr Bye Baby.

If there was an area of concern for OpTic this weekend, it was Dashy. He held the worst K/D (0.95) of any player on the team as the main AR. He was absolutely abysmal in Hardpoint, posting a paltry 0.87. In series deciding maps against Atlanta and LA he posted a combined 30-61 (0.49) with 49 seconds in two Hardpoint maps. Did he sleep through the Bat-Signal? 

Surge-ical Malpractice

If you’re wondering what the most embarrassing way to end your regular season is, look no further than the Surge this weekend.

After reaching two straight Grand Finals, the Vancouver Surge were a candidate to make another deep run this weekend at DreamHack. Unfortunately a first round matchup with the Thieves is never a recipe for a successful tournament run. After an 0-3 trouncing (103-250, 2-6, 0-3) and 04 living up to his name (0.46) they looked to start their Losers’ Bracket run with a quick win over the Vegas Falcons. It may be time for 04 to rebrand. 

The Falcons had other ideas. Despite losing both Hardpoints, Vegas was able to pick up Maps 2, 3, and 5 for a Neslo win to knock the shocked Surge out of the tournament before the weekend even started. The entire roster had an abysmal showing, with their best statistical performance coming from Nastie (0.86). On the flip side, this was the Falcons first LAN win of the season and first placing better than Top 12.

Onwards to Champs

The regular season is over and Champs matchups are now set. There was no Cinderella run for Rokkr or Cloud9 at Major 4 and both will be starting their EWC prep earlier than they wanted. A few seeds were still up for grabs heading into Sunday and with the win Thieves became the first team other than FaZe to finish the regular season in first place in CDL history. Additionally, OpTic was unable to place Top 3 to jump Ravens for the sixth seed to avoid FaZe in round one. Not the ideal road to go back-to-back.