Full Wrap #15

A weekend of busted brackets and viewership records. Champs weekend in Kitchener will be an event to remember for a multitude of reasons, and if you missed out, it’s time to get caught up.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

The Mercules Miracle

OpTic entered Champs following a season marked by inconsistency, and going back-to-back seemed far from likely. Having only played eight matches as a roster before Champs, a month to prep may have been the perfect formula to turn their season around. Having a superstar rookie doesn’t hurt either.

Taking on FaZe to open the tournament, OpTic completely flipped the script and then some from Major 4, sending FaZe to the Losers’ Bracket in a surprisingly quick 3-0. It was the start of something special for OpTic, with Mercules earning match MVP by posting a series-leading 1.45 K/D. It was a Merculean effort.

OpTic showed no signs of slowing down during their next two matches against Ultra and Breach, who wouldn’t have taken a map off of OpTic even if you combined their map scores. The combined score lines were 500-160 in Hardpoint, 12-2 in Search, and 6-2 in Control. Dashy shined with a 1.79 K/D in both series, and Mercules matched him with a 1.79 against Breach while leading the series in kills and damage. Bruce has found his new AR duo.

Heading into the Grand Finals with a 9-0 map count, OpTic were looking to do the unthinkable and not only go back-to-back but also complete a flawless weekend. It was unthinkable for a reason. 

After going down 0-1 in the series, the Surge punched back and handed OpTic their first map loss of the weekend in the form of a 6-0 Dealership SnD masterclass. The next four maps were absolute cinema: a 250-230 Hardpoint, Round 11 SnD, and two 3-2 Controls. Following those maps, it was only right that the series was tied up 3-3.

With two SnD’s and a Hardpoint remaining, it looked like we were in for an all-time Neslo from Surge. Shotzzy and Mercules had other plans, combining to go 16/8 with seven First Bloods in a 6-2 win to take the 4-3 advantage. Match point, OpTic.

Rambo’s Surge squad had their fundies down for the Map 8 Rewind Hardpoint, building their largest lead at 152-71 halfway through the second P1. The series seemed destined to go the distance. Then Shotzzy happened. He went on a 6-streak during the final P1 and popped a 3-piece to secure the P2 rotation, the map, the series, and the championship. Back. To. Back.

No 0-5 for 04

A bounce back for the ages. Vancouver bowed out T12 at Major 4 and started their Champs off with a loss to Miami. No team had ever made the run from Losers’ Round 1 and gone on to win Champs, but the Surge almost made it happen.

The start to the run for the Surge was far from your ordinary Losers’ Round 1 match, taking down the back-to-back Major Champion LA Thieves 3-0. They followed that up with another 3-0, this time over fellow Canadian team and hosts, the Toronto Ultra. Neptune wasn’t going to be denied, dropping a 1.42 while leading the series in kills and damage. Challengers’ talent continued to shine.

Surge’s ice was tested the rest of the event. Miami pushed them to a Map 5 Round 11, even after Vancouver took an early 5-2 lead. In the Round 11, 04 was able to find a First Blood and play his life at the B site, leading to a flurry of trades ended by Neptune to send Miami home. Abuzah flashed two double birds and shared some words (of encouragement?) with SupeR. Unfortunately, SupeR was seated too far away to see him.

Breach was the last team left between Surge and their third Grand Finals of the season. The last thing Surge wanted was another Map 5, this time against a team with two Neslo victories already this weekend. Nastie was dialed in for Map 4. Maybe a little too dialed in. He was left hip firing for a few lives with a broken controller, and the Map 5 was inbound. This time was a little less stressful, as Neptune’s 11/5 and Abuzah’s 9/2 performances led them to a 6-2 victory and onto Sunday.

Vancouver battled in arguably the closest Champs Grand Final in CDL history, but it wasn’t enough. At least they won a map in this Grand Final.

The Cinderella Single-Tap Run

Outside of OpTic, the biggest Cinderella this weekend was the Boston “Neslo” Breach. They caught LAT napping in their opening series, giving up both Hardpoints, but won Maps 2-3-5 to complete their first Neslo of the weekend (199-250, 6-2, 3-2, 132-250, 6-3). They looked immensely practiced, seeming to know every LAT Search strat: in seventeen rounds, Boston got First Blood twelve times, catching Envoy out for eight of them.

But that wasn’t the only surprise upset that Boston had planned. In Winners’ Round 2 they pulled off a second Neslo, this time against Heretics. For a second series in a row, they won Hacienda Search 6-2, picked up a 3-2 Control win, and this time iced up in Map 5 Round 11 to secure one of the most improbable T3 finishes in COD Champs history. Doug “Censor” Martin knew.

Alas, the clock has to strike midnight eventually. Their Neslo magic ran out in the Winners’ Final against the eventual Champs OpTic, where they were slaughtered 0-3 (73-250, 1-6, 2-3). In Losers’ Final against Surge, they finally won their first Hardpoint to tie the series 2-2, but lost their first Map 5 of the weekend to end their season. #IntoTheUber

RenKoR of the Year

The closest matchup seeding-wise of Winners’ Round 1 saw Miami take on Vancouver. The break appeared to be bad for Miami after they nearly got 100-point clubbed to start the series. A wake-up call proved to be exactly what they needed, taking the next three maps. The Heretics rookie AR duo once again led the way, as RenKoR and SupeR finished with a 1.17 and 1.14 K/D, respectively.

Winners’ Round 2 seemed like a shoo-in for Miami over Boston, and it was heartbreak instead. Despite taking a 4-1 lead in Map 5, Miami fell to the Losers’ Bracket. Boston took more than their vamos.

The loss set up Miami’s signature win of the weekend, sending FaZe home T6 for the second time this year. Outside of their comeback win Map 1, the Heretics cruised to victory 3-0. RenKoR (64/48) and SupeR (54/39) were too much for one of the pre-tournament favorites. Not even a RenKoR 3-piece team nade could help FaZe.

Heartbreak was again the theme for Miami in the Losers’ Semi-Finals, falling in Round 11 against the Surge.

A T4 placing at Champs wasn’t exactly what the Spanish were hoping for, but it marked Miami’s fourth T4, which is tied with LAT for the most this season. So if your two-star rookies “sharing” the Rookie of the Year award wasn’t promising enough, the placings should be. The future's bright in Miami.

#FaZeDown

FaZe’s effort at the biggest tournament of the year was the most disappointing Champs performance since the LA Thieves in Black Ops 6. Coming in as the second-best team of the regular season, they faced 7th-seeded OpTic and promptly got kicked in the teeth. Simp was far from any type of MVP form (0.73 K/D), and Drazah was ousted from his position as OpTic CEO as they were swept 0-3 (204-250, 3-6, 1-3). Talk about a hostile takeover.

FaZe seemed to right the ship against the lowly Ravens, but Simp and Drazah posted identical 1.00 K/Ds in a series where Carolina was -37. Despite the 3-0 victory, there were still creeping tendrils of doubt. 

That doubt was proven to be prudent, as the Heretics sent them home the very next series, and Atlanta placed T6 for the second consecutive season. Cellium (52/51, 1.02) was the only member of FaZe positive on the series, as Simp (44/59) dropped his second 0.75 K/D in just three series. Drazah (5th worst) and Simp (3rd worst) both found themselves in the bottom 5 for K/D on the weekend, with only Insight and Wrecks having worse showings than the former MVP. Time to blow it up?

No Home Event Cheese

The bright side for Ultra: both teams they lost to this weekend were the finalists. The not-so-bright-side: the only team they were able to beat was Carolina. The super-duper-not-so-bright-side: Insight dropping a 0.79 K/D this event. The absolute-Mariana-Trench-level-dark-side: having to watch Mercules win a World Championship and Event MVP on their own turf (kinda) after failing to sign him following Major 3.

After becoming the only higher seed to not be upset in Winners’ Round 1, Ultra found themselves in what seemed to be a near-ideal scenario. LAT, Vancouver, and FaZe had all been dropped to Losers’, and they were the highest remaining seed in the Winners’ Bracket. Unfortunately, they ran into a buzzsaw by the name of OpTic Texas. “DoorDash” doesn’t even begin to describe this theory. Ultra were humiliated in front of tens of their home crowd supporters, 87-250, 1-6, 0-3. Toronto was a combined -64, with CleanX boasting the best K/D on the team: a paltry 0.85. Insight took the brunt of the OpTic abuse, mustering only 28 kills (28/51, 0.55) in three maps.

Their last match of the weekend was a clash of Canadian teams. Vancouver has seemingly had their number all season, eliminating them in both Major 2 and 3. In this case, the third time was not the charm. Despite leading 234-195 in the opening Hardpoint, Toronto managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, losing 234-250. They never led in the Search, losing 3-6 as Nastie dropped 14 on their foreheads. The Control was an afterthought as Toronto bowed out in T6.

Thieves of Joy

The only thing “super” about this team this weekend was how disappointing they were. They were confident, but overly so. They got bopped out of Winners’ Round 1 for a second time this season by the Boston Breach, then followed it up by failing to take a map off the Vancouver Surge, a team they were 6-0 against this season. After all the talk about no talent in Challengers, they were Double First Rounded by Cammy, Owakening, Purj, and Neptune, four players that were playing in Challengers at this time last year. Scrap’s MVP trophy is the only one they’re taking home.

The comparisons they were getting came too soon. This will be remembered as the biggest flop of any team in the history of CDL Champs. Nadeshot wants a refund.

Royal Disaster

If there’s one thing to commend the Royal Ravens for this weekend, it was their predictability. Carolina was the furthest thing from a bracket buster as they bowed out of Champs in 0-2 fashion. It took longer to write this recap than it did for FaZe to 3-0 them on Friday.

CHALLENGERS

The OMiT League

Rafi is running circles around the Challengers scene. His two teams, OMiT Brooklyn and OMiT, faced off in the Grand Finals of Challengers Champs, with OMiT winning in 4-0 fashion. Mack (99/76) and Vivid (87/71) led the way for OMiT, accompanied by Mamba and Craze.

OMiT and OMiT Brooklyn will be heading to EWC, along with Team WaR and Team Orchid. Who will be the next Mercules?