Full Wrap #30

Back from Europe and into Stage 3 Qualifiers. We’ve had team changes, map pool changes, and even a meta change since Major 2, but that hasn’t changed the outcome of these series. For the most part.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Maps and Meta Update

The midseason map pool update is here, along with a rare meta change. A much-needed gameplay refresher. It’s safe to say Black Ops 7 got old-school Black Ops-ified. 

The only map being added to multiple modes is Gridlock from BO4, which is now in for Hardpoint and Search. Other additions for Hardpoint include Cliff Town, a BO2 Yemen remake, and Sake, the lone original Black Ops 7 that’s being introduced. Search will also see Plaza from BO2 and Fringe from BO3 added into the rotation.

Finally, the meta change sees a new SMG in the mix, with the MPC-25 no longer being GA’d. Faster handling speeds and fire rate make it much more effective against the M15 in close-to-medium-range gunfights than the Dravec was. With maps from BO2, 3, and 4 returning, it was only right that the gun modeled after the MSMC would return. Although AR players are hoping its return is short-lived.

Champs Keep it Rolling

Fresh off their Major 2 victory, FaZe came out hot against the bottom-feeding Breach. In the interim since Major 2 Breach surprisingly parted with the franchise’s longest-tenured player, Snoopy. In his place is Afro, a familiar face who had been dominating EU Challengers.

If anything, the roster change had the opposite of the desired effect. FaZe rolled Boston in a 3-0 DoorDash: 250-98, 6-3, 4-2. 04 was the MVP of this one, leading FaZe in K/D with a 1.26, including a 30/14 performance in the Hardpoint. Maybe his MVP was no fluke.

FaZe was back in action on Sunday against the Riyadh Falcons. The Falcons also considered a change during the break, trialing Academy player QK4B in place of both Exnid and Pred before deciding against making any changes.

The Major 2 Champs picked up a second win on the weekend, this time 3-1, dropping just the Search on the newly added map Fringe. Despite the scoreline, the Falcons kept maps competitive; FaZe scored the deciding goal in Overload a second into overtime and needed a break on the last hill of Map 4 to eke out a 250-241 win.

Gentle Mates Return to Form

After a dismal second split, the Gentle Mates were looking to start Major 3 Qualifying off on the right foot. First up, the Carolina Royal Ravens. 

The Ravens were also active during the break, dropping Nero. Whether it was performance-based or due to some locker room Discord, you can be the judge. In his place, they called up Fire, who might be better known as Fire40 of Cold War infamy. Or Fire .40.

Fire immediately showed he could shoot with the best of them, dropping a 22/13 performance to put Carolina up 1-0. Unfortunately, Carolina couldn’t muster any more resistance as the Gentle Mates rolled them the next three maps en route to a 3-1 victory.

Next up for Paris was G2. G2 has given a few top teams some trouble this year, but this series was not one of those times. Paris picked up three respawns and dropped only the Search for their second straight 3-1 of the weekend and a 2-0 start to the split. Hopefully it ends better than their 3-0 start last split.

Welcome to Black Ops 7

Please don’t take this the wrong way, but Carolina’s loss was Vancouver’s gain. After Nero was dropped by the Ravens, the Surge quickly snapped him up, replacing Capsidal after just seven series with the team.

Vancouver had the same two opponents as Paris, opening their Qualifiers against G2. Map 1 looked all but wrapped up with G2 up 249-224, but Surge broke the final Hardpoint, and a three-piece from TJ sealed a 250-249 nail-biter.

Minnesota took another lead in the Search, winning the first three rounds, but Vancouver stormed back with five straight rounds before closing the map out 6-4. The 7-5 scoreline on the Overload looks like a barnburner, but Vancouver had it locked up at 7-3 with less than a minute left to sweep G2 3-0. 

The Surge’s second match of the weekend was Carolina, a revenge game for Nero. Vancouver jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead before Carolina answered back with two maps of their own to force the only Map 5 of the weekend. Unfortunately, it was anything but climactic as Vancouver ran away with it 6-1. “I respect you” -Nero after the win, probably.

Up Next: Minor 1

Tournament play is back next weekend with Minor 1. Every match is do or die, with a best of 5, single elimination format, culminating in a best of 7 Finals. OpTic, FaZe, Gentle Mates, and Thieves have secured a first-round bye thanks to their place in the regular season standings following Major 2 and will have to wait to see who they play on Saturday.

The first series of Minor 1 will see the 0-2 Falcons look to bounce back against a hot Surge team for the opportunity of a Cellium vs. FaZe matchup in Round 2.

Next up, Miami will try to end their three-match losing streak. Luckily for the Heretics, their only win in their last five series came against Breach, the exact team they’re matched up with.

G2 is another team coming off an 0-2 weekend and a three-match losing streak of their own. Their upcoming opponent? Cloud9 New York. The losing streak enders.

Finally, KOI will take on the Ravens to close Friday, with the winner facing OpTic. Unfortunately, that’s familiar territory for KOI. 

The stakes? $20,000, 30 CDL points, and the ultimate online bragging rights to the winner.

TOP PERFORMERS

Gwinn: After making his name as an SMG the last two seasons, Gwinn’s shift to the flex role was a surprise to many, especially when he was joining a bottom-tier Surge roster. Two stages later and he’s back to the SMG, and Vancouver is reaping the benefits. His respawn numbers didn’t jump off the board this weekend, posting a 1.05 in Hardpoint and a 0.78 in Overload. Despite that, he still made our Team of the Week and finished with the 7th best BP Rating because of his SnD performances. Gwinn went 27/9 with six First Bloods over three SnD maps, leading Surge to an 18-6 round count. 

Ghosty: Ghosty was a force to be reckoned with to open the split. He led all players in K/D with a 1.41, including the top Hardpoint K/D (1.58) while chipping in just over 97 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes. He dropped his sack on G2 in the Hardpoints, racking up a 65/32 line (2.03 K/D) with 239 seconds in two Hardpoints in the series. 

JoeDeceives: JoeDeceives put up an 188/152 (1.24) for the #3 K/D ratio of the weekend. Most of his damage came against the Riyadh Falcons, where he posted a 106/73 (1.45) performance, punctuated by 68/44 (1.55) across the last two maps as he led Toronto to a 2-0 start to Stage 3.

Neptune: We had a Stage 1 Neptune sighting this weekend, highlighted by his 92/70 series against the Ravens, including his 11/6, two First Blood performance in Map 2. He finished the weekend with the #5 K/D (1.20), #3 Overload K/D (1.27), and #7 Hardpoint K/D (1.20). If Neptune can replicate this level of play, the M8s will be back in championship conversations for Major 3.