Full Wrap #41

The final event of Black Ops 7 is over, and that (Full) Wraps up the season. A surprise finalist and a reigning champion fall early. What ensues with rostermania is sure to deliver.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

B2B EWC Champions

OpTic came into EWC once again needing a win to save what would be known as a season of second places. Luckily for the Green Wall, EWC was in Paris this year, a location where OpTic has won the last four events dating back to 2015.

Opening up the event, OpTic had a good warm-up series with Team WaR, a Challengers team. OpTic took the series 3-1, outgunning the opposition on every map, led by Huke’s 1.24 K/D (99/80). They did have some concerns following the series, as they fell victim to yet another Round 11 loss.

Next up was a massive jump in competition, 100 Thieves. 100T came out shooting to take Map 1 by a score of 250-227, but OpTic bounced back, seemingly fixing their SnD woes with a 6-3 victory, followed by a close 4-3 win in the Overload to take a 2-1 series lead. In Map 4, 100 Thieves once again clutched up, partially saved by a questionable spawn, to take the Hardpoint 250-239 and force a Map 5. Former Huntsmen player Nium ended up being OpTic’s kryptonite, as he went 11/5 to beat OpTic and send them to the Losers side of the Group B bracket.

In need of a series win to stay alive and make the bracket, OpTic faced yet another Challengers team in Project Notorious, who were led by Snoopy and Cammy. This time Shotzzy led the way with a 1.50 K/D (72/48) to send P7 packing in a swift 3-0.

The reigning World Champions, FaZe, started their EWC off 2-0 with a 6-1 map count to secure bracket play. Unfortunately for FaZe, G2 started off their EWC run slightly hotter, stealing the 1st seed in Group A thanks to their 6-0 map count. G2 was granted the decision of who they would play in the first round between Heretics and OpTic. To nobody’s surprise, despite what Kremp said, G2 opted to play the Spanish squad, leaving us with a Champs Grand Final rematch in the first round of bracket play.

The opening Hardpoint took place on Scar, a map that FaZe won against OpTic at Champs. This time it was different. After a back and forth beginning, OpTic pulled away late to win 250-197. The SnDs heavily favored FaZe at Champs but the script continued to be flipped as OpTic opened with 4 straight round wins to cruise to a 6-4 map win. The momentum carried, and the rest of the series wasn’t close, capped off by a 100-point club victory to seal the 4-0 sweep and advance.

The bracket didn’t get any easier for OpTic, as they were once again matched up with 100 Thieves, this time in the Semi-Final. 100T made a statement Map 1, taking it 250-129, and followed that up by jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the Search. Round by round OpTic slowly started to bring it back, and a cruise missile play by Shotzzy Round 10 sent us to a Round 11. In the end, it was just a tease, and 100T finally got another round to close the map and take a 2-0 series lead. Full Sail, denied.

OpTic woke up in Map 3, taking it 4-2, and continued rolling, winning Map 4 250-173 and Map 5 6-2. Series point. Of course Scrap and HyDra weren’t going to go down without a fight in what could be their last (real) series together. The 100T duo went a combined 66/51 (1.29), each chipping in a goal as well, to force a do-or-die Map 7. A third best-of-7 series between OpTic and Thieves this year and a third Map 7, this time on Sake. Unfortunately for 100T, Sake SnD turned out to be Mercules and Shotzzy’s playground, as it was the OpTic duo that took over this time, combining to go 19/6 (3.17) to secure the 6-2 victory.

It would be a surprising matchup in the Grand Finals, as Team Heretics cruised through the top side of the bracket. OpTic jumped out to an early 2-0 series lead and had full control in the Overload and looked extremely comfortable with Shotzzy 360’ing around the Heretics’ spawn, but that quickly shifted and Heretics took the map with a quick score in overtime. Heretics took another close map, 250-241, in Map 4 to even the series at 2-2. OpTic fans were starting to get flashbacks.

The momentum once again shifted, and OpTic took another series lead at 4-2 after cruising to 6-1 and 6-2 wins in Map 5 and 6, respectively. Map 7 was a Den SnD, and it went down to the wire; with OpTic trailing 4-5, they found themselves in a 3v1 with the bomb planted and 30 seconds to go. "Don't scam" was the name of the game for OpTic’s Search, but they couldn’t help themselves, and their players seemingly forgot they were allowed to shoot their guns as ReeaL clutched the 1v3 and sent us to Map 8.

Still on Den, this time Hardpoint, Team Heretics took the early lead, but OpTic quickly gained control and didn’t look back. They closed out the map 250-183 to end the series 5-3 and avoid what would have been a nerve-racking Map 9 SnD for the Green Wall. Back-to-back once again, this time at the Esports World Cup. Is it a dynasty?

OpTic finished the Black Ops 7 season on a high note and became the first team in CDL history to reach the Grand Finals of every event, including eight straight Grand Finals appearances as a roster. A special team. Will we see them load into MW4 together? Only time will tell.

Too Little, Too Late: The Story of the Heretics Season

The Heretics came into this event at the end of a massively disappointing season. After a Black Ops 6 season that had the team place in the Top 4 in five out of the six events, they had failed to meet that placement a single time this year. This was their last chance to change that.

The Heretics' first series of pool play came against the Surge. The Hardpoint was close, but the Search and the Overload were not. Heretics 3-0. 

Next up was a Falcons team that was coming in off a Top 3 Champs placing, and they punished the Heretics to the tune of 3-1, leaving the Spanish org just one loss from elimination. Luckily, the Heretics pulled the Challengers team of their group and coasted to a 3-0 victory over WaR to qualify for the bracket. 

As the top seed, G2 chose to play Team Heretics in the first round (an easy choice as the other option was FaZe). But what was supposed to be a layup win for G2 quickly went awry. 

After dropping the first map of the series, the Heretics locked in and ripped off three straight map wins, leaving them needing one more to eliminate G2. They left the door open and allowed G2 to waltz right back into the series with back-to-back wins on Gridlock Search and Overload, setting up a decisive Map 7. In Map 7 SupeR decided to take over, dropping 11/6 with four First Bloods to send his team to the Semi-Final.

The win wasn't without drama, as ReeaL broke GA's by slide-defusing to prevent a Nastie 1v3. ReeaL then later called out Envoy for breaking GA'S by double-pumping him in their 1v1 on Fringe SnD. One of the many quirks of competitive Call of Duty.

The Semi-Final was a rematch with the Falcons, but this series was a complete turnaround from their earlier meeting as the Heretics swept the Falcons 4-0. The most exciting part of this series happened after it was over. As soon as the final map ended, RenKoR (who had a 0.82 this series) was up out of his seat running across the stage to get in Cellium’s face and congratulate him on a well-played series, and MC welcomed him with a two-handed shove to the chest before ReeaL separated the two. 

Heretics had avoided the Thieves, FaZe, and OpTic on the way to the Final, but now it was time to face the music. After being bracket blessed when faced with a top team, the Heretics were unable to pull out a victory, getting outslayed by 48 across just 8 maps, with RenKoR being the only positive player. They clutched up to win Map 7 after going down 4-2, but much like the rest of their season, the success was too little and far too late.

Run It Up Back?

The Thieves found themselves in a familiar situation, coming off the most disappointing Champs run since, well, the BO6 Thieves. They opened their EWC against the Boston Breach with a 3-0 win in a series that could have been an email. 

Due to their underperformance at Champs, their next opponent was none other than OpTic Gaming. Thieves survived the five map slugfest and landed themselves the top seed in Group B. 

Round one of bracket play was against KOI, and the Thieves won 4-0. Despite the dominant scoreline, the maps were quite close, begging the question: Could KOI have won this series if they had an average main AR and not Insight dropping a 0.71 with only 11,000 damage? I know this is a Thieves section, but how is this guy still clinging onto a roster spot? He had 64 kills in four maps. The next lowest was Scrap with 89. In map 4, season on the line, Insight dropped a 14/26 stat line in a game they lost by 20 points. It’s indefensible.

The Semi-Final (really, the final) was a rematch with OpTic. This one was another grueler, but this time it went the way of OpTic. Shotzzy went 10/4 with 3 first bloods as aBeZy joined the agency with a 0/7 performance to send the Thieves to the 3rd-place match.

In the match for third, neither the Falcons nor the Thieves really looked like they cared to be there, but especially not the Thieves. After maybe the most checked walkout of all time, the Thieves just seemed to be going through the motions and quickly found themselves in a 3-0 hole. Then, a switch flipped.

After being battered for three straight maps, the sub duo woke up, combining for 66 kills on Den in a 250-103 map win. In the next map the Thieves skunked the Falcons 6-0 before trouncing them 4-1 in Overload to set up a Map 7 and putting themselves on the precipice of the second greatest comeback in CDL history (behind Rokkr in Cold War Major 5). And if HyDra wills it, it is to be done. The French Phenom closed his event in Paris with a 13/4 showing on Raid to clinch third at EWC.

Into the Check Book

Coming off a 3rd-place finish at Champs, the Falcons were flying high going into EWC and reaped the reward of entering as a top seed. Their first series was with Project Notorious and Cellium (1.38) and KiSMET (1.32); they showed them there are levels, dominating the respawns to take the series 3-1.

Falcons stayed hot, taking down Heretics 3-1 to advance to bracket play as the 2nd seed from Group B. After Scrap chose to play Toronto Ultra—yes, that’s not a typo, Toronto Ultra—the Falcons were left with the Gentle Mates.

A back-and-forth Hardpoint to kick off the series went the way of Falcons, but the Mates quickly snatched the momentum and series lead with two straight map wins. Falcons did some damage control, dominating the Map 4 250-145, but the Mates answered with dominance of their own in the SnD, winning 6-1 to take a 3-2 series lead. The Overload came down to an overtime where the Mates would strike first with a score in just 57 seconds. With their tournament lives on the line, Exnid ran down mid to find an opening kill, and the kills continued to fall in the way of the Falcons as KiSMET punched in the game-winning goal. The Mates were breaking in Paris.

All down to a Map 7, and the breaking didn’t get better; it got worse. Tied at 1-1, KiSMET found himself in a 1v3 that he played perfectly and stole the lead. With the score at 4-2 in favor of the Falcons, it was Cellium’s turn to 1v3. Two kills quickly flipped the round to a 1v1, but it was Sib with the sniper who closed it out to keep the map within reach. Once again Falcons found themselves in a 1v3, this time at 5-3, and it was Exnid who traded the first kill, then caught Ghosty backing up, before gunning Estreal to put an exclamation mark on another 1v3 and the series victory.

The Falcons were one series away from their first Grand Final, but the Heretics quickly shoved them to the 3rd-place match with a swift 4-0 sweep. At least Cellium got to shove back.

A strange year of failures for the Falcons, capping it off with 3rd and 4th place finishes at the two biggest tournaments isn’t the worst way to go out. Alluka showed he’s the real deal, KiSMET had a resurgence, Exnid made strides, and Cellium is, well, Cellium.

TOP PERFORMERS

Shotzzy: The EWC MVP for a reason, Shotzzy was in flow all weekend. He finished with a 1.15 K/D (3rd) and a 1.20 BP Rating, which was good for 1st amongst teams in the Top 4. Shotzzy got it done in all modes, posting a 1.12 K/D or better in each game type, highlighted by his 1.26 K/D in SnD to go along with his 22 First Bloods (1st). In Hardpoint he chipped in on the objective, collecting 72.83 Time/10 (10th), and in Overload he led the pack with 34.13 Kills/10 (1st). The Superstar ended Black Ops 7 in superstar fashion.

HyDra: HyDra is hitting the free agent market, and he was playing for a payday at EWC. His 1.13 K/D was good enough for 7th best at the event, and his 1.12 BPR was the 6th best. He also led the event in Hardpoint K/D (1.27) and led all bracket players with 28.97 HP Kills/10. HyDra was also effective in Search with a 1.25 K/D (7th in the bracket), 14 First Bloods (5th), and 0.87 kills per round (5th). It was a great event for what could be HyDra’s last in the Black and Red.

Cellium: MC was in form for the second straight event as he led the Falcons to a second straight Top 4 finish. In what should be a surprise to no one, Cell had one of the best K/Ds of the event with his 1.18 being topped only by Estreal and the 12th best BPR (1.09). The highest-paid player in the league was a menace in respawns with a 1.18 HP K/D (2nd) and a 1.28 in Overload (1st in bracket). He also led the event in post-match shoves after refusing to back down to a towering RenKoR shouting in his face. If the Falcons can hang onto Alluka, this roster could be a dark horse next season.

Mercules: Last up on our Team of the Week is none other than Mercules. The OpTic AR just barely trailed Shotzzy in BPR with a 1.19 (2nd in the T4) thanks to his impact in every mode. Merc finished with a 1.12 K/D in Hardpoint while putting up 3565 Damage/10 (2nd in bracket), a ridiculous 1.49 K/D in Search (1st in T4) with 18 First Bloods (2nd), and took home the Golden Boot, leading EWC in total Goals (11) and Goals/10 (1.63). A historic start to his career, you can only be excited for what he has in store for MW4.