As the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare competitive season nears its conclusion, we head into the final event of the year, the MLG World Championships.
Over the past week, the groups for the $250,000 tournament have been drawn and released by MLG, and our content team will be attempting to predict the results of the group stages, starting off today, with Group A.
Group A consists of some of the largest and most tenured organisations in Call of Duty eSports. OpTic Gaming, Team Kaliber, XGN Competitive, and Team Infused will battle it out for one of the two available spots to automatically advance to the Winners Bracket. Let's take a look at the teams.
OpTic Gaming
| Scump | Crimsix | FormaL | Karma |
OpTic Gaming need no introduction, they are the organisation who currently possess the most wins in the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare circuit and hold the most prestigious name in Call of Duty eSports.
Comprised of arguably the most talented roster in Call of Duty history, Seth "Scump" Abner, the acclaimed King of Call of Duty, captains the most winningest player in competitive CoD, Ian "Crimsix" Porter, the only two-time world champion, Damon "Karma" Barlow and the first cross-FPS champion, Matthew "FormaL" Piper.
OpTic Gaming were truly the most dominant force across the vast majority of the Advanced Warfare season, however, they have recently met their Kryptonite in the form of FaZe Clan, led by former OpTic member, James "Clayster" Eubanks.
In truth, it is hard to see beyond an OpTic vs FaZe Grand Final yet again and therefore I expect to see OpTic Gaming comfortably top their group, without dropping a single match.
Most Valuable Player Prediction: FormaL
Team Kaliber
| Sharp | Apathy | Neslo | Theory |
Team Kaliber are an organisation who have struggled to find any stability within Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. An organisation that was previously renowned for their consistency in Black Ops II, tK have been plagued by roster changes and inconsistent placements throughout the last year.
However, with their latest roster, Team Kaliber do possess the potential to end the season with a strong finish, as veterans Brandon "Sharp" Rodgers and Dylan "Theory" McGee team up with two of the most under-rated players, Jeremy "Neslo" Olsen and Bryan "Apathy" Zhelyazkov.
How far can Team Kaliber go in this tournament?
It all depends upon the attitude and mind-set the players have with one another. While they can be the makers of their own downfall, if Team Kaliber are able to immediately fire on all cylinders, they should be able to hold of the strong competition of Infused and XGN Competitive.
Most Valuable Player Prediction: Apathy
XGN Competitive
| KiLLa | PHiZZURP | StuDyy | FeLonY |
The wildcard of Group A.
Predicting the form of XGN Competitive is a difficult one, as we haven’t seen this roster play together at a major tournament – yet everyone knows who they are.
All friends and well-established professionals in their own right, XGN is comprised of Black Ops II World Champion, Adam "KiLLa" Sloss, the most versatile player in Call of Duty, Phillip "PHiZZURP" Klemenov and two young guns Tyler "FeLonY" Johnson and Jeremy "StuDyy" Astacio.
So, realistically, what can we expect from XGN?
Honestly, it’s tough to see them coming out of this group with anything but a last place finish. However, as the roster is so unpredictable and volatile, I wouldn’t be surprised if I turn out to be completely wrong.
As expected, they should perform well in Search and Destroy but their respawn game-modes and lack of practice may be the source of their failure.
Most Valuable Player Prediction: StuDyy
Team Infused
| MarkyB | Zer0 | Urban | Peatie |
While the international community may not be familiar with several names on Team Infused, this new roster possesses all the potential to stage a strong performance within Group A.
Mark "MarkyB" Bryceland is an excellent leader and can take this team to new heights, however, realistically, Team Infused will be looking to secure second in their pool, behind OpTic Gaming. As a result, Team Infused will need to defeat both Team Kaliber and XGN Competitive, which is no menial task.
Team Infused represent one of Europe’s best hopes at progressing in the MLG World Championships and hopefully they can do us proud at the final event of the Advanced Warfare competitive season.
Most Valuable Player Prediction: MarkyB
Predictions (Excluding Team From Open Bracket)
1st OpTic Gaming 3-0
2nd Team Infused 2-1
3rd Team Kaliber 1-2
4th XGN Competitive 0-3
I’m going with the obvious prediction to start with, OpTic Gaming will progress through Group A as undefeated champions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t drop an entire map during pool play.
My next choice is a little more controversial, as I personally believe Team Infused will defeat Team Kaliber in a five map series, which will push them into second place. On paper, the fresh faces from Europe matchup better against the veterans of Team Kaliber.
As much as I would love to see a strong performance from XGN, I honestly cannot see them winning a single series in Group A.
Do you agree with my predictions? Let us know the comments below!
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