The groups have recently been announced for Gfinity's first Spring Masters Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare event! 16 teams are congregating on London from all corners of the globe, to battle it out with one another in the hopes of attaining the title of Gfinity Champions as well as a slice of the $25,000 prize pool on offer. Tickets are available now to catch the event live this weekend in London, at Gfinity's own arena.
We last discussed Group A in further depth, eventually reaching the conclusion that OpTic Gaming are most likely to proceed from their pool completely unscathed. Group B is a similarly interesting one, pitching 3 bastions of top European talent against none other than the Call of Duty World Champions themselves, Denial eSports. Let's take a look at the four lineups in more depth.
Denial eSports
Clayster - JKap - Attach - Replays
Denial eSports have everything to play for at the Gfinity Spring Masters I. They walked away with $400,000 and the title of World Champions at the tail end of March, before swiftly losing to OpTic Gaming at the eSports World Cup in Paris last week. In order to once again assert their position and ensure the world knows that CoD Champs wasn't a fluke, nothing but a win is acceptable here for the Wolfpack. Clayster's leadership and assault rifle prowess will certainly act as the anchor for his team during this event, allowing his compatriots to focus on their gameplay.
TCM Gaming
Shane - Jurd - Gunshy - Moose
The prodigal sons return to British soil, having enjoyed a relatively successful stint competing in the North American MLG Call of Duty League. They'll no doubt be looking to make a big scene, asserting their core roster as Europe's finest after all their recent international experience. Jurd, often considered one of the most naturally talented players to emerge from the United Kingdom, will be the one to watch. Shane will lead the charge with his signature leadership capabilities and unless something goes horribly wrong, the TCMpire will come up swinging.
Team Infused
QwiKeR, MeLoN, JTee, Lewis
Team Infused has often been considered one of the second tier British rosters, consistently able to beat down those that would challenge them for 3rd/4th place finishes but unfortunately unable to make a dent in Epsilon or TCM. Full of young guns looking to prove their abilities, the drive and dedication to succeed may be enough to cause some shocking upsets in Group B and shunt them forward into bracket play on the day,
HyperGames
Maxxie - Riskin - TonyJS - VZkingzR
HyperGames are the sole representative of French Call of Duty at this Gfinity event, a nation that has long been unable to translate talent to results when battling against either British or American opposition. Yet again, this is a chance to prove not only their abilities, but the calibre of French players as a whole. Long time veterans in Maxxie and Riskin provide the basis this roster needs to have a fighting chance against such menacing rivals in Denial, TCM and Infused.
The Group
Group B is likely to be a blood bath, to be perfectly frank. Matching up the likes of Denial eSports and TCM Gaming against Team Infused and HyperGames must certainly be a bitter pill to swallow for the latter two. Denial eSports has some of the best veterans and new talent standing side by side, with a recent victory on the largest stage in the world to their name. TCM Gaming have always outclassed almost all competitors when it came to European soil, and now they have a wealth of experience against North American leviathans. Better yet, they're holding their own.
How will Team Infused and HyperGames deal with this? Well, they probably won't. For either to take down TCM or Denial would be an upset of epic proportions, something that just doesn't seem at all likely this weekend. Their only real chance is to take advantage of their opposition not effectively warming up and take them to task with no opportunity for a response. Either way, I'd love to see them try - it'd make for an exciting series.
Denial versus TCM is a much harder result to call, though, as they vye for 1st place in the pool. I think most would agree that Denial have the edge over their competition, though. The ability to exert tremendous pressure and display a reserved playstyle as effectively as one another depending on the situation is a rare one in Call of Duty, one that Denial has down to a tee. They'll be able to edge out games one by one, grinding their way to victory and leaving TCM in the dust.
Prediction
Denial eSports | 1st
TCM Gaming | 2nd
Team Infused | 3rd
HyperGames | 4th
Group B is much easier to predict than Group A, due to a disparate levels of both ability and experience between the quartets on show. Denial and TCM are overwhelmingly likely to take 1st and 2nd in the pool respectively, advancing on to bracket play with much less difficulty than some teams will face in the early stages. Either way, everybody loves an upset, and if Infused or HyperGames can pull one off it'll make for some great Call of Duty.
The best Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare teams from around the world are set to compete at the Gfinity Spring Masters I, May 8-10th. You can grab tickets to spectate the entire thing live, or read up on additional information here.
Keep up to date with all the latest gaming and eSports news via our Twitter: @GfinityOnline.