| CALL OF DUTY® CHAMPIONSHIP 2014 Top 8 Teams Preview
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As we start off this new year, we begin to learn about the upcoming Call of Duty Championship 2014 featuring the game which will be played, Call of Duty Ghosts. Throughout the past year, we saw teams such as compLexity Gaming take home several MLG Championships including the MLG Fall Invitational with the runner up being Team Kaliber. As we get closer and closer to the event which will take place in Los Angeles, California from March 28th-30th 2014, we begin to see roster changes and new teams forming because of the age restriction set by the tournament policy. In addition, the prize pool set for this championship is $1,000,000! How exciting right? The total number of teams which will be competing at the event after they have qualified through either the online qualifier or regional qualifier depending on the team's region, will be 32. One of these 32 teams will receive big money as well as respect from everyone in the Call of Duty eSports community all around the world. Now, lets dig into the top 8 teams (Based on their Pro Point Standings).
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| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACHES | Patrick Price | Support | |
| TeePee | Tyler Polchow | Objective | |
| Crimsix | Ian Porter | Slayer | |
| Karma | Damon Barlow | Slayer |
Winning a large amount of the tournaments in which they participate in, compLexity Gaming is the team to be feared as they have won 3 out of the 5 MLG events in the 2013 season! We saw many changes including Clayster being dropped from the roster and being replaced by Karma who had just left Team EnVyUs.
Player to watch: Patrick "ACHES" Price
Curse LV
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parasite | Christopher Duarte | Objective | |
| KiLLa | Adam Sloss | Support | |
| MiRx | Marcus Carter | Support | |
| Ricky | Richard Stacy | Slayer |
Parasite and Ricky were both on OpTic Gaming for a bit before joining Curse LV and for Parasite, he is welcomed back. Curse LV has gone through a number of roster changes, much like a lot of other teams here in the Call of Duty eSports world. They had to find a replacement since Parasite had joined OpTic Gaming, and that replacement was StuDyy. Later on, StuDyy leaves Curse LV and Parasite returns to regain the throne. Ricky ends up leaving OpTic Gaming and NameLeSs is released from Curse LV only to find that Ricky has taken his place. With all these roster changes, we will see how well Curse LV performs now with the addition of Ricky.
Player to watch: Christopher "Parasite" Duarte
Team Kaliber
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharp | Brandon Rodgers | Support | |
| Theory | Dylan McGee | Objective | |
| FormaL | Matthew Piper | Slayer | |
| Neslo | Jeremy Olsen | Slayer |
Team Kaliber is the team that is always on the edge of its seat. They are always so close to the finish line, however they always end up not being the first ones to cross the line. They have a number of top 3 placings throughout Call of Duty events such as MLG, UMG, and Gfinity. Even though they have not received a 1st place finish, they are always neck and neck with compLexity Gaming and have proven to be one of the best teams because of their consistency to top events. They have not had a lot of roster changes like other teas have. The only roster change was Clayster leaving Team Kaliber and picking up FormaL to take that fourth spot on the team.
Player to watch: Brandon "Sharp" Rodgers
OpTic Gaming
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NaDeSHoT | Matthew Haag | Objective | |
| MBoZe | Marcus Blanks | Objective | |
| Clayster | James Eubanks | Slayer | |
| Saints | Renato Forza | Slayer |
With the new roster changes for OpTic Gaming, we will see how well they have developed as team. Seeing that the only long term member left for OpTic Gaming is NaDeSHoT, I wonder how well he will play with them. Will he adjust well? Will he go on tilt? We shall see soon enough. OpTic Gaming has always been one of those teams that is strong and always manages to make an impact on a Call of Duty event whether the impact be big or small. With this roster, the team can either do really good, or really bad, we just won't know yet. Seeing that OpTic Gaming is one of the most famous teams in Call of Duty eSports, there is a lot of pressure for these new players on the roster.
Player to watch: James "Clayster" Eubanks
Team EnVyUs
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MerK | Joseph Deluca | Objective | |
| Goonjar | Jevon Gooljar-Lim | Support | |
| ProoFy | Jordan Cannon | Slayer | |
| Scumpii | Seth Abner | Slayer |
With the loss of Karma, Team EnVyUs seemed to have struggled for a bit. Now with the new addition of Scumpii to the team, it seems as if it will rise once again with one of the best players. In addition, they have Rambo as the coach for the team and he has a lot of experience so all I can say is that my expectations are high!
Player to watch: Seth "Scumpii" Abner
FaZe Clan
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replays | James Replays | Objective | |
| Classic | Nicholas DiCostanzo | Objective | |
| JKap | Jordan Kaplan | Support | |
| NameLeSs | Anthony Wheeler | Support |
FaZe Clan has been playing with Methodz on their roster. However, they needed to drop him since he is not of age to participate at the Call of Duty Championships. This has happened to several teams where the players are too young to participate. With the release of Methodz, they obtained MBoZe. A couple days later, MBoZe left FaZe for OpTic Gaming. With all these roster changes, FaZe was looking for a 4th and that person was NameLeSs. Like any other team with roster changes, we shall see how well their chemistry works out, how good of a team they can be.
Player to watch: Jordan "JKap" Kaplan
Fierce Gaming
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NoXiDe | William Cardona | Objective | |
| TJHaLy | Thomas Haly | Slayer | |
| VeXeD | Hamza Pirdana | Support | |
| ZooMaa | Thomas Paparatto | Slayer |
I don't really know what to expect from Fierce Gaming but they seem like a strong team coming into the scene. They made their debut at UMG Philadelphia where they managed to place in the top 12. That seems really good especially when it is their first LAN event. Like I said, I don't have much to say, but I'm sure we will all be looking to see what this team can do.
Player to watch: Thomas "TJHaLy" Haly
Team JusTus
| Alias | Name | Primary Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tipsy | Vaughn Brown | Slayer | |
| Gucci | Hadi Chreidi | Objective | |
| StaiNViLLe | Tosh McGruder | Objective | |
| StuDyy | Jeremy Astacio | Support |
Team JusTus has been creeping closer and closer. They have been placing recently at least in the top 12. The team has not attended too many event nor have they placed sufficiently. With the new additions of StaiNViLLe and StuDyy, me may come to see a new threat to the competitive Call of Duty teams. Since both are great players in the scene, the impact they may bring can be huge but we will have to wait and see.
Player to watch: Tosh "StaiNViLLe" McGruder
- Written by Jorge "Caldo" Calderon - Twitter: @TheCaldo23