| MLG X Games Invitational Recap | |
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Day 1
Group A: The historic MLG X Games Invitational weekend began in Group A with a match between Evil Geniuses and Strictly Business. Evil Geniuses were heavily favored and showed their ability to stave off a lower seeded team, which was a momentary weakness of theirs at UGC Niagara. Despite a nail-biting one point victory in the first game, and a game two loss in Search and Destroy, Evil Geniuses were able to secure a 3-1 victory over Strictly Business. Next up was OpTic Nation going against Team Kaliber in series number two of Group A. This series would end up being extremely close and it came down to the fifth and final map of the series. A back-and-forth series culminated with a 6-1 blowout in Search and Destroy on Sovereign in favor of Sharp and company. Team Kaliber took maps one, three, and five to send OpTic Nation to the loser’s bracket with a 3-1 victory. Group B: From there the action would transition over to Group B where the fan favorites, OpTic Gaming, would go up against FaZe Red. Going into the series the looming question was, “Which OpTic would show up to the X-Games?” This question was answered rather quickly as OpTic took a 2-0 series lead in convincing fashion. OpTic Gaming’s only slip-up in this series would be on Freight Blitz where FaZe Red were able to maintain some late momentum and take game three. Their brief spurt of success would end there as OpTic Gaming were able to close out game 4 and advance in winners over FaZe Red with a final score of 3-1. The next match in Group B would be Team EnVyUs going up against Curse Orange. Despite some close games, The Boys in Blue played extremely well and earned a 3-0 sweep of Curse Orange to advance into the winners finals of Group B. Day 2
Group A: Day 2 is where desperation began to set in for teams whose backs were up against the wall. For the four teams in the loser’s bracket – it was simply do-or-die. The first matchup in losers Group A would pit Strictly Business against OpTic Nation. The history here was between Phizzurp and Killa and this history would manifest itself into game two, Search and Destroy. After taking the 1-0 series lead, Killa would lead OpTic Nation into Search and Destroy on Warhawk where they would look to go up 2-0 in the series. Unfortunately for OpTic Nation, Phizzurp would show why he is a Search and Destroy innovator as he led his team to a dominant 6-1 victory in game two. Strictly Business went on to win the next two games and secure a 3-1 victory over OpTic Nation. Moving back over to the winners side of Group A we would see number one seeded Evil Geniuses opposing the number five seeded Team Kaliber. What transpired here was yet another upset much to the dismay of the World Champion, Evil Geniuses. Team Kaliber clearly came to play and had every intention of giving Evil Geniuses a trip to the loser’s bracket against everyone’s predictions. Team Kaliber managed to eke out a victory in game one only to lose a convincing Search and Destory game two. The turning point for this series took place in game three where Team Kaliber demolished Evil Geniuses in Blitz on Freight. Led by captain Sharp, Team Kaliber carried their momentum from game three over to game four and were able to finish the series there. The final score for the series was 3-1 and Team Kaliber effectively shocked the world. This victory secured a winners spot in the medal bracket for Team Kaliber. If there is one defining quality of Evil Geniuses it is their ability to battle through adversity in order to remain in contention. After being upset by Team Kaliber, Evil Geniuses would match up against Strictly Business on the loser’s side to see who would make it out of that group on the lower side. This time around Strictly Business would not earn a single victory against Evil Geniuses. Despite Strictly Business’ efforts, Evil Geniuses once again reigned supreme and accomplished a 3-0 sweep. This victory earned Evil Geniuses a place in losers of the medal bracket.
For Group B, day 2 would begin immediately on the loser’s side where FaZe Red and Curse Orange would have to fight for their tournament lives at this historic event. Curse Orange won the first game and then went on to obliterate FaZe Red on Warhawk Search and Destroy by a final score of 6-0. FaZe Red clearly were not playing up to their own standards this tournament. Game three would see FaZe Red’s end as Curse Orange completed what most would call an upset over FaZe Red with a final score of 3-0. The quick match between Curse Orange and FaZe Red would bring us to a marquee matchup between OpTic Gaming and Team EnVyUs to decide who will make it to the medal bracket in winners. With the exception of game three, this series was all OpTic. Their slaying power was finally beginning to take effect, and this allowed for a strong map presence throughout. Scump played incredibly in the series as he and his team earned a victory over their longstanding rivals in Team EnVyUs and advanced to play Evil Geniuses in the medal bracket. The final match of day 2 would see Curse Orange going up against Team EnVyUs to decide who will play Team Kaliber in the medal bracket. The series began in exciting fashion as Curse Orange managed to make game one extremely competitive. Muddawg and the rest of Curse Orange earned a three cap in the closing minutes of Domination on Sovereign and things were looking up. Unfortunately for Curse, Merk of Team EnVyUs received a spawn at the A flag after the three cap was soon to be overcome by The Boys in Blue. This spawn allowed Team EnVyUs to capture both A and C, which devastated Curse who had worked hard to come back from a sizable deficit. From there on out EnVyUs would take full control of the series and eventually close out a 3-0 sweep over Curse Orange. Day 3
Semifinal 1: For the third day in a row, Team Kaliber came out firing on all cylinders much to the dismay of the viewers. With Sharp at the helm and Neslo hyping his team up, Team Kaliber decimated Team EnVyUs on the first side of game one, which was Domination on Freight. Despite an admirable effort, Team Kaliber held off EnVy to take the series lead. Heading into game two, Octane Search and Destroy, it appeared that Team EnVyUs would have the advantage considering the sniping ability of StuDyy. After establishing an early lead, Team EnVyUs fell apart as Team Kaliber mounted a comeback to tie the map at 5-5. The play call for round 11 on defense saw Team Kaliber pushing the ‘B’ bombsite hard, Team EnVyUs was caught off guard and this led to Team Kaliber taking an early 2-0 series lead. Signs of life came out of The Boys in Blue in game three, which was Blitz on Warhawk. EnyUs obtained an early lead, and were able to pull away in game three to finally get on the board. Unfortunately for Merk and his team, Team Kaliber were able to come up clutch when they needed to in game four. The map was Sovereign and the gametype was Domination. The key moment that led to the victory saw Apathy picking up a monumental two-piece on the ‘B’ Domination point to lock up a 3-1 series victory for Team Kaliber. Team Kaliber would advance into the Gold Medal match and await the winner of Evil Geniuses and OpTic Gaming. Semifinal 2: Without an ounce of hesitation this was the highly anticipated potential matchup coming into the MLG X Games Invitational. These teams have locked horns many times in the past, and OpTic Gaming came up short in every instance. It was easy to say that Evil Geniuses had OpTic Gaming’s number. After the acquisition of Proofy, OpTic Gaming had added another important slaying component to their team that gave them the best chance at dethroning Evil Geniuses. Game one in the series would be Domination on Freight, which OpTic Gaming had success on day one in their series against FaZe Red. The first side would be relatively close with OpTic Gaming in moderate control as Clayster excelled in the slaying department. OpTic Gaming were unable to maintain the lead and Evil Geniuses rallied back from a deficit to put themselves up 1-0 in the series. Next the series transitioned over to Search and Destroy on Sovereign, which was a pivotal game two match. OpTic Gaming once again establish an early lead and seemed to have everything working for the Green Wall. For Evil Geniuses, it was Crimsix who put forth his best effort to try and keep his team in the game. Crimbot’s effort was not enough, as Proofy of OpTic Gaming closed out game two with a highlight reel four-piece against Evil Geniuses. With the series tied, the two teams would venture to Blitz on Warhawk for game three. The victor in this case would dictate who would have the series lead, and more importantly, who would harness momentum as the series progressed to the inevitable game four. OpTic Gaming once again managed to prevent a late push by Evil Geniuses in game three. With Nadeshot playing as sneaky as possible, he and the rest of OpTic Gaming took Blitz on Warhawk and were headed to game four. Game four was Domination on Strikezone, and surprisingly OpTic Gaming would be able to close out the series. Despite an extremely valiant effort toward the end of the game, Evil Geniuses were not able to hang on. OpTic Gaming accomplished what was seemingly the impossible, and sent Evil Geniuses to the Bronze Medal match with a 3-1 victory over the World Champions. Bronze Medal Match: After losing to OpTic Gaming and Team Kaliber respectively, Evil Geniuses and Team EnVyUs were set to square off in a best of five series to decide who would take home the bronze medal at the MLG X Games Invitational. Right off the bat, Team EnVyUs and Evil Geniuses traded a couple of dominant games. Evil Geniuses began the series by taking Domination on Strikezone with 40 points to spare. Next the two teams rolled into Search and Destroy on Warhawk where Team EnVyUs controlled every aspect of the game and managed to shut down Crimsix. The series was tied 1-1 heading into game three, which was Blitz on Warhawk. Evil Geniuses were able to pull ahead early on in the game and never allowed Team EnVyUs to creep back into contention. Just like that, the bronze medal match between Team EnVyUs and Evil Geniuses as headed to game four with Evil Geniuses ahead 2-1 in the series. Game four in the series would be Domination on Strikezone, and Team EnVyUs were able to answer back after losing the Blitz game. A win in game four once again tied the series between Evil Geniuses and Team EnVyUs, and the series would head to a decisive game five, which was Search and Destroy on Sovereign. For Team EnVyUs, this was their chance to conquer their biggest challenge in Call of Duty: Ghosts. For Evil Geniuses, a win in game five would grant them a medal and something positive to walk away from the MLG X Games Invitational with. Evil Geniuses were able to put together a dominant 6-2 victory in the final game of the series. TeePee, Crimsix, and Karma all played extremely well in the final game and helped Evil Geniuses earn a bronze medal at the first ever MLG X Games event. Gold Medal Match: Finally it was time for the match that would make history for Call of Duty eSports. OpTic Gaming and Team Kaliber were forced to overcome the World Champion Evil Geniuses team en route to a gold medal match. Both of these teams had played tremendously throughout the weekend, and it would all culminate in the most important match of the weekend. Domination on Freight would be the first game in the series. Team Kaliber showed exactly why they are an incredible domination team with their performance in game one. They established map control on both sides, and knew exactly when to push for a three-cap. Team Kaliber kept the pressure consistent, and all four players managed to end the game with a positive k/d. OpTic Gaming had no answer to the slaying power of Team Kaliber in game one, and TK were able to go up 1-0 in the series. Game 2 was Search and Destroy on Octane and this is where OpTic Gaming were able to turn up the energy. Highlighted by an amazing ace by team captain, Nadeshot, OpTic Gaming dominated game two and were fortunate to tie the series at 1-1 against Team Kaliber. Heading into game three both teams had their moments already in the series. Blitz on Warhawk was the game type, and this was OpTic Gaming’s map to lose considering how well they had played Blitz throughout the weekend. This trend continued in game three as OpTic Gaming were able to utilize map presence and smart defensive plays to prevent Team Kaliber from mounting much of an offensive attack. OpTic Gaming would go on to win Blitz on Warhawk by a final score of 7-3. With their backs against the wall, Team Kaliber progressed to play OpTic in Domination on Strikezone in game four. Team Kaliber came through in game four and slayed everything in sight. They proved yet again why they are such a dominant Domination team in game four against OpTic Gaming. TK established the lead early on and OpTic were not able to come back and break through Team Kaliber’s brilliant setups. With that victory, the gold medal match between Team Kaliber and OpTic Gaming was headed to a game five to decide who would go home with gold medals in their possession. OpTic Gaming got off to a great start in game five winning 4 of the first 5 rounds against Team Kaliber. Proofy led his team early with an astonishing 10 kills by the seventh round of the Search and Destroy on Sovereign. Team Kaliber hung with OpTic as they were able to put together a couple of solid wins to bring the score to 5-3 in favor of OpTic Gaming. It was round nine that saw Neslo clutching a 1 versus 2 situation against Nadeshot and Scump to bring the score to 5-4. Team Kaliber had a great start to round 10, however OpTic Gaming were able to pick off a couple of TK players, and Clayster was the player who closed out the series with the final kill on Goonjar. With the win in game five Search and Destroy, OpTic Gaming secured Gold Medals at the MLG X Games Invitational. The run for the Green Wall was unbelievable, and it was a longtime coming for Nadeshot, Scump, Clayster, and Proofy. The final placements for the MLG X Games Invitational are as follows:  Gold Medal Winners –  OpTic Gaming: NaDeSHoT, Scump, Clayster, and ProoFy
 Bronze Medal Winners –  Evil Geniuses: ACHES, TeePee, Crimsix, and Karma
Published on 10. Jun 2014
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