The Call of Duty World League Finals in Miami is over and eUnited managed to take top prize in the penultimate tournament of the season. Pitted against Gen.G in the final best of 5 of the event, eUnited came back from a sweeping loss to overcome the strong team play of Gen.G, feeding them their own medicine and sweeping for the trophy.
A loss to eUnited on day two of the series sent Gen.G to the losers bracket, where they managed to knock out 100 Thieves who had previously eliminated OpTic Gaming. As the winners of the losers bracket, Gen.G was given a shot at redemption against eUnited and looked like they could come back to win the top spot after a three-map win streak. Coming from the losers bracket, Gen.G had a lot to prove though, and had to best eUnited in two best-of-5 matchups. Sending it to a final game, eUnited played an incredibly strong team game and managed to achieve victory through a three-win streak of their own, securing the trophy.
This win marks the first championship that James “Clayster” Eubanks has won in exactly 1400 days. We talked briefly with the pro after the match, and he was just as excited to get first a first championship win for two of his teammates as he was to break his own streak:
It’s a mixture of happiness, and elation, and validation. I don’t even feel so happy for me. I feel so happy for the rest of [the team]; to get Simp and Abezy their first championships, and to finally win with Arcitys and Prestinni, and to win for eUnited after they’ve trusted in me for this long. It’s just an overwhelming amount of love and respect and appreciation and [pride]; all those good feelings.
Clayster remembered that despite this win meaning something big for himself, there were four other players who helped him get to where he was, holding that trophy on that stage and putting him back on top of the world.
Though he had humility, we also had to ask Clayster about the long streak of not taking a championship for himself. Being nearly four years since his last first place finish, he felt like he wouldn’t ever be able to land that top spot again:
I kept saying ‘my chip’s expired; my championships have expired at this point.’ And I forgot what it feels like to win. I was questioning if I ever would again. And then this year, this is our third grand finals, and we were finally able to take one home. It validates me a lot. I mean, that journey- it’s been so long. I forget what it feels like to win, even though I’ve won 12 or 13- whatever the championships are, I don’t even know anymore. It just validates my decision to continue competing.
With CWL Championships for the 2019 season coming in just a few weeks, Clayster understands that they’re going to have to get back to the grind to earn some rings, but for right now, the team’s going to take a few days to bask in this win.
As the CWL Miami Finals came to a close, the lineup for the Championship tournament in August has been revealed. 16 pro teams and 16 amateur teams will all compete for 2019’s championship trophy, including fan-favorite OpTic Gaming, who faced a crushing defeat and elimination at the Miami Finals (their spot was secured at another event), and the winner of the Miami Finals’ amateur bracket, The Bhoys. Here are the 32 teams that will be competing at the Call of Duty World League Championship in Los Angeles on August 14-18.
Pro League
- 100 Thieves
- Elevate
- Enigma6
- eUnited
- Evil Geniuses
- Faze Clan
- Gen.G
- Luminosity
- Midnight Esports
- OpTic Gaming
- Splyce
- Team Envy
- Team Heretics
- Team Recipriocity
- Units
- UYU
Open Bracket Qualifiers
- Aspire Esports
- The Bhoys
- Carnage Gaming
- Excalibur
- Fire Sticks Gaming
- Fuego Gaming
- Fury Gaming
- Hybrid Gaming
- Lgnd Status GG
- Mazer Gaming
- Sage Esports
- Sicario Gaming
- Team Divinely
- Team Singularity
- Team War
- Trainhard
Whether you’re interested in the esports side of things or just Call of Duty itself, the season is in full swing. Just ahead of CWL Champs, Infinity Ward will be revealing the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer and then it’s just a few months until the game releases in October. We’ve learned a few things ahead of that reveal, such as getting our hands-on the new 2v2 Gunfight game mode, and learning that the multiplayer maps in this title will deviate from the series’ traditional three-lane design.
