This article is part of our Call of Duty Recap series.
Things are heating up in London as the playoffs of MLG London got underway on Saturday. But before that could transpire, some final housekeeping in the open bracket had to take place.
Little was at stake for three of the four games left in the open bracket since Black Forest Gaming, FAB Games, Bando, Team Cyclone, Millennium and Hadouken had already been disqualified from entering the playoffs. Hadouken, however, proved their worth as potential contenders in the future with a 3-0 series sweep against Black Forest Gaming. With some more practice with the best teams in Europe, Hadouken could become very worthy contenders in the European scene. The Imperial had the potential of throwing off the entire tournament if they won against eLevate in the one open bracket match left with something at stake, but eLevate were quick to put to rest hopes of an upset with a breezy 3-0 win.
The tone of the tournament immediately changed once the playoffs began in earnest. Because the skill gap between the teams in the playoffs were significantly lessened, there were closer matches across the board and more exciting matchups from the teams bringing their absolute best. Splyce entered the playoffs as shoe-ins for the finals after an unbroken win streak in the open bracket. Orbit, however, caused a tremendous upset as they beat the undefeated Splyce in a shocking 3-0 win. Splyce, the crown jewels of Europe, were suddenly sent to the losers bracket. The next match saw Infused take their predicted win over Epsilon eSports in a commanding sweep, putting Infused up against Orbit on Sunday.
Splyce later shook off their first loss and decimated Epsilon eSports in a 3-0 sweep. The victory restored confidence in Splyce, but the team is still only one loss away from dropping out of MLG London entirely. Splyce are set to face either Team 3G or eLevate on Sunday in what is primed to be an exciting match.
Newcomers Team 3G and Aware Gaming have both become the dark horses of MLG London. In the first matchup between the teams in the playoffs, Team 3G prevailed and are set to play eLevate on Sunday. That game has the potential to be a close one since Team 3G still have an unbroken win streak in both the playoffs and open bracket, unlike Splyce, who were proven to be mortal with their loss earlier in the day. If eLevate happen to underestimate Team 3G, then Team 3G could be walking into the finals.
Meanwhile, Aware dropped to the loser's bracket and were able to take an extremely close 3-2 win against Fnatic. The newbies of Aware Gaming were able to topple the veterans of Fnatic thanks to Fnatic's Thomas "Tommey" Trewen's tilting having such a negative effect on the team. While looking a bit sloppy in some of their matches, Aware have the potential to make a huge run in the losers bracket thanks to their strong Search & Destroy game. However, Hardpoint and Uplink are still big questions marks for them and could hurt their chances. If they can take an Uplink round, they could easily take a series. Aware Gaming is set to face off against either Infused or Orbit on Sunday.
Sunday will be the final day of MLG London, with the rest of the playoffs and grand finals taking place on the same day.The action kicks off at 4:45AM EST with all the team vying to be deemed the "best of Europe." With so many great matchups coming, this is one you won't want to miss.
