This article is part of our Call of Duty Recap series.
Game 5s. Stunning snipes. Favorites advancing. Upsets winning. Day 3 of MLG Atlanta had it all, as eUnited managed to stave off a furious push by OpTic Gaming to win the MLG Atlanta championship on Sunday, leaving the Georgia International Convention Center with their first major championship of the 2017 season.
e-United at last
Dubbed "online warriors" heading into MLG Atlanta thanks to a litany of strong performances online but underwhelming finishes at LANs, eUnited might have officially shaken the moniker. Pool play wins over 2016 World Champions Team EnVyUs and CWL London champions Orbit were largely overshadowed by championship winners bracket wins over Splyce and FaZe Clan, as eUnited managed to survive not one, but two Game 5 battles against the aforementioned opposition to advance to a winner bracket final. From there, eUnited promptly swept Team EnVyUs to earn a Grand Final birth.
That's where the Cinderella run looked to be over, however, as eUnited ran into a seemingly literal Green Wall in their opening series against OpTic Gaming, quickly being swept in a series, which frankly never saw a very close round.
By virtue of coming through the winners bracket however, eUnited still had one more chance to knock off OpTic Gaming. While most teams may have been demoralized from a previous series sweep, eUnited appeared to be reenergized, immediately taking the Game 1 Hardpoint over OpTic Gaming. The Green Wall would respond in turn, taking both Round 2 Search and Destroy and Round 3 Uplink to come within one round win of taking the championship. However with the pressure mounting, eUnited took another Hardpoint win, this time in Round 4, to push the series into a deciding Game 5. Having won their previous five Search and Destroy rounds spanning across four games, it appeared as if OpTic would have the advantage in the fateful final, but instead it was eUnited who would claim victory, riding a bit of momentum to take the final round 6-3. For eUnited and it's relatively new roster, the win may go down as one of the most impactful in the organization's history, as the MLG Atlanta win puts them in prime position to secure a spot in the Call of Duty World League Stage 1 by incurring a whopping 25,000 Pro Points. But the win also comes with higher expectations – a notion that might be uncomfortable for a relatively green roster.
A wall rebuilt
While OpTic Gaming ultimately walked away with second place, their run through the lower bracket certainly had to have made this a positive tournament for the Green Wall and its fans. Needing to win five straight games in order to make it to the Grand Final, OpTic Gaming had a tough hill to climb. Wins over eLevate and Pnda Gaming to start the run certainly came with nerve-wracking moments, including a Round 11 Search and Destroy victory to claim a series win over Pnda, but it was clear the Green Wall was rounding into form.
Still, matches against three of the best teams in competitive Call of Duty loomed large. The one with perhaps the biggest fanfare came first, as OpTic Gaming squared off against FaZe Clan, a team who has historically had OpTic's number for the better part of the last two years. Undeterred, OpTic took the series 3-1, winning the opening Hardpoint in dominating fashion 250-100 before closing out the series in a classic, 250-241 Round 4 Hardpoint win.
Next was a heavyweight bout against Luminosity Gaming, who had lost just one series leading up to the match. Immediately, it became clear OpTic Gaming would have its work cut out for them, as demoralizing losses in Round 1 Hardpoint and Round 3 Uplink had the Green Wall down 2-1 in the best-of-five series. But OpTic would respond, winning the subsequent two rounds to take the series 3-2. From there, OpTic would finish off their lower bracket run full circle, demolishing a Team EnVyUs squad 3-0 that had knocked OpTic into the lower bracket to start the championship winners bracket.
Despite the loss to eUnited in the finals, the run through the competitive CoD gauntlet may have finally jumpstarted an OpTic team that hasn't looked like itself since dominating the competition for the better part of 2016. And that alone might make them the most dangerous team at the CWL Paris Open next week.
Congratulations @EUnitedGG! They're your @CoDWorldLeague Atlanta Open Champions!#CWLPS4 // https://t.co/JGWbZsJ879https://t.co/xEu3hodxu6
— MLG @ #CWLAtlanta (@MLG) February 13, 2017
