CWL Dallas 2017 Recap - Upsets, Surprises and Bomb Threats

The first competitive LAN event of Call of Duty: World War II indeed had a tonne of expectations to satisfy and rumours to dismiss. Leaving the dust to settle for roughly a week, we may now take an overall look on the event, including all the upsets and dissapointments which made CWL Dallas a pleasure to watch.

DAY ONE

Before we may progress, a certain elephant in the room needs to be addressed. Just thirty minutes into the Friday broadcast, as the thousands of online viewers and the crowd were only just beginning to become excited; the competition was hit with and alleged bomb threat. Reportedly, the phone call came in and security found a mysterious bagpack; the event had to be evacuated. This pulled the schedule back by four hours, dropping series midway and left for Saturday since they were left with no time. Such proceedings led to an incredibly tight schedule for Saturday, as the Open Bracket was still undecided. Harsh rules were implemented to ensure that no further hourse were lost. Thus ended the run of Underworld Esports, lead by the reputable "Killa" due to one of their players not arriving on time. "Fears" confessed that he nodded off later on Twitter.

DAY TWO

A Call of Duty event had never been susceptible to this activity, and their lack of preparation was indeed evident. Saturday started early, picking up where the first matches left off in many situations. Luckily, groups were concluded and the competition was arriving back on its feet. The teams of FaZe Clan, Next Threat, Team Allegiance and Echo Fox made it through - as expected for the most part, although many awaited SoaR Gaming to make it instead of AG. The greatest effect of an Open Bracket team came in the form of Echo Fox who denied Team EnVyUs the Winners' Bracket and comfortably sat behind Optic Gaming. Other surprises in the Group Stage include FaZe Clan's resilience to finish just shy of eUnited and TK's dominance which would soon prevail on the whole. Like this, players went to sleep with the groups out of the way and the whole braket to complete on Sunday; it would be another long day.

DAY THREE

The $200,000 event however, would yet again have to face another delay, ANOTHER bomb threat! This took place ahead of the action, so the venue was still saturating. Luckily, the incident only took 30 minutes and there would be no further foolishness. The person responsible for these taunts, Friday and Sunday has indeed been found out after authorities traced back a Twitter account. I do have screenshots which I've decided to not reveal since the situation is already being dealt with. Returning to the action, the first round of bracket play saw Team EnVyUs sending Next Threat home while eUnited kicked LG down to the Losers'. Moving forward, the Semifinals saw some absolute nailbiters on the mainstage. Two game fives dragged on between Optic Gaming and Splyce on one side and TK and eU on the other. I simply cannot describe each map, although they are deserving of a breakdown, as this article would be an immensely long read. After roughly an hour and a half, TK and OG walked away only to face eachother in the finals.

Meanwhile, FaZe Clan are having an amazing run in the Losers' Bracket, cleaving through Red Reserve EU, Team EnVyUs and even eUnited. Yet, they are soon stopped in their tracks by Splyce to take fourth place. Nobody expected FaZe Clan to perform as well as they did.

Optic Gaming; favourites heading into the event were now at the Winners Final with al their fans behind them who are all expecting a first place finish to shun all the doubters. It all went horribly wrong as they wouldn't be able to win a single map from that point onwards. A sweep by tK and a subsequent cleanup from the hands of Splyce shocked fans; but this is nothing too new. Don't forget that Optic haven't won the first event for the past four years, so Greenwall fans shouldn't be too worried. Thus, the Grand Final was ready to welcome tK and Splyce.

tK; the North American organisation with a considerable fan base has struggled to find traction in the scene, with their beginnings rooted in Ghosts finally had a chance to take silverware home. Though the European giants from Splyce would make it no easy task. Quickly, the grand final ensued in epic fashion, rewarding viewers with a tense five game series which gave tK the edge. The crowd erupted, physical and virtual as the #tkallday tags were rampant. Soon after gloriously hoisting the trophy, "Accuracy" was rightly rewarded the MVP. Although sporting an average k/d of 1.09 and creating some hilarious moments due to teamkilling, his pivotal SnD plays, such as the 1v4 which he won against Splyce in the grand final.

CONCLUSION

Late that Sunday evening, past the bedtimes of most Call of Duty enthusiasts, many of the daunting questions were finally answered. European teams still rely on Splyce for a presence, Next Threat is probably not its namesake, Optic Gaming remain mortal and tK look impressive. We hope you enjoyed following this lengthy breakdown because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Be sure to stay update as we continually educate you on the international and local sides of the Call of Duty scene.