After a hard-fought battle through the inaugural Global Pro League, Splyce have been crowned Global Pro League Stage 1 Champions.
They beat Luminosity Gaming 3-2 in the Grand Finals of Stage 1 Playoffs to take home over $50,000 each, Jacob Hale reports.
In doing so, Splyce became the first UK CoD team to win a major international event on US soil, and the first European team to win any tournament in America in over seven years.
Luckily, we have come a very long way since the 2010 Modern Warfare 2 GameStop World Finals.
Splyce got the second seed from their group at the beginning of the Global Pro League, falling short to Gfinity Elite Series’ Team EnVyUs on the final day of their group.
This turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise, as this meant that Splyce drew arguably the weakest team in the tournament for their opening match in NA’s Evil Geniuses.
Although he would eventually eat his words, Evil Geniuses CEO Peter Dager had a pretty simple view on the draw.
EU COD LUL
— Peterpandam ⌐◨-◨ (@Peterpandam) May 18, 2017
Day 1 – Evil Geniuses
Despite a somewhat shaky start in Map 1, taking the close 250-227 win, Splyce were dominant from here on out.
The team closed out this series 3-0, taking the second and third maps in convincing fashion. The 6-1 Search and Destroy win was an emphatic team effort, followed by a glorious 14-0 Uplink win in which Zer0 and MadCat both dropped over 30 kills each.
Day 2 – Enigma6
Next, Splyce faced Enigma6. Though tougher than Evil Geniuses, this squad was not predicted to do well prior to the tournament. That was until they came out and beat the world’s second best team, EUnited. From there, many had fairly high hopes for Engima6.
Nonetheless, Splyce did not let the pressure get to them, and won the series 3-2 after nearly being reverse swept.
Once again, Zer0 guided Splyce through this series, making huge plays when it mattered most, including taking 44 kills in the first map.
From here on out though, Splyce had a much tougher run.
Championship Sunday
Winners Final v FaZe Clan
In the Winners Bracket Final, Splyce faced FaZe Clan, a team who has been considered at least a top four team for the past three years.
“At this point, many had given up hope for Splyce, and admittedly I placed myself in that group too.”
Unfortunately, the first map was a blowout. FaZe saw off Splyce with ease, boasting a 250-83 score line. FaZe outslayed Splyce by 40 kills, and it seemed Splyce’s performances were about to see a very tough, very emotional end.
Instead, they turned it around and the tournament truly started to become the Zer0 and Bance show. Dominating in the following 3 maps, Splyce proved that they weren’t simply gifted with a lucky bracket, and nor are they merely a “challenging team” as they’ve become so well known for.
The final map, Scorch Hardpoint, saw Zer0 once again edge on 40 kills – finishing so close with 38 – and Bance gaining over two minutes of objective time.
The mixture of pure slaying firepower and objective genius placed them in the Grand Final of one of the biggest tournaments in Call of Duty history.
GGs FaZe, talk about a teenage takeover from Ben and Trei. Job isn't finished time to really turn up.
— Dylan (@MadCat) May 28, 2017
The sole UK representatives waited anxiously backstage as OpTic Gaming – widely regarded as the best team in the world – butted heads with Luminosity Gaming. This is a team who had been on fire since their drop in to the Loser’s Bracket, with their AR slayer Octane looking otherworldly in his play.
Grand Final v Luminosity Gaming
Sure enough, Octane carried Luminosity through their match with OpTic, losing only the Search and Destroy but otherwise looking absolutely untouchable. At this point, many had given up hope for Splyce, and admittedly I placed myself in that group too.
As Luminosity had reached the Grand Final from the Loser’s Bracket, this meant they had to win two series’ as opposed to Splyce’s one, and EU fans collectively held their breath for the duration of the match.
“There are few words to describe quite the scale of achievement they have accrued.”
Naturally, the intensity of the tournament reached right through to the final map of the first series. Splyce and Luminosity had been trading wins throughout, with Splyce taking maps two (Search and Destroy) and four (Hardpoint).
Coming down to the final Search and Destroy, Splyce were looking in fine form. They took a 5-2 lead and needed just one more round to take the entire game.
Here, in Zer0’s own words, they ‘got a bit too excited’.
Luminosity started to make the comeback, winning three successive rounds to bring it back to 5-5. If Splyce won the final round, they would win the tournament. If Luminosity won it, the bracket would be reset and it’d shatter the confidence of Splyce, before starting a second series.
Thankfully, Splyce pulled through and won the final round quickly and cleanly, with Jurd and Bance finishing on 12 kills apiece.
Thus, the underdogs won, and Splyce finally broke the EU curse. There are few words to describe quite the scale of achievement that they have accrued, but it is clear the boys are beyond proud with their performance, especially the eventual MVP Trei ‘Zer0’ Morris.
Few words were spoken following the win, but you can tell how much the victory means to all the players in their interview with Dexerto.
Me and Jurd said this year this is the year we win an NA event we've worked 4 years together for this day. My brother!
— Dylan (@MadCat) May 28, 2017
The win also means that Bance, who has only been a professional player for two years, is officially the highest earning European Call of Duty player of all time.
Huge congratulations to Zer0, Bance, Jurd and MadCat for completing such an incredible feat, and we sincerely hope for much more like it in the future.
(Photo taken from MLG)
