Last weekend was the final weekend of Stage 2 of the COD Global Pro League.
In it, Epsilon faced off in possibly the toughest group of the year; facing the might of OpTic Gaming, COD XP Champions Team EnVyUs and a revitalised Cloud9 side.
Following an incredibly strong performance at CWL Anaheim, many believed Epsilon could turn some heads in this group and contend for the winning spot.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be as Epsilon, like fellow countrymen Elevate, failed to win a series over the weekend (though they did manage to win some maps here and there, which Elevate did not).
Friday: Epsilon not at their best
Epsilon opened the proceedings on Friday against Team EnVyUs, who had just come off the org’s worst ever Call of Duty placing at CWL Anaheim with a top 24 finish.
Nonetheless, a confident Epsilon side were dismantled in a 3-1 loss, taking only the Search and Destroy in a series that would foreshadow the events to follow.
Later in the night, Epsilon played against a Cloud9 side that, for all intents and purposes, should have bombed out of this group before it even started. There is no doubt that at their best, Epsilon are lightyears ahead of this C9 roster.
Unfortunately, Epsilon were not at their best this weekend and after taking a 2-0 lead in the series, were reverse swept by Cloud9 for the loss.
Saturday: OpTic show their strength
Going into Saturday, Epsilon only had OpTic Gaming left to meet, and this was the one team nobody saw Epsilon beating. And how right they were.
OpTic proved why they are the greatest team to ever grace Call of Duty esports, firmly planting their respective nail in Epsilon’s coffin to leave the UK lads with a 0-3 record.
Epsilon, already disheartened by their unexpected day one losses, were now thoroughly downtrodden.
One more loss meant that they could no longer qualify for Stage 2 playoffs, though Epsilon seemed to have already given up on their contention hopes. The confidence and fire they showed prior to their group had been distinguished, and it became apparent that their performances were only due to deteriorate further.
Had they come up against a struggling Cloud 9, Epsilon may have managed to rally together a few good maps to take the win, and the final results could have been a different story.
Sadly, they were instead to see a fierce Team EnVyUs, who had so far only lost to the flawless OpTic Gaming.
The results were similar to Epsilon’s match against OpTic, with EnVy winning 3-0 and Epsilon looking absolutely shattered.
Though main AR player Dqvee had thus far put up some masterful performances, his teammates just couldn’t keep pace with him, and the whole team’s playoff spot had disintegrated in front of their very eyes.
Do we have to show up tomorrow?
— Dave (@Dqvee) July 22, 2017
With two series’ left to play on Sunday, Epsilon were now just playing for third place.
Sunday: Playoff hopes in tatters
With a 0-4 record holding Epsilon at the bottom of the pack, there was relatively little to play for going into day three, where they were set to face off against OpTic Gaming and Cloud9.
Once again, OpTic crushed Epsilon in a 3-0 win.
After this loss, it came down to their final match, where they would be playing Cloud9 for third place. Epsilon needed to win by two maps or more to finish third, any less would guarantee the fourth-place finish.
The team needed to come out hot and win the Hardpoint to give themselves the boost of confidence they so desperately needed. Instead, they lost 250-129.
Their performance was questionable at best, but they seemed to show more promise in the following Search and Destroy, although they were eventually beat 6-5, just losing out in the final round.
Thus, their hopes of qualifying for playoffs had been eradicated. With only pride on the line, Epsilon managed to win the Uplink before falling once again in a Hardpoint, dropping Retaliation in a close 250-242.
Epsilon will certainly look to improve over the next couple of weeks, with CoD Champs only a fortnight away.
https://twitter.com/BsportJoshh/status/889237701823799296
In the meantime, we look to next weekend where Fnatic and Splyce will be competing at playoffs for their share of $500,000.
In Round One, Fnatic are due to face OpTic Gaming whilst Splyce will be competing against Stage 1 Playoffs and CWL Anaheim finals opponents Luminosity Gaming.
(Featured Image courtesy of MLG)