Call of Duty European Championships: Preview and Predictions

After a predictable set of European online qualifiers for the Call of Duty Championship, the EU Regional LAN event has been announced. Taking place on the weekend of 28th Feb – 1st March, 28 teams will be attending from across Europe to compete for 14 spots at the World Championship event. The prize pool for the EU regionals is $10,000, but at the end of the day, that’s nothing compared to the prospect at competing at the end of March for the grand prize pool of $1 million.

It’s been announced that the European regionals will be held at the Royal Opera House in London, England. It’s an iconic venue, famous worldwide for more traditional events. It’s definitely a sign of progress for the eSports scene.

Last year’s European Regionals were in an identical format and featured the two top European organisations, Epsilon and TCM, battling it out in the final. TCM came out on top 3-1 with a roster of Gunshy, MarkyB, Moose and MadCat. However, this time around, they’re sporting a slightly changed lineup with ShAnE and Jurd replacing MarkyB and MadCat. Epsilon are the other main contenders with a roster consisting of Joshh, MadCat, Swanny and Tommey.

Unfortunately the event isn’t open for spectators to purchase tickets, however you can catch all the action live through streams on MLG.tv.

Gfinity isn’t using a traditional bracket system for this event as there are teams from various regions across Europe They want to ensure every region is represented by at least one team at the finals in the USA. Therefore, teams will not play cross-region matches. The matchups for the weekend are yet to be confirmed, however it’s strongly rumored that they’re as follows:

UK & Ireland:

TCM vs Barrage.Nightmare

Epsilon vs Ambition

Millenium vs Infused

Aware vs TEC

France:

HyperGames vs orKs

Vitality X vs neVroze

Pulse vs Ascentia

Central Europe:

faBe vs Scheiss Almans

uX Gaming vs Rush GG

Spain:

Spirit Gaming vs Pain Gaming

Benelux:

faBe Allstars vs Team Worstenbrood

Scandinavia:

Orbit vs Team Finland

Italy:

NxG Rapid vs VFL Allstars

UAE:

Klar1ty Gaming vs VwS eSports

The times for the specific games throughout the weekend are yet to be confirmed. We will continue to update when more information becomes available.

It wouldn’t be a CoD event without an overall victor however, so after the qualifying teams from each region are decided, Championship Sunday will feature just that; a traditional bracket system in order to figure out who really are the champions of Europe and who takes home the prize money.

Personally, my predictions for the entire event are as follows:

• 1st. TCM
• 2nd. Epsilon
• 3rd. Millenium
• 4th. Vitality X
• 5th. Aware
• 6th. Ascentia
• 7th. fabE Allstars
• 8th. HyperGames

Realistically, TCM and Epsilon are still, on paper, the top 2 teams at the event. It could go either way, but personally I feel TCM will edge it. I believe Vitality xare the strongest French team and definitely warrant a spot in the top 8, while the same goes for fabE Allstars and the rest of Europe. I’ve included Millenium and Aware at 3rd and 5th respectively as they’re both also incredibly strong squads, while on paper Ascentia and HyperGames I think edge out the rest of the teams eligible. Obviously though, the game isn’t played on paper, so it’s all up for grabs.

Remember, all of the action begins this Saturday so mark your calendars and get ready for one of the most important EU CoD tournaments of the year.