ESN’s picks for Top-8 at UMG Philly, as well as the teams that could potentially make some noise.
After an obscene amount of roster changes following MLG Columbus, UMG Philadelphia seems to be a crap shoot when it comes to picking out who will win. It seems like any team could come out on top.
There are more potent rosters and parity than there potentially ever has been in competitive Call of Duty. Anything can happen in the city of brotherly love.
With that in mind, here are ESN’s predictions for UMG Philly.
#Top-8
1. CompLexity Gaming
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It’s really hard to bet against the team that has won seven of the last eight events they’ve participated in, even taking into account the fact that they just dropped the player who was arguably their Most Valuable Player.
coL turned heads when they dropped Clayster, to say the least, but to replace him with the caliber of a player like Karma makes the move less outrageous. Karma is considered one of the best in the world. Add him to the duo of Aches and TeePee and yet another best-in-the-world candidate in Crimsix, and they are most definitely still a force to be reckoned with.
coL has played well together since picking up the former World Champion Karma, and they are our pick to take home another championship from UMG Philly.
2. Curse Las Vegas
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The on-again off-again team-ups between Parasite, Killa and MiRx are once again back together, this time with Curse Las Vegas. Nameless fills out a roster as one of the best in the world, and our prediction for at least a Top-3 finish.
The only thing standing in CurseLV’s way are themselves, their own egos and mid-game arguments…and CompLexity, of course.
With three world champions on the team, CurseLV has every chance in the world to take home a title from UMG Philadelphia, but will they be able to get past their own dysfunctions?
3. Team Kaliber
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When Goonjar left tK to join up with Team EnVyUs a month ago, it lit a fire under his former teammates Sharp, Neslo and Theory. Luckily enough for tK, they were able to pick up a top player in Clayster to fill the void.
tK boasts one of the best rosters in the world, and these players are now more motivated than ever. You have to believe that Clayster wants to beat coL more than anything in the world, and that the rest of the roster wants to finally come out on top and win a championship after numerous Top-4 placements…but we believe it is not their time just yet.
Chemistry with Clayster remains a question mark, but tK’s talent and track record can’t be ignored.
4. Strictly Business
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Any team with Saints on it has a chance to go places, as this young man has solidified himself as one of the top players in the world in the past month on Call of Duty: Ghosts. It was a surprise to see him join sB just a week before the event, so chemistry may be an issue, but talent is not. He rounds out the roster of Censor, FeaRs and Apathy.
If sB plays to their skill level, they should place Top-8 at the very least, and we’re venturing to say that a Top-4 finish is not out of the question.
5. Denial eSports
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Although Denial has never been a household name in Call of Duty, the team’s roster of Phizzurp, John, Complex, and Flawless appears poised to make a strong run at UMG Philly. With the Denial team practicing and living together in a team house, chemistry should not be an issue.
After Phizzurp’s success with lesser known teams in MRKN and VanQuish, including a victory at the last UMG event, a solid Top-8 performance from Denial seems to be a safe bet.
6. FaZe Competitive
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After Classic’s breakout performance at MLG Columbus and the additions of Methodz and JKap, FaZe will enter UMG Philadelphia as one of the most fearsome teams in the game. Despite the team’s disappointing performance at MLG Columbus, the new FaZe roster seems to be in position to make a splash at Philly.
Although FaZe boasts one of the game’s most talented rosters, the team seems to lack the chemistry needed to take home the prize. Look for FaZe to secure a Top-8 finish before being eliminated.
7. KG.Fuse
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This team surprised everyone with how well they placed at both UMG Dallas and MLG Columbus. Now with Stainville on board as their fourth, can they make it three good events in a row? We think a solid Top-8 performance is on deck for Fuse, and the future looks bright for them going forward.
8. Team EnVyUs
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The addition of Goonjar has evened out nV’s roster and given the team a shot in the arm after Karma left them suddenly to join CompLexity. Combine that with Rambo’s game-knowledge, Proofy’s slaying ability and Merk’s veteran prowess and nV has every chance to get a respectable Top-8 placement at UMG Philly.
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#Teams to Watch – Possibles to Jump into the Top-8
OpTic Gaming
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After a year-long championship drought, OpTic Gaming will attempt to silence its critics with a strong finish at UMG Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the team’s recent performance leaves us with questions about its ability to win a major championship, but we expect them to perform well.
As this will be BigTymer’s last event as a competitive CoD player, OpTic should be playing with some fire. But is it enough to crack the Top-8?
Curse New York
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After stealing away Studyy from JusTus to replace John, we expect CurseNY to have a stronger presence at UMG Philly than they had at MLG Columbus. A Top-12 or Top-16 finish is in the cards for them.
MBoze, SpaceLy, Saintt and Sin
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Formed just two days before the event, the lineup of MBoze, SpaceLy, Saintt and Sin have a Top-5 seed and could very easily break into the Top-8. This team has talent and a higher seed so it would seem that they have a chance to succeed, but they are basically a pick-up team having been formed just a few days ago.
Team JusTus
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JusTus played out of their minds at MLG Columbus, but the loss of StuDyy will be hard to replace. Heist comes out of pseudo-retirement to be their new fourth. This should be one of the more interesting teams to watch.
Team FeaR
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Moho, Dedo and CMPLX are household names in CoD, but we’re excited to see how F0RMAL performs. Yet another transfer from competitive Halo, he’ll be looking to carry over success into a much different FPS.
Team Orbit
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Orbit is the only EU team making the trek across the Atlantic Ocean to compete at UMG Philly, so all eyes will be on them. They definitely have a great chance of placing as high as Top-12, in our opinion.
Elevate
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Keep an eye on Miyagi, the captain of eLevate, who’s playing with an all-new roster after placing well at MLG Columbus. eLv have been playing well online, but can they translate it to LAN?
Team Bati
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If you’ve never heard of this team before, don’t feel bad. Bati has performed well online in various tournaments, and in turn have the 11th overall seed in Pro Points of North American teams. We’re really curious to see how this team can perform on LAN competing against the best of the best.
Sigma
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Another relatively new team, this roster of Lyar, Huhdle, Pluto and Slacked are Top-16 in Pro Points and have some names on their roster who’ve seen success in the past.
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UMG Philly is nearly impossible to predict with how much parity there is in the eSport right now due to a flurry of team changes, but we did our best. There are plenty of minor factors that seem to give any team listed above a chance to place anywhere from 2nd to 16th. There are just too many question marks.
Who do you think will win UMG Philly? Let us know in the comments below.
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