The story so far this season in Call of Duty has been Team Kaliber and their back to back major wins. However, some balance changes to weapons didn’t seem to favor the defending champions as they struggled heavily during the CWL Pro League matches that followed their victory at CWL NOLA. Because of these struggles, Atlanta appears to be wide open. Let’s take a look at some of the teams participating and judge their chances of winning the event.
Call of Duty World League: Atlanta Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
The Favorites
Rise Nation +350 – Rise Nation dominated their group in the CWL Pro League. They capped off an already tremendous performance by defeating fan favorite Optic Gaming 3-0. After a rough start to their season with a 7th/8th finish at Dallas, they rebounded for a strong 3rd place finish in NOLA. Methodz is considered by many to be the best individual player on CoD WW2 and with their recent performances there’s no reason to expect anything less than another top 5 finish.
Optic Gaming +350 – Always the most popular squad in Call of Duty eSports, Optic finds themselves as one of the big favorites for this event. In typical Optic fashion, they got off to a somewhat slow start this season, taking 3rd at Dallas and then finishing in 9th-12th place at NOLA. They finally started to turn things around in the CWL Pro League though, finishing 2nd in their division behind Rise Nation. This team appears to have returned to form and is comprised of the most talented and experienced players in the entire field. Scump, Formal, Crimsix, and Karma are primed for a top 3 placing.
Team Kaliber +550 – Back to back defending champions has a nice ring to it. That title is something Team Kaliber have not been accustomed to in the past and many have suggested that quick rise to fame could be the reason for their recent struggles in the CWL Pro League. While it’s likely this team did suffer from some distractions, their 4th place finish in Division A was likely the result of some complacency. This team shows up when the lights are on and while they may not have a dominant performance or win the event, they should still find a way to make a deep run in the championship bracket.
Luminosity +800 – This is my pick to win the entire event and at +800 there’s an opportunity for a hefty payday. Luminosity is comprised of veteran players JKap, John, and Slaced along with talented young gun Octane. They finished 7th/8th at Dallas then improved to take 2nd place at NOLA, losing to champion Team Kaliber in a fantastic grand final that went to the final map. They followed up by finishing 1st in Division B in the CWL Pro League, dropping only one match to Faze. They have a tough pool in Atlanta that includes veteran squads Team Kaliber and Evil Geniuses, but they will make it to the championship bracket and that’s where the games really count.
Red Reserve +800 – This is not a team I would consider a true favorite, but they’ve got the same odds as my pick to win the entire event. One of the few teams with all of their members originating from the United Kingdom, they’ve got the recent results to back up their seeding. After a 9th-12th place finish in Dallas, the lads stepped up their game and took a strong 4th place in NOLA. Their CWL Pro League performance afterward was decent, but they took 3rd place in their division behind Rise Nation and Optic Gaming. I think this is a team that will finish in the top 10 but they will struggle against the elite squads. Look for them to perform very well in pool play against softer teams before being exposed in the championship bracket.
The Underdogs
eUnited +1000
Faze +1000
Splyce +1100
EnvyUs +1400
Echo Fox +1600
Some of these teams in the next tier may be worth taking a flyer on. eUnited performed very well at the last event and have former champions on their squad. Unfortunately, their emotional leader Clayster appears to have suffered a hand injury right before this event.
Fell in the club dancing last night, went to catch myself, put my hand straight into a piece of glass on the floor. Wooooo
Just got it xrayed and there’s no glass in my hand but i probably need stitches.
Wooooooio
— Clayster (@Clayster) March 3, 2018
Faze is a team talented enough to play with anyone, but they’ve been very inconsistent against the top teams.
Splyce finished 2nd at Dallas, but regressed to take a 9th-12th at NOLA then struggled to go even in the CWL Pro League. Considering Splyce has a tough bracket, it’s hard to expect a good placement going into the elimination rounds.
Envy is a team to strongly consider in this group. They have been placed in a pool they should do well in and can make a run at the championship bracket.
The Dark Horses
Evil Geniuses +2500
Mindfreak +3300
Epsilon +3300
UNILAD +3300
eRa Eternity +4000
Team Vitality +5000
Any Open Bracket Qualifier +3300
Many of these teams don’t have a very good chance to crack the top 10. Evil Geniuses is comprised of veteran talent with a championship level leader in Aches. Unfortunately that hasn’t translated to much success recently as the team finished 17th-20th in Dallas, then 7th/8th in NOLA, and finished in the bottom half of their group in the CWL Pro League.
Epsilon was struggling with very poor performances recently, but things got even worse for the UK squad when news came that they wouldn’t be able to attend CWL Atlanta with no reason given by their management.
They will be replaced by the Lightning Pandas who turned in a respectable finish in New Orleans. The Pandas have players that were previously on more prestigious teams, and in NOLA they were able to defeat Faze before taking eventual champion Team Kaliber to a decisive game five. Goonjar and his Pandas will certainly look to improve upon their most recent finish, but they will have a tough time doing so in the same pool as Rise Nation.
