After a period of figuring out where we wanted our Halo team to go, Velocity has now found and signed their team that they want to move forward with. We thank our old team that has gone to Noble eSports for their work in the Iron Games Atlanta event, and we are fully confident that our team now will carry the effort and momentum that we had competing in the Halo Championship Series.
Our signing of Blaze, JeRawockee, Burton and Calm Mentality to our Halo team excites us as we feel they have the potential to further build the reputation of the Velocity team name. Their talent, intelligence and personality perfectly align with the direction we want to go in and we are ready to get ready for our next tournaments. Our players have lots of background in Halo Reach, Halo 3 and Halo 2 and their success in those games will carry over to success in the Halo Championship series. We thank all of our fans for their patience and undying support during this period of finding where our Halo team was headed. Though we lost our seeding with the old rosters departure, we can’t wait to get back to competing and bring victory to the Velocity eSports team. We are ready to practice and grind for the upcoming events. So with that, we welcome Velocity Burton, Velocity Calm Mentality, Velocity JeRawockee, and Velocity Blaze to the team. Follow them on Twitter:
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![]() Writers Note: I previously wrote that Velocity beat C9 in Lockdown Slayer, but they actually beat them in Warlord King of the Hill. This has been changed and big apologies for the misunderstanding. This weekend, Velocity eSports took 8th out of 48 teams at the Iron Games Halo Championship Series in Atlanta to start out the season on a great note with a crucial 50 points. The road to the eighth place position was anything but easy and Velocity showed incredible team resiliency and teamwork to put themselves near the top of the standings. After their first matchup against Authentic, who they beat in Oddball Lockdown 200-55 and 50-35 in Team Slayer Warlord, they went up against tournament dark horse Noble Black. After starting off set with a 5-1 loss in Warlord Capture the Flag, Velocity kept a solid team play effort to secure a win in Team Slayer Shrine. To close out the best of three series, they fought back from a 77-47 deficit in King of the Hill Warlord to finish on a nail-biting 160-156 win over Noble Black. The win put them up against last year’s Season 1 Champion and this year’s champion of the preseason cup Evil Genius’. Velocity tried but were pummeled starting with a 3-0 loss in Capture the Flag Shrine in four minutes and 27 seconds and followed by a 50-32 loss in Team Slayer Lockdown. The series was capped off with a 200-59 loss in Oddball Warlord, which sent Velocity to side station to play 4th seeded eLevate. After two bravely fought sets in Bomb Shrine, which went to 1-0, and Team Slayer Shrine, which went to 50-47, Velocity completed the sweep of eLevate with a masterful 200-64 Oddball Lockdown win. However, their elimination came at the hands of eventual 3rd place finishers, Cloud 9. Velocity took a set against Cloud 9 in Warlord King of the Hill get the series to 1-1. Cloud 9 would eventually finish the series 3-1 with wins in Lockdown Slayer and Bomb Shrine to drop Velocity to a rematch against Noble Black for the rights to 7th place, which Velocity would lose 3-2. Velocity fights themselves through to an 8th place position despite having to play all teams seed at or above 7th after their win over 23rd seed Authentic. Top quality teamwork and fluid tactics to turn the tide of the match are looking to become the team’s specialty this season, as many of their games were made close or were come from behind wins. Even 5 year veteran, Cratos, had to tip the hat to his teammates for the combined effort of the weekend. The next LAN event is HCS Indianapolis from June 26-28, however there will be weekly online tournaments until then for Velocity to gain some more points and more team cohesion as they begin the chase for the a spot in the Season 2 Finals. Stats Taken From Halo Stream on http://www.twitch.tv/halo/b/651241488. Match starts at 6:35:00 Evil Genius vs Velocity Facts: · Lifestyle had highest in CTF match with -2 KDR · Lost 50-32 in Slayer · Cratos 10/6/12 · Nemesisst 8/4/14 · Suspector 7/2/13 · Lifestyle 7/9/12 · Lost in Team Oddball 200-59 In little under two weeks, 16 of the top Counter-Strike teams will be battling it out in hopes of claiming the top spot at ESL One in Katowice, Poland. The teams attending heil from all over the world, including Brazil, Australia, North America, and Europe. The top eight teams from DreamHack Winter were invited automatically and titled as “Legend” teams. The other eight teams had to qualify through first, an online tournament, and then an offline tournament in Poland. As for the format, the tournament will begin in Group play. Two “Legend” teams and two “Challenger” teams will compete in a mini-bracket to decide the top two teams. Those two teams from each group will advance to bracket play. The groups are: Group A: Natus Vincere (CIS/Legend) FNATIC (SWE/Legend) Vox Eminor (AUS/Challenger) FlipSid3 Tactics (CIS/Challenger) Group B: Team EnVyUs (FRA/Legend) PENTA Sports (DEU/Legend) LGB eSports (NOR/Challenger) Titan (FRA/Challenger) Group C: Ninjas in Pyjamas (SWE/Legend) HellRaisers (CIS/Legend) Counter Logic Gaming (USA/Challenger) Keyd Stars (BRA/Challenger) Group D: Virtus.Pro (POL/Legend) Team SoloMid (DNK/Legend) Cloud9 (USA/Challenger) 3DMAX (FIN/Challenger) The tournament looks to be a great one. Partly due to the amount of roster changes. Rosters have been shuffled, shuffled back, and shuffled again multiple times across the scene. Hiko’s departure from Cloud9, TSM’s signing of the former-Dignitas team, and the multiple roster changes between HellRaisers, dAT, and F3 have ramped up the excitement for fans across the globe. But the most surprising change would definitely be Ninjas in Pyjamas’ choice to release Maikelele. Maikelele seemed to rejuvenate the once great team after a slump which led to Fifflaren’s retirement from competing. The Ninjas immediately turned it around with two 2nd place finishes at DreamHack Winter and MLG XGames Aspen, both behind former-LDLC. The team announced early this week that Aleksi “allu” Jalli had signed with NiP, officially leaving his former team of 3DMAX.
We couldn't ask for much more leading into this major. Top teams facing off against top teams for $250,000! It’s going to be a great tournament but what do you think? Who do you think will walk away as ESL One Katowice champions? Can Virtus.Pro retain their title or will Team EnVyUs continue their streak? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@veL_eSports). Top Halo players from across the nation flocked to Detroit this past weekend to battle it out at the last HCS event of the season. Gamers For Giving 2015 attracted teams such as Counter Logic Gaming, Evil Geniuses, and OpTic Halo. Over 35 teams came to compete for $10,000 and 8350 HCS points, which are crucial leading into the Season Finals at PAX East. The Velocity.Halo squad entered the tournament sitting at 10th in the Halo Championship Series standings.
After receiving a first-round bye, the team faced off against Noble.Black in their second round match. The squad played poorly in the BO3 series and were defeated 0-2; sending them to the lower bracket for the rest of tournament play. From that point on, the team turned up the intensity and played fantastic. They secured Top 12 with three straight sweeps against Goats R Us, iSo Essence, and Scorched. For their T8 match, they faced off against Cloud9; the 5th ranked HCS team and a well-known squad with Halo icons Ninja and Hysteria. The team played sub-par and were eventually swept in their BO5, ending their tournament. Following the disappointing placement, the team felt a change would be beneficial. The move became evident as Visal "ToWn" Mohanan expressed his displeasure on Social Media regarding his teammates, leading to his removal from Velocity. Although the end of Visal's stint with Velocity was a sour one, we still wish the best for him in his Halo career. With that being said, Velocity.Halo will be actively searching for a fourth to complete the roster for Season 2 of the HCS. For all of the teams that will be competing at S1 Finals, good luck and have fun! Alright, OK, Yes I take full responsibility for saying that the old OpTic Nation roster of Tyler “TeePee” Polchow, Damon “Karma” Barlow, Callum “Swanny” Swan and Jordan “ProoFy” Cannon could have been the best team in the world. On paper, I still stand by that, however it became rather evident that the team composition, whether it was simply the chemistry, play-styles and/or attitudes were to blame, did not work out. To be frank it seems as if ProoFy was a lame duck on the OpTic Nation roster, which I have stated earlier. The Robo Proof that we all came to not only love, but to be in awe of was a mere shell of himself. I think that with his release from the roster he will be able to find, or even create, a team that is focused around, arguably, his unparalleled skill-set. So, all and all, releasing ProoFy was a win-win situation for all parties, however, the forced release of Swanny was the complete opposite of a win-win. After coming over to OpTic Nation for only a brief time period, Swanny captivated the North American scene with his impeccable slaying ability, which brought a much needed new dimension to the, now old, OpTic Nation squad. OpTic Nation was missing a key component, and found their missing link in Swanny, at least so we thought. With the Call of Duty World Championship coming up, Nation was forced to either drop Swanny or Karma because of the region rules, meaning that if a team in the United States is going to qualify from the U.S., that team must consist of at least 3 players from the United States, and both Karma and Swanny are not from the United States (Swanny Europe, Karma Canada). The choice was obvious for Teepee and co., to go ahead with releasing Swanny, for now. I would not be surprised if Nation does not place well at COD Champs that Nation would strongly consider picking Swanny back up. With COD Champs right around the corner it seems that OpTic Nation is leaning towards picking up Adam “Killa” Sloss and Marcus “MiRx” Carter, both former teammates, and Call of Duty World Champions, of Karma during Fariko.Impact’s reign in Black Ops 2, two years ago. Both MirX and Killa have, to be frank, fallen off quite considerably since their Black Ops 2 days, neither of which really showing their old talent, and prowess, which has been a story in of itself. Both players have seen extremely poor placings, statistics, and poor public opinion about their apparent complacent attitudes, which evidently spawned after their Call of Duty Championship. The statistics from UMG Orlando speak volumes of MiRx’s and Killa’s current play, especially Killa’s. When you matchup MiRx and Killa to ProoFy and Swanny, it does not bode well for Nation. Take a look for yourselves: NOTE: K/D = Kill Death Ratio K/R = Kills per Respawn AI = Kills + Deaths per Game OS % = Out Slaying Percentage (Percentage of games that the player had more kills than deaths) *Rankings are out of 84 players* Teepee: K/D: 1.00 (41st) AI: 39.23 (72nd) K/R: 27.55 (44th) OS %: 19.35% (61st) Swanny: K/D: 1.26 (2nd) AI: 38.90 (74th) K/R: 29.90 (16th) OS %: 45.61% (3rd) Proofy: K/D: 0.98 (47th) AI: 39.55 (71st) K/R: 27.85 (40th) OS %: 22.58% (48th) Karma: K/D: 1.13 (7th) AI: 41.71 (43rd) K/R: 31.25 (6th) OS %: 29.03% (26th) OpTic Nation: K/D: 1.08 (2nd) K/R: 29.14 (3rd) OS%: 54.84% (6th) Possible Additions: MiRx: K/D: 1.07 (18th) AI: 39.74 (66th) K/R: 28.44 (36th) OS %: 53.85% (23rd) Killa: K/D: 0.96 (55th) AI: 37.15 (80th) K/R: 24.08 (73rd) OS %: 41.03% (45th) Hey, you never know, perhaps playing with their old teammate Karma and the mastermind himself TeePee can reinvigorate players who were once revered as two of the best players in the world. Either way, who do you think is the best fit for the OpTic Nation roster? Do you think this roster can work? Let me know if the comments below, or mention me on Twitter @SaVi_JayD! The European pool of Call of Duty talent has always been minuscule in comparison to the United States, however, that does not mean we should write off the extremely high level of players that the EU scene currently harbors. After Callum “Swanny” Swan joined OpTic Nation, and that put up staggeringly monstrous numbers against the highest level of competition at UMG Orlando, with only a few days of practice with the OpTic Nation roster, I think it is time for us to begin to accept the fact that the EU can produce talent, and the talent is worth recruiting. European players have different play styles, tendencies, in comparison to that of the United States’ league players, and that has seemed to both hinder certain player’s statistics/performance, and also bolster it. In Swanny and Madcat’s case, it bolstered it. Madcat (@Madcat), currently playing under the historic European organization “Epsilon” (@Epsilon_eSports), is a veteran player out of Birmingham, England, who is quite well known over here in the States. At the most recent major US LAN event, UMG Orlando, Madcat, statistically, played extremely well, posting numbers equivalent to that of an upper echelon slayer. He was top 15 in Kill Death ratio (K/D), Kills per Respawn game-mode (K/R), and Out Slaying percentage (OS %), which puts him in the realm of players such as Scump, TJHaLy, and Slasher as the only players to do so. Madcat proved to be an all around stable and strong slayer, a player that would fit well for a team like EnVyUs. His Orlando statistics are posted below: Madcat: K/D: 1.11 (12th) AI: 40.72 (55th) K/R: 30.27 (11th) OS %: 61.11% (11th) When you talk about slaying capability from the EU, one player always comes to mind, Jordan “Jurd” Crowley (@TCM_Jurd). The native Irishman was toted the European Scumpi because of his insane twitch shot and slaying ability. I personally have watched him at events for the past couple years, and can vouch for his raw ability. If you put him in the correct system, with veteran players that can help hone his skills while also applying strategies to his game play, I think Jurd could become a brand in of itself, and break away from the title of being the Irish Scump. His performance at UMG Orlando was below par for his talent level, to the say the least, however I think that this event was anomaly for him, as I truly think he has a rare talent, he simply needs to be consistent. His raw slaying ability would go well on a team with Madcat, perhaps even on EnVyUs. Here are his statistics: Jordan “Jurd” Crowley: K/D: 0.98 (53rd) AI: 45.65 (4th) K/R: 29.11(26th) OS %: 43.75% (46th) Jurd’s teammate, Tom “Moose” Handley (@TCM_Moose), also from Birmingham like Madcat, is a player equivalent to that of Nameless, a consistent player who can play any and all positions, and do they well. His play style would suit him well on a US squad that would allow for him to be a supporting slayer, a player that could freely play to his strengths. He could go into a roster such as Denial, in replace of Replays, to help slay from an objective-driven position. His Orlando statistics show strong rankings across the board: Tom “Moose” Handley: K/D: 1.03 (32nd) AI: 43.56 (23rd) K/R: 29.91 (14th) OS %: 56.25% (15th) Madcat, Jurd, and Moose are only a few of the talented EU players that we in the United States have had the privledge of watching. I hope that all three of them get a chance over here in the States to further their careers, and to play with the highest level of competition in the world. NOTE: Other players to look out for from the EU: - Gunshy - Tommy - ShAnE - MarkyB Right before the MLG Advanced Warfare Season 1 trade deadline Aware Gaming sneakily traded for one of the most talented players in the world, Cuyler “Huke” Garland, who happens to be only 15 years old. Aware shipped Brian “PRXPLX” Lado, another sought after young commodity after his performance at UMG Orlando, off to Team Prophecy in exchange for Huke, solidifying Aware’s Season 1 lineup as follows: Huke (@STNNR_Huke), Tommy “TJHaLy” (STNNR_TJHaLy), Nick “Happy” Suda (@Aware_Happy), and Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi (@Aware_Accuracy). With this current roster they could make some serious noise in the Season 1 playoffs, sadly enough, they will not be able to compete with this team at the Call of Duty World Championships (I’ll save my rant on COD Champs for another article). With the recent pickup of Huke, Aware is the only team in the entire world to comprise of 3 players in the top 15, from UMG Orlando, in both Out Slaying percentage (OS %) and Kill Death Ratio (K/D). Those two categories play a major role in the outcome of not only a respawn game mode, but also in Search and Destroy, which, proven by Stunner Gaming at Orlando, can take you deep into a tournament. Here are the statistics from Orlando for Aware’s new roster: Orlando Happy: K/D: 1.14 (5th) AI: 41.05 (51st) K/R: 27.29 (45th) OS %: 57.89% (13th) Huke: K/D: 1.10 (13th) AI: 43.28 (26th) K/R: 29.48 (20th) OS %: 62.50% (8th) TJHaLy: K/D: 1.13 (6th) AI: 47.31 (2nd) K/R: 31.30 (5th) OS %: 68.75% (4th) Accuracy: K/D: 0.94 (58th) AI: 41.16 (48th) K/R: 24.79 (73rd) OS %: 47.37% (38th) Statistically Aware now has 3 top 15 slayers in the game today. The greatest part about this team is that none of these great talents are named Scump, Crimsix or Formal, and none of them are on OpTic. Actually, Happy and Scump are the only two players be top 5 in K/D not only at the past two major LAN events, MLG Columbus and UMG Orlando, but also in the online season. So, for Happy, this article was a long time coming, and so is his national, wide spread, recognition as one of the best kept secrets, or talents, tine the game. The sad news about this roster, and for the old Stunner Gaming roster, is that since Huke is under 18 years of age, he will not be able to participate at the Call of Duty World Championships (again, the rant will come later). So, we will only be able to see this squad’s abilities during this MLG online Season (season 1). These are names that only the amateur community has come to know and love. For us these are household names. Seeing TJHaLy make that incredible play on main-stage against OpTic, and having he and Huke live up to the hype, was absolutely splendid. These players represent the populous, the unknowns, the amateurs, the players who never got a shot at playing with the professional players, and instead created their own shot by playing together. I hope these guys continue to transcend their careers, talent and character, and never forget where they came from, and who was with them from the start. Let me know how well Aware will do during this MLG Online Season in the comments below, or at me on Twitter @SaVi_JayD! Denial was, arguably, a Top 3 team before they shipped Renato “Saints” (@SaintsRF_nV) and Tommy “ZooMa” Paparatto (@ZooMa_nV) to Team EnVyUs (@TeamEnVyUs) in exchange for Clay “Clayster” Eubanks (@Clayster) and Jordan “JKap” Kaplan (@DenialJKap). So, what was the point of the trade? In light of the recent surge for players attempting to figure out rosters that would optimize their chances at winning the Call of Duty World Championship, we all knew that EnVyUs had to change their roster (see my previous articles). The trade made sense, somewhat, for EnVyUs. They ship off two players who have under performed (to be fair the entire team except maybe Anthony “Nameless” Wheeler has underperformed) at their only two LAN events in MLG Columbus and Orlando. However, what was the point of trading two players from a team that recently placed 3rd at UMG Orlando? There are a few different reasons that make sense as to why Denial decided to part ways with Saints and ZooMa. Conflict: First off, it seemed a tad bit apparent that there were internal issues between certain roster members on the Denial squad. The most transparent point was when Denial, after recently acquiring one of the best players in the previous Call of Duty title, Ghosts, in “Attach,” an extremely talented, but young (18 years old) player who had never been involved with such a large organization like Denial, placed a measly 6th, and seemed to simply be lacking some sense of camaraderie. 6th place was an underperformance for this roster, as they came off of winning their first ever event during Ghosts, they were arguably the best team in the world coming into Advanced Warfare, however something simply seemed to be missing. Whenever the camera, at events, zoomed into the Denial booth something seemed off. If I had to put my finger on it, I would say there was internal tension on the squad of some form, why else would you break up a team who jumped from 6th to 3rd from one event to the next? Well, the answer could have came from above. Business: Clayster and JKap represent an enormous fan base and present a massive audience outreach that no other player on Denial ever has nor could have. Both these players also bring an extremely high level of talent that neither ZooMa nor Saints really have. Before you jump at my throat, let me say that yes statistically ZooMa and Saints have out played Clayster and JKap so far through Advanced Warfare. However, Clay and JKap are phenomenal players, both arguably top 10 players in the world if they are playing to potential, which in the right system, the right team composition, they can and they will thrive, as we have seen countless times in the past. Is the roster of Attach and Replays the correct system/composition? Only time will tell. Until then, it is safe to say that Robby Ringnalda, Denial’s CEO, did not hesitate to pull the trigger on making Kap and Clay apart of the wolf-pack, and I have to say, I would not hesitate either. From a marketing perspective, it makes sense, and if the roster actually works, meaning Clay and JKap play to their potential while also grooming Attach, and help Replays raise his level of play, it would only be a bonus. Let me know what you think about Denial’s roster move, @SaVi_JayD! envyus trades clayster and jkap to denial for saints and zooma, but does it solve envy's problems?1/21/2015 So, evidently Hastro and co. never read the article, “What’s wrong with EnVyUs’ roster?” Before I continue, let me prefix everything for those who are unaware of the recent roster changes within Team EnVyUs’.
Let’s quickly do a recap: EnVyUs (@TeamEnVyUs) traded Clay “Clayster” Eubanks (@Clayster) and Jordan “JKap” Kaplan (DenialJKap) to Denial eSports (@DenialeSports) for Renato “Saints” (@SaintsRF_nV) and Tommy “ZooMa” Paparatto (@ZooMa_nV). There were major issues that resided within the EnVyUs roster, none of which were any of the players faults, to a certain extent. As I have stated before in prior article(s), and have hammered home on and off of social media (@SaVi_JayD), the EnVyUs team composition is atrocious. “Each one of those players is an AR player, none of them have any dominant SMG play style, tendencies, or twitch shot, as seen from Scumpii and Crimsix. The team does not possess the pressure play style that is required in this high paced game, and with the recent patch making the ASM1, a SMG, a viable CQB weapon, this team looks to possibly be even more out of place.” - Jonathan Diamond, ‘What’s wrong with EnVyUs’ roster?’ Ever since the incredible mishandling of the roster towards the tail end of Ghosts, which led to Hastro’s, “Franchise player,” Matt “Formal” leaving the organization for a spot on OpTic Gaming, the EnVyUs roster has been extremely tumultuous, and to be frank, poorly handled. We all knew EnVyUs’ roster was not working, I knew it was not going to work from the moment I heard of the roster composition. So, if we all knew the roster was not working, Hastro must have, right? And if he did realize that, then he also must have been setting plans into motion that would give the Boys in Blue their best chance to bring home a championship, right? If Hastro is the Call of Duty eSport mastermind like we have grown accustom to seeing, then there must be something that he sees in his newly acquired players, and newly formed roster, that I simply do not. Let’s break the roster down. Previous Roster: Jordan “Jkap” Kaplan Columbus: K/D: 1.01 K/R: 28.38 AI: 41.40 OS %: 30% Orlando: K/D: 0.97 K/R: 27.36 AI: 40.36 OS %: 20.59% Joey “Merk” Deluca: Columbus: K/D: 0.96 K/R: 27.15 AI: 40.20 OS %: 35% Orlando: K/D: 0.93 K/R: 27.06 AI: 39.80 OS %: 8% Clay “Clayster” Eubanks: Columbus: K/D: 0.93 K/R: 28.69 AI: 42.65 OS %: 15% Orlando: K/D: 0.99 K/R: 29.88 (12th) AI: 43.92 OS %: 24% Anthony “Nameless” Wheeler: Columbus: K/D: 0.97 K/R: 27.69 AI: 41.80 OS %: 30% Orlando: K/D: 1.02 K/R: 29.44 (17th) AI: 42.16 OS %: 36% EnVy’s statistics as a team: Columbus: K/D: 0.97 K/R: 27.98 OS %: 30% Orlando: K/D: 0.98 K/R: 28.47 OS %: 48% Newcomers: Saints Orlando: K/D: 1.07 (16th) AI: 44.24 (13th) K/R: 29.25 (18th) OS %: 55.58% (18th) Zooma Orlando: K/D: 1.01 (36th) AI: 48.44 (1st) K/R: 31.38 (3rd) OS %: 44.12% (34th) In my previous EnVyUs-driven article I asserted that a player needed, and by needed I mean absolutely has to be replaced, was Joey “Merk” Deluca. I continued the article by then exclaiming that if Hastro was to go as far as to replacing two players from the roster, you would need to add Anthony “Nameless” Wheeler to the hot stove. As I have stated before, Merk looks to be rapidly descending, or ascending depending on your perspective, into where BigT was right before he retired from professional gaming and became more of a “casual” gamer. To add onto the Merk’s lack of ability comes Nameless’ lack of role within the current roster. Nameless has always been an extremely versatile player, able to play any and all roles competently, however with the previous roster of himself, Clayster, JKap and Merk, he, actually, no one had a true role besides Merk as the objective player. That being said, despite the fact that Nameless, statistically, has played the best on the team through the first two events of this game, Nameless had to of been one of the two players to be replaced. He did not fill a void on the team, with or without Clay and/or JKap. Nameless is a filler player, a role-player, a support player. EnVyUs needed dominant SMG-driven slayers to complement the strong AR play of JKap and Clayster. Speaking of those two, I think that both Orlando and Columbus are an anomaly for these two talented players simply because they, sadly enough, were products of the system of which they were placed in, which was a system made up of a poor team composition. Don’t get me wrong, both Saints and ZooMa are great players, players that would have been an excellent fit with JKap and Clayster. It is extremely surprising to see these two players leave a roster which recently placed Top 3 at UMG Orlando, for a team that will be lucky to place Top 8. Let me know if you guys have any thoughts on this matter, if this trade will solve EnVy’s issues or merely exacerbate them! At me on Twitter @SaVi_JayD! FaZe took the world by storm after they shocked the heavily favored OpTic Gaming in the grand finals of the opening MLG LAN event, MLG Columbus, behind the extraordinary play from arguably the greatest player of all-time, the Michael Jordan of Call of Duty, if you will, Patrick “Aches” Price. Aches played the final day of the event with stitches in his right thumb, basically willing his team to victory against an extremely potent OpTic Gaming team who has Aches’ former teammate, Ian “Crimsix” Porter, on their roster, making the victory even sweeter for Aches. The championship solidified Aches as the winningest player in the history of Call of Duty, and because of that, I knew from at that very moment that FaZe would falter at the next event, UMG Orlando. The entire community is fully aware of Aches’ decline in ambition, drive, etc., ever since the compLexity, and then Evil Geniuses, dynasty began its descent into mortality. That is why it was extremely odd to see Aches come out at the first event of Advanced Warfare and for him to play with such conviction. That same drive and willingness to win is what has catalyzed all of his 1st placements. The only problem is that he has once again become complacent, which was extremely evident at UMG Orlando. And with his complacency, came a decline statistically in every category by 3 out of the 4 players on FaZe. Aches is a leader, and with that comes a direct responsibility for the teams all around performance. Here are the statistics from FaZe’s past two major LAN performances: NOTE: K/D = Kill Death Ratio K/R = Kills per Respawn AI = Kills + Deaths per Game OS % = Out Slaying Percentage (Percentage of time that the player had more kills than deaths) Columbus Aches: K/D: 1.05 (T17th) AI: 42.68 (26th) K/R: 28.54 (24th) OS %: 52.63% (17th) Slasher: K/D: 1.08 (15th) AI: 43.69 (16th) K/R: 29.58 (13th) OS %: 56.41% (10th) Apathy: K/D: 1.07 (16th) AI: 41.41 (35th) K/R: 29.08 (18th) OS %: 58.97% (8th) Censor: K/D: 0.95 (38th) AI: 40.84 (42nd) K/R: 26.23 (45th) OS %: 35.14% (40th) As a Team: K/D: 1.05 (3rd) K/R: 28.36 (3rd) OS %: 58.97% (3rd) Placement: 1st Orlando Aches: K/D: 0.91 (64th) AI: 42.17 (35th) K/R: 29.18 (28th) OS %: 22.22% (T76th) Slasher: K/D: 1.11 (10th) AI: 44.39 (11th) K/R: 33.64 (2nd) OS %: 61.11% (10th) Apathy: K/D: 1.04 (25th) AI: 41.61 (44th) K/R: 29.91 (15th) OS %: 55.56% (19th) Censor: K/D: 0.88 (69th) AI: 38.83 (74th) K/R: 26.82 (56th) OS %: 22.22% (T76th) As a Team: K/D: 0.98 (13th) K/R: 29.89 (1st) OS %: 44.44% (11th) Placement: 13-16th After this poor placing it was transparent that within the inner workings of FaZe the was something wrong, and this past week showed truth to that as Aches gained captainship of the roster and immediately dropped Censor, the former captain, and Apathy from the main FaZe roster, and only kept Slasher, one of the top slayers in the world, from the old FaZe roster and then went ahead and picked up Ian “enable” Wyatt, another upper echelon slayer to complement Slasher. Apathy and Censor are still contracted within the FaZe organization, and will be representing FaZe as FaZe “Orange” at future events, including the Call of Duty World Championships. Speaking of COD Champs, I think it is safe to say that Aches will most likely drop his current complacency for an unrivaled ambition, just for this one event. Why is that, you might ask. Well, the winning team of this mega event receives $400 thousand dollars, and Aches won the last COD Champs during the title Ghosts with compLexity. You can guarantee that Aches will give this event his all, since the COD Champs outreach, prize pool, and stage is unrivaled by any other event in the world. This is where Aches will shine, and because of that, it will not really matter who Aches decides to replace Doug “Censor” Martin with, because I have no doubt that he will not let his team lose. That being said, for longevity purposes, we must disect what player would best fit the teams needs not only for this upcoming event, but for the future. The rumors right now are that it has come down to a couple different players, Parasite and MiRx, both battled-hardened veterans with an extremely high level of skill, but with completely opposite play styles and attitudes. Let’s take a look at only the statistics, to see whom would best suite FaZe (I put Enable’s statistics from Orlando in there as well so everyone can see the raw slaying power that FaZe would posses no matter who they would pick up): Orlando: Enable: K/D: 1.16 (4th) AI: 41.97 (41st) K/R: 29.08 (30th) OS %: 67.65% (5th) Parasite: K/D: 1.12 (8th) AI: 42.70 (31ist) K/R: 28.50 (34th) OS %: 66.67% (6th) MiRx: K/D: 1.07 (18th) AI: 39.74 (66th) K/R: 28.44 (36th) OS %: 53.85% (23rd) It’s an obvious choice, right? You pick up Parasite, and FaZe would have unparalleled talent and raw slaying power, right? Well, this an extremely complicated situation. Both Aches and Parasite have extremely aggressive attitudes both in and out of game, and could cause extreme chemistry problems. However, Parasite could synergize well with the current FaZe roster, as he balances the team out very well with his balanced and smart play style. Now, let’s look at MiRx. MiRx has seen a deterioration in placements ever since winning the Black Ops 2 World Championship with Fariko.Impact, with Parasite. He is well known to be one of the best aggressive SMG players in the world, someone who could take over any map, any game mode, especially respawns, at any given time. He would present a very strong aggressive play style coupled with Aches and Slasher. In my opinion, I think FaZe would be better suited with MiRx. His attitude and pressure play style synergizes almost perfectly not only right now, but in the future. Let me know who you guys think would be the best choice for the new FaZe roster, @SaVi_JayD! |
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May 2015
By: Jake PayneContent Writer Categories |