This years champs look to be a runaway for Rise Nation, but they are not perfect and there is room for others to make a case for top team in World War 2.

Photo Credit: Codesportswiki

Call of Duty’s annual World Championships are just shy of a week away and the excitement for many is kicking in. Nationwide Arena in Columbus Ohio will be the focal point for 32 teams from across the world duking it out for the lion’s share for the $1.5M prize pool.

This is the first of three segments in this series of powers rankings, not all teams will be covered in these rankings, but the majority will be categorized into three classes. “S” class which is the primary contenders, “A” class which focuses on teams with a slightly less chance at lifting the trophy and the “B” class which is teams fighting to just make top 8 in Ohio.

I base the criteria for each teams placement on:

Event results in last 2 months.

Pools

Calibre of players.

1. Rising to the top one last time.

Photo Credit: RiseLoonysan

Recent Placements:

CWL Seattle Open: 1st

CWL Anaheim Open: 1st

CWL Stage 2 Playoffs: 2nd

Rise Nation has been one of if not the most dominant team in WW2, the trio of TJHaly, Gunless and Loony strengthened their side by adding SlasheR who has been one of the best AR’s throughout the season. Coming off a 2nd place finish in the Stage 2 Playoffs to an unlikely challenger in Team Kaliber, Rise is looking for revenge at Champs. Back-to-back event wins fresh off a roster change left many people wondering if anyone could touch them. Rise appeared to be mortal at last after resetting the bracket in the grand final it seemed theirs for the taking. However, a crucial hardpoint defeat in game 4 sealed the deal for TK, captivating the trophy.

Rise come into the COD Champs with by far the most accomplishments out of any team, but will their most recent laspe be costly for them? With a lineup wielding two of the best players in the game, in Gunless and SlasheR and perhaps the best SND player in TJ it is beyond anyone to think this year is not Rise’s year.

2. Europe’s Best Hope

Photo Credit: Dexerto.com

Recent Performances:

CWL Anahiem Open: 2nd

CWL Stage 2 Playoffs: 3rd

The last time Europe contended for a World Championship was when Splyce nearly edged Envyus in the Black Ops 3 Champs since then Europe has seen turbulent results. But as of WW2, teams have never looked better, Red Reserve have been at the pinnacle of this upward trajectory for Europe. With three top 3 finishes over the course of the year, rated and co have come so close but have come up short in their constant grind to the top, Champs would be no better place to crown a new champion in the scene.

Coming into Champs, Red Reserve comes off back to back top 3 finishes with their newest addition in Skrapz, the young star has been up and down since his arrival to the team just a couple months ago. A top 3 finish at Stage 2 Playoffs was perhaps a sigh of relief for the Europeans, with 3/4 of the lineup bolstering negative K/D ratios a cohesive team effort was the highlight of the event. Red Reserve has a potential matchup with eUnited in Winners round one which could be the first stepping stone in both juggernauts title climb. For Red Reserve to win Champs, the cohesive team play will need to be present, and individual plays from Skrapz and Zer0 will need to help the shining light that rated was at Stage 2 Playoffs. ﻿

3. TK no way or TK all day?

﻿﻿Photo Credit: MLG

Recent Performances:

CWL Anaheim Open: 12th

CWL Stage 2 Playoffs: 1st

Team Kaliber surprised many at Stage 2 with a relatively new roster and after a lackluster performance in Anaheim, expectations were not high. However, fate was on the side of TK, rolling through the upper bracket taking down the likes of Rise Nation along the way set them up for a rematch in the grand finals. TK’s former SND star now rookie MVP candidate Fero was immaculate in Ohio, bolstering a staggering 1.15 overall K/D for the event, Fero was on another level this event perhaps finally showcasing the talent that TK sought from him when they initially poached him.

﻿TK come into COD Champs with the biggest momentum out of the teams, fresh off a victory all morals throughout the team are high. It has accustomed us to the likes of Kenny and Accuracy to be players to ride with the momentum and carry that throughout events like we saw the beginning of the year. ﻿﻿One underlying factor in TK’s title chances was the lack of SND performance from Enable, posting a shocking 0.41 K/D ratio in SND over the event. TK was left playing SND 3v4, most notably in the grand final versus Rise where Enable struggled to post over 1 kill over the series in the game mode. TK will need not only Enable to step up more but for everyone to replicate their Stage 2 performances if they look to fully contend in Columbus.

4. Claysters Redemption

Photo Credit: @eUnitedgg

Recent Performances:

CWL Anaheim Open: 12th

CWL Stage 2 Playoffs: 4th

EUnited has been on a meteoric rise since their shaky start with this new look lineup, a second-half surge during the season of Stage 2 saw eUnited close out the half going 6-1, a drastic improvement and a top 4 placement at Champs has momentum swinging to their side. The twins are looking for their first trophy in a year and a half, and for Clayster he is looking to erase the burden of being the last FaZe member without a trophy since the teams break up.

Coming into Champs as mentioned above, eUnited has all the momentum on their side as of late. Arcitys has kept up to the standards he set for himself earlier in the year and Clayster and Prestinni are contributing. It has to be mentioned, newest addition Felony has been lackluster since his debut. Posting consecutive negative ratings is obviously not the start eUnited hoped for, Felony stepping up his game come Champs time is critical for the success and more so the redemption of Clayster.﻿﻿

As always, these rankings are subjective so discuss yours in the comments below!

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