The Update: July 22

By: Zachary Lange 

Here is The Update, in championship form, for July 22:

Call of Duty claims CWL Finals championship

The drought, at long last, has ended.

eUnited Call of Duty earned first place at the CWL Finals this weekend after a resounding, 3-0 victory against Gen.G in a bracket-reset grand finals.

Coming through the winners bracket paid dividends for eUnited. Despite falling 0-3 in the first set to a determined Gen.G, a blistering 250-119 victory on Seaside Hardpoint lifted the team to a 6-4 victory on Hacienda Search and Destroy before closing out the series with a 3-0 on Frequency Control.

Held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida, the team battled through top pro league teams en route to the $500,000 grand prize. It is the first major tournament victory for eUnited since CWL Atlanta in 2017. Rookie Saug main Chris “Simp” Lehr took home the ASTRO Gaming MVP award.

Play for the squad began on Saturday as a result of securing a bye into the second round of the tournament as the top-seeded team with an 18-4 regular season record in pro league play.

Against Reciprocity in an opening set on the weekend, a clutch pair of kills with a scorestreak by James “Clayster” Eubanks highlighted a hot, 3-0 sweep of the European team to face Gen.G in a winners bracket semifinal match.

In the first matchup against Gen.G on Saturday, an opening Hardpoint loss to the opposition was quickly countered by three-straight game victories including a Round 11, Search and Destroy victory on Hacienda.

The close victories didn’t stop there. Opening play Sunday in the winners finals against FaZe Clan came down to the wire in a 3-1 victory, with eUnited rising to the occasion on Hardpoint (250-247), Search and Destroy (6-5) and Hardpoint (250-59).

With the CWL Finals championship secured, eUnited are locked into Pool A for the 2019 Call of Duty World Championship held in Los Angeles on Aug. 14-18. The world championship features a $2 million prize pool.

 

Samsora places first at Defend The North 2019

In a flawless weekend for the Peach main, Ezra “Samsora” Morris went 9-0 in sets to earn gold at Defend The North in New York City, New York.

Held at The New Yorker hotel, the Smash: Ultimate singles bracket featured 437 entrants, categorized as a B-tier major tournament by Panda Global Rankings. This is the second PGR tournament victory for Samsora in his Ultimate career, previously winning Kawaii Kon in Hawaii earlier this year.

Notable victories include a 3-0 sweep of Team Liquid’s Dabuz and a pair of victories over tournament runner-up LeoN. Other notable entrants included Rogue’s Light, Panda Global’s Marss and Sinji.

The event serves as a confidence boost for Samsora heading into EVO 2019. Held in Las Vegas, the mega event is shaping up to be Ultimate’s largest tournament of the year with a staggering 3,500 entrants confirmed already. EVO is set to begin on Aug. 2.