After a night of thrilling Call of Duty action, day one of UMG Philadelphia is officially in the books. Read on for a recap of the day’s highlights.
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#Championship Bracket
FaZe Comes Back to Defeat OpTic Gaming
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In what was easily the most exciting matchup of day one, FaZe Competitive managed to take home the victory over OpTic Gaming after going down 2-0 in the series. Despite looking sluggish and under-practiced online, OpTic came into UMG Philadelphia looking strong, roaring out to a 40 point lead in a game of Domination on Freight.
Although FaZe looked better on the second side, OpTic took the map by a score of 172-144. The momentum carried into the second map, Search & Destroy on Warhawk, where Optic once again took the map, this time by a score of 6-4 thanks to a huge performance from Ricky (10-5).
With the series now completely in OpTic’s control, FaZe responded with a 11-9 victory in Blitz behind a big performance from Classic. The comeback effort did not stop here, as FaZe took Domination on Strikezone by a score of 152-140.
With the fate of each team hanging in the balance, it was FaZe who took the last map, Search & Destroy on Sovereign, giving FaZe the series victory and a trip to the next round, where they will face off against the winner of coL vs. an Open Bracket team.
Strictly Business Sweeps Juked
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In UMG Philadelphia’s second Championship Bracket match, Strictly Business quickly dispatched the higher-seeded Juked in a 3-0 series sweep. With the team forming just days before the event, Juked looked lost against the Strictly Business squad who finished in 5th/6th place at MLG Columbus.
After a narrow 7 point victory in domination, Strictly Business proceeded to take Search and Destroy (6-3) and Blitz (16-11) with little opposition from Juked behind a series of dominant performances from the team’s newest acquisition, Saints.
With Saints playing at his usual high level, Strictly Business has proven that it has what it takes to win the tournament.
JusTus Comes out Strong
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Despite placing 3rd/4th at MLG Columbus, JusTus entered UMG Philadelphia as a bit of an underdog. However, with the team’s dominant 3-1 victory over Fuse in the first round of UMG Philadelphia, JusTus has proven that its shocking run at MLG Columbus was no fluke.
After a narrow 3-point victory in Domination on Freight, JusTus’s newest member, Heist, showed the world why he is considered one of the game’s most talented players as he led Justus to decisive victories in Search and Destroy on Warhawk (6-1) and Domination on Strikezone (158-146).
The team’s lone loss in the series was a 1 point defeat in Blitz thanks to a huge defensive stop from the veteran Stainville.
Elevate Takes Down Team Bati
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Despite being one of Call of Duty’s premier online teams, Elevate is generally written off as a “warrior team.” However, after the team’s dominant performance against Team Bati, it will be impossible to ignore Elevate throughout the remainder of the tournament.
The series began with a game of Domination on Freight, where Elevate answered any questions about its ability to win respawn game modes with a 165-157 victory. The team’s strong performance would continue into the next two maps with wins on Search and Destroy (6-4) and Blitz (18-11), ending the series with a 3-0 victory for Elevate.
With the decisive victory over Team Bati, Elevate has successfully positioned itself as a team to watch out for at UMG Philadelphia.
#Open Bracket
Denial Advances Despite Struggles
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Although it may not have been pretty, the Denial roster of Phizzurp, John, Complex, and Flawless has advanced to round 4 of the winners bracket after losing maps to lesser-known teams Annex.Phoenix and Meta Black.
Orbit Doesn’t Drop a Map
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Team Orbit, the only team to come to play at UMG Philadelphia from Europe, looked incredibly strong all day, not dropping one map and forcing their way into Round 4 of the Open Bracket.
With 2-0 victories over Faith, StDx Cali and Regret eSports, they’re looking like a favorite to come out of the Open Bracket after Day 1. Their matchup against Team FeaR tomorrow will be one to look out for.
Curse New York Wins Easily
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As one of the more high-profile teams fighting through the open bracket, Curse New York figured to advance to the winner’s bracket quite easily. In its only match of the day, Curse New York defeated Jolt Gaming by a score of 2-0.
Sigma Undefeated
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Sigma eSports, a roster containing Huhdle, LyaR, Plu70 and Slacked, haven’t dropped a map yet in Philadelphia, dominating Donut Shop and aoV to push their way into Round 4 of the Open Bracket.
FeaR Looking Strong
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Led by Moho and Dedo, Team FeaR have not dropped a map yet either. CMPLX and F0RMAL round out a solid roster that have beaten Emperfection and Fracture.
Look out for a huge round 4 matchup between FeaR and Orbit that is scheduled to be played tomorrow.
eGirl Slayers Slay Their Way into Round 4
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The pick-up, comedically-named team of Revan, NexXx, Mochila and Burnsoff played strongly all day, not dropping a map and advancing to a Round 4 matchup against VexxX.Revenge tomorrow.
Final Boss Shines Early, Loses to aDv
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In its very first Call of Duty event, Final Boss has looked strong so far with wins over Stand Your Ground and Skyline Black. The team was a tough test with a matchup against Kelevra Adversity in Round 3, where aDv would knock FB into Open Bracket Losers’ with a 2-0 sweep.
Conquer Advances Without Struggle
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Although the team announced its roster just days before the tournament, the Conquer roster of TuQuick, Example, Rizma and Nifty defeated WooksGF and Veterans without losing a map to advance to Round 3 of the open bracket.
Dare Moves into Round 4
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Dare 2-0’d FT Impure before matching up against Skyline.Blue, where the latter would push the former VeXeD roster to a Game 3 of Freight Blitz. It was here where Dare would fall into a hole but mount a huge comeback, taking it 18-15 in an intense matchup.
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[Championship Bracket](http://challonge.com/UMGPhillyChamp)
[Open Bracket](http://challonge.com/umgphillyopenbracket)
Stay tuned to [@eSportsNation](http://www.twitter.com/esportsnation) for all of your UMG Philly updates and CoD eSports news!
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