FiveFears, 100 Thieves, OMiT and Boston Breach clinched playoff berths Friday to round out the field of eight at the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Teams played elimination and decider matches Friday to determine the second team from each group to advance to the playoffs.
The group stage consisted of four groups of four teams. Two opening matches per group were played Thursday, with the winners of those advancing to the winners match. The four victors of the winners matches — Vancouver Surge, OpTic Gaming, KOI and Team Heretics — qualified for the playoffs.
The losers of the opening matches played in the elimination match, with the losing team knocked out of playoff contention. All matches were best-of-five.
FiveFears rallied to take down G2 Esports 3-2 in Group A’s elimination match. FiveFears claimed Skyline Hardpoint, then G2 responded by winning Hacienda Search and Destroy 6-4 and Hacienda Control 3-2. FiveFears rattled off two wins on Vault Hardpoint 250-211 and Dealership Search and Destroy 6-2 to seal the match.
In Group B’s elimination match, Gentle Mates defeated Team Orchid 3-1. Gentle Mates won Skyline Hardpoint 250-177, then Hacienda Search and Destroy 6-4. Team Orchid claimed Vault Control 3-1, but fell short on Vault Hardpoint 250-126 and were eliminated.
Team Falcons swept Team WaR in Group C’s elimination match, handily prevailing on Hacienda Hardpoint 250-176, Dealership Search and Destroy 6-2, then Vault Control 3-1.
OMiT eliminated Project 7 Esports in Group D with a 3-1 win. Project 7 won Hacienda Hardpoint 250-177, but OMiT would claim the next three games — Protocol Search and Destroy 6-4, Protocol Control 3-1 and Skyline Hardpoint 250-168.
In the decider match of Group A, FiveFears held on to defeat Cloud 9 3-2. FiveFears won 250-109 on Skyline Hardpoint and 6-4 on Dealership Search and Destroy, then let two games slip. Cloud9 claimed Protocol Control 3-1 and Red Card Hardpoint 250-193. But FiveFears dominated on Protocol Search and Destroy 6-1 to secure a playoff appearance.
100 Thieves dominated Gentle Mates in all but one game in the Group B decider match, claiming a 3-1 victory. 100 Thieves opened with a 250-78 win on Skyline Hardpoint and a 6-3 victory on Hacienda Search and Destroy. Gentle Mates staved off elimination with a 3-2 win on Hacienda Control, but fell on Rewind Hardpoint 250-119.
Group C’s decider match saw Boston Breach come back against Team Falcons to win 3-2. Team Falcons narrowly claimed Red Card Hardpoint 250-238. Boston Breach responded with a decisive 6-0 victory on Red Card Search and Destroy. Team Falcons then won Protocol Control 3-1, before Boston Breach closed out the match with a 250-222 win on Hacienda Hardpoint and a 6-2 victory on Rewind Search and Destroy.
OMiT took down FaZe Clan 3-1 in Group D’s decider match to finalize the playoff bracket. OMiT claimed Skyline Hardpoint 250-236, then FaZe Clan won Hacienda Search and Destory 6-4. OMiT secured the victory with a 3-1 win on Vault Control and a 250-148 win on Red Card Hardpoint.
The Saturday schedule:
Quarterfinals Match 1 — OpTic Gaming vs. 100 Thieves
Quarterfinals Match 2 — Team Heretics vs. Boston Breach
Quarterfinals Match 3 — KOI vs. OMiT
Quarterfinals Match 4 — Vancouver Surge vs. FiveFears
Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Esports World Cup prize pool, with money winnings and Esports World Cup club points:
1. $600,000, 1,000
2. $320,000, 750
3. $200,000, 500
4. $120,000, 300
5-8. $80,000, 200
9-12. $40,000, 0 — Cloud9, Gentle Mates, Team Falcons, FaZe Clan
13-16. $20,000, 0 — G2 Esports, Team Orchid, Team WaR, Project 7 Esports
–Field Level Media
