In the first ever competitive Call of Duty: WWII exhibition match, which took place at gamescom in Cologne, Germany, Team CouRage took a five game series over Team Visca 4-1, while showing off some new competitive multiplayer aspects of the game, such as a new map and an innovative new camera.
During the series, a new map called Flak Tower debuted to the Call of Duty community. This fast-paced map is set in Berlin as the Allied Forces close in on the city, and is a small map that emphasizes control of the middle for lookout towers on the spawns and heavy foot traffic chokepoints. It’s similar in design to a traditional Call of Duty map, and compliments the boots on the ground action with varying degrees of engagements, from tight corners in the tunnels to long-range fights on the map’s outer flanking routes.
The team also showed off the brand-new Sky Camera system through the CODCaster. This camera allows casters and competitive Call of Duty observers to look at a game from a birds-eye view, giving a new perspective to viewers on game-winning plays or tide-turning moments. Think of it as a traditional camera in a sports broadcast that can give viewers the full picture of the field while also providing visuals for individual players and the directions they are facing.
Commentator Clint “Maven” Evans was joined by Studio Co-Head Michael Condrey and former professional player and current Sledgehammer Games Competitive Systems Designer Ray “Rambo” Lussier, on the livestream that provided fans a taste of what the next season of competitive Call of Duty will look like.
Competing in the exhibition match were Team CouRage, led by Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, and Team Visca, captained by German Call of Duty personality Visca Barca, with both teams introduced by Phil “Momo” Whitfield.
TEAM COURAGE
Jack "CouRage" Dunlop (Captain)
Captain CouRage is one of the main Call of Duty World League casters who recently achieved his dream of casting a CWL Championship Grand Finals.
David "Dqvee" Davies
Dqvee is a newer player who made his mark as a member of the fourth-placed FAB Games eSports from the 2016 CWL Championship.
Jordan "JKap" Kaplan
JKap won back-to-back CWL Championships in 2015 and 2016, and became the first player to reach the Grand Finals in three straight CWL Championship events in 2017.
Thomas "Tommey" Trewren
Tommey is considered an "iron man" of Call of Duty esports, competing in every major million-dollar tournament since the first one at Call of Duty: XP 2011.
TEAM VISCA
Visca Barca
Visca Barca has over a million YouTube subscribers and over 90,000 Twitter followers.
Dillon "Attach" Price
A current member of FaZe Clan, Attach helped his team take top-8 in the 2016 CWL Championship and top-6 in the 2017 Championship.
Justin "SiLLY" Fargo
SiLLY is a part of an eUnited team that burst onto the scene during the 2017 season, but is also one of the game’s longest veterans, competing at the 2009 MLG National Championship.
Trei "Zer0" Morris
Trei "Zer0" Morris found his home in the Splyce organization this season, proving himself to be one of the best Call of Duty players in the world by becoming CWL Global Pro League Stage 1 MVP.
The series began with Capture the Flag set in the Ardennes Forest. Jordan “JKap” Kaplan potted in the first score for Team CouRage within a minute of play, dominating with the Type 100 in the first half. Dillon “Attach” Price answered for Team Visca with a capture of his own, knotting the score up at one going into the second half. In the final five minutes of play, Thomas “Tommey” Trewen and JKap helped to put the game on ice with two more captures for Team CouRage, sealing the first game of the series 3-1.
Game two took the squads to Hardpoint on Gibraltar, a new map that was teased during the gamescom event and will be available in the Call of Duty: WWII Private Multiplayer Beta. Team CouRage jumped out to a 69-0 run to begin the game, as Tommey went on an eight kill streak and earned his scorestreaks early. That helped his team advance to a massive 126-5 lead by the second rotation, outclassing Team Visca early. Tommey then worked up another killstreak later in the second rotation, this time in the double digits, slicing and dicing his way to 44 kills total by the end of the game.
After Team CouRage took Hardpoint Gibraltar 250-155 the series headed to Flak Tower for Capture the Flag. On this map, Team Visca seemed to get their momentum back after Attach ran in with the first score of the game through the SW Lookout Tower, while Trei “Zer0” Morris made use of the high ground around his spawn to defend the flag run. However, Team CouRage replied with a score within the final minute of the first half, as JKap avoided the engagement heavy middle of the map to tie the game up at one all going into the second half.
With the series on the line, Zer0 came out with a crucial triple kill to start the second half, giving Team Visca major yardage into the Team CouRage base. Unfortunately for Team Visca though, the tables turned as they tried to push in for the flag, with Team CouRage putting in two more flags and stopping several runs to win it 3-1.
Although the series was technically decided in favor of Team CouRage, the two teams played two more games in the series to give the Call of Duty community some bonus Call of Duty: WWII competitive action. Game four, a Hardpoint on Ardennes Forest, saw Team Visca be the first squad to 100 points, but were shut down by Dave “Dqvee” Davies who raked in an ace for Team CouRage. Somehow, professional Call of Duty caster CouRage had the top K/D for his team by the end of the game, going 28-19 and clutching up on the final hill to help his team win 250-231.
Team CouRage had the opportunity to completely sweep Team Visca on Pointe du Hoc Hardpoint, and almost did so behind Dqvee’s 43 kill game. However, a clutch Glide Bomb from Attach helped Justin “SiLLY” Fargo, Zer0 and Visca Barca push into the final hill for a comeback 250-245 victory.
If you want to learn to play like the pros, the Call of Duty: WWII Private Multiplayer Beta is going on right now, and you can get into the action by pre-ordering Call of Duty: WWII.
For more intel about Call of Duty: WWII, be sure to visit CallofDuty.com and follow @CallofDuty and @SledgehammerGames on Twitter.
