Tomorrow, the best Gears esports teams in the world will convene in Mexico City, Mexico for the Gears of War Pro Circuit Mexico City Open, competing for bragging rights and their share of the $100,000 prize pool on Jan. 20-22. With this being the third open event of the pro circuit season, this presents ample opportunity to examine a few major storylines heading into the event.
eUnited Makes Aggressive Changes To Usurp The Throne
Coming off a stellar performance and knocking OpTic Gaming into the losers bracket for the first time, it was rather shocking when news came about of eUnited changing their lineup, trading away CritKyle and Clouts for Xcells and Soto of Echo Fox. It’s rare to see teams make such dramatic changes after such impressive performances, but the eUnited team saw an opportunity to put together what they believe will be the final pieces to figuring out the OpTic code. With Xcells’s top tier in-game leading and Soto’s long and impressive tournament experience, who knows, they just might have.
Echo Fox With Much To Prove
The roster that began as BOT Empire at the MLG Columbus Open has seen quite the number of changes since signing with Echo Fox. Fragou7, Xcells, Soto and their former coach Jovon White (me :D) have all left the team. The roster is now rounded out with Ko, Critkyle, Clouts and former national champion, Prison as their coach, who will have the task of getting a young team in championship level form.
All past accomplishments of Echo Fox cannot be used to analyze this roster as it is almost an entirely different unit. Mexico City is where the young foxes will show whether they’re still a top dog in this game or have digressed to a small pup. That being said, one must never underestimate the abilities of a team with the unpredictableness of a fresh new team. If they get hot, look out.
Has Enigma6 Group Found The Answer?
After what can only be described as a disappointing performance in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, failing to qualify for both ESL Pro League Season 1 and 2 finals, faith in E6 seemed to evaporate. With the addition of Crushmo and Noxious, the team was believed to have improved, but a top-12 placing at the MLG Columbus Open quickly extinguished those beliefs.
At Gfinity London, with Reaxion subbing for Hudsonz, who couldn’t travel due to personal reasons, and veteran Wildabeast replacing Noxious, E6 looked extremely competitive for the first time in a long while, placing top-six along with Echo Fox. This new unit looks stable, and with a roster full of capable slaying talents and long-time Gears veterans, E6 has reinvented themselves once more, hopefully finding the right combination to be a consistent top contender.
How much longer can the Green Wall stand?
Without question, 2016 belonged to the Green Wall of OpTic Gaming. Unbeaten in all attended LANs, the young team has quickly become the most dominant team in the history of Gears of War esports. Under the vocal leadership of Xplosive, OpTic Gaming has not only proven their dominance but an ability to bounce back from losses to Team Envyus and eUnited at MLG Columbus and Gfinity London.
However, all teams must lose eventually. With a massive target on their backs, teams will undoubtedly be focusing on preparing to face the current juggernauts of the game with hopes of bringing down the titans and knocking down the Green Wall.
What are you most looking forward to from this event? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @GAMURScom.
Photo Credit: Joe Brady, Gfinity
