The 2021 Call of Duty season kicked off with the first Challengers Cup at the weekend across all three regions.
A whopping 1,443 teams competed altogether in the three separate online events. They included a lot of familiar faces from three-time world champion Karma to fellow veterans Aches and Parasite.
The matches were played on recently released Black Ops Cold War in a single elimination format up to top eight. From top eight, the matches were played in best of five series with double elimination.
The NA and EU regions competed for $2,500 each whilst the lesser populated APAC region competed for $1,500.
Whilst there was no official coverage from the Call of Duty League for the event, a broadcast team was put together to provide coverage for Challengers fans. The broadcast talent included well-known personalities such as IHOLDSHIFT and former CWL caster, Chris Tunn.
Here is a look at how the matches played out with the final placements and prize pool distribution:
Challengers Cup 1 – APAC
A total of 85 teams competed in the Asia Pacific region of the Challengers Cup. Some notable players took part including former pro players Fighta and Shockz.
Renegades stood out as the team to beat prior to the tournament and they certainly lived up to expectations as they remained unbeaten on their way to the final.
Their team of Fighta, Louqa, Pred and Shockz proved too strong for VOID in the grand final as they took home $1,000.
1st Place – Renegades ($1,000)
2nd Place – VOID ($500)
3rd Place – Chiefs Esports Club
4th Place – 2Balanced
Challengers Cup 1 – EU
In Europe, 493 teams took part in the Challengers Cup. The competition was packed full of talent from young prospects to seasoned veterans so entertainment was never an issue.
House Tarth took the crown with a team of Defrag, Afro, Gismo and Peatie. They took home a sizeable $2,000 with Team Singularity finishing second and taking the remaining $500.
1st Place – House Tarth ($2,000)
2nd Place – Team Singularity ($500)
3rd Place – BULLFROG
4th Place – RAMS
Challengers Cup 1 – NA
The North American Challengers Cup had 865 participants with a heap of well-known talent across the board.
Baby FaZe were the team that finally emerged victorious after a long weekend of matches. Their team consisted of PaulEhx, Zaptius, GRVTY and Venom.
The team only dropped two maps in stage two along their impressive road to victory.
1st Place – BabyFaZe ($2,000)
2nd Place – revengetour ($500)
3rd Place – HYXR
4th Place – Westeros
The second Challengers Cup is set to take place on December 12.
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