Throughout the 2017 CWL season Team Ember was underestimated despite proving time and time again they could hang with the best the world had to offer. Fans fondly referred to our team as the "Kardiac Kids" as we specialized in come-from-behind victories. This underdog mentality was never more true than at the grandest stage Call of Duty has to offer...Call of Duty Champs in Atlanta, GA. Dazzling fans and keeping viewers on the edge of their seats as every match seemingly came down to the last map.
Day one featured pool play where Team Ember found themselves in one of the toughest groups ever assembled. Their first match was against fan favorite Optic Gaming who had essentially dominated Team Ember throughout the season. A marathon of a match ended with a lose in the 11th round last map. Team Ember would hang tough though and finish off day one with convincing wins over Faze Clan and Splyce. Day two of pool play saw open bracket Cinderella Elevate winning their first two matches in the pool and threatening to take push Ember to the bottom of the Championship bracket. After going down 2-0 Ember kicked it into gear and pulled off one of their signature reverse sweeps to claim second seed in their pool and fourth overall.
The Championship bracket started with yet another hard fought win over Luminosity. The quarter finals saw yet another reverse sweep by Ember after Team Kaliber jumped on them early. Strong leadership from Captain Alex King allowed Ember to squeak by tK into the semi-finals. Elevate reared it's ugly head again in the semi-finals but a 40 kill domination game tactical specialist David Player turned the tides and Ember found themselves in the winner bracket finals! For the first time all season Team Ember faced off against eUnited. The two teams traded maps until finally it came down to SnD. Ember was able to come out victorious. It was now Grand Finals time and we were facing who else but....Optic Gaming.
"We knew it was going to come down to communication and teamwork. We couldn't get frustrated and we had to keep the pressure on them and off of us"
Before the match King told reporters, "We knew it was going to come down to communication and teamwork. We couldn't get frustrated and we had to keep the pressure on them and off of us." In game one his strategy paid off as Ember took an early lead and never let up giving them a 1-0 advantage. Optic would bounce back though and take maps 2 and 3. Player again cranked it up to another gear and helped Ember even up the map count at 2-2. Last map...for all the marbles...against a team they hadn't beaten all year long, the stakes couldn't be any higher. Back and forth they went until finally it came down to the very last game. Optic bum rushed an unsuspecting Team Ember and made it 3v1 with the Captain, King being Ember's last hope. A kill streak helped make it 2v1 but time was running out. King was barely able to plant the bomb but the Optic was closing in on him. With some masterful aim he was able to eliminate one and turn 180 degrees on the final member of Optic to capture the gold.