FaZe win CoD tourney at Esports World Cup

The Atlanta FaZe took down 100 Thieves in the grand final of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III event at the Esports World Cup on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The FaZe came back from a 2-1 hole in order to win the $600,000 first prize and 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The runner-up 100 Thieves settled for $320,000 and 600 club points.

The FaZe and Thieves reached the grand final by winning their semifinal matches earlier in the day. Atlanta defeated OpTic Gaming 3-1, and 100 Thieves shut out the Vancouver Surge 3-0.

The $1.8 million tournament began with 16 teams divided into four groups for double-elimination action involving best-of-five matches. The top two teams in each group advanced to the single-elimination playoffs, which featured best-of-five matches until the best-of-seven grand final.

Atlanta opened the grand final with a 250-202 victory on Sub Base Hardpoint, but 100 Thieves answered with a pair of narrow victories -- 6-5 on Invasion Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Highrise Control.

It was all FaZe from that point on. They ran away with Karachi Hardpoint 250-109, blasted 100 Thieves 6-1 on Rio and prevailed 3-2 on Invasion Control to clinch the championship.

McArthur "Cellium" Jovel of Atlanta was named MVP of the tournament and took home a $50,000 bonus prize.

In the semis, the FaZe again worked from behind. OpTic opened with a 250-92 result on Karachi Hardpoint, but Atlanta then won 6-1 on Highrise Search and Destroy, 3-1 on Invasion Control and 250-128 on Sub Base Hardpoint.

The other semifinal saw 100 Thieves defeat Vancouver 250-184 on 6 Star Hardpoint, 6-3 on Highrise Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Karachi Control.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare III event at the Esports World Cup prize pool (money, EWC club points):

1. $600,000, 1,000 points -- Atlanta FaZe

2. $320,000, 600 points -- 100 Thieves

3-4. $160,000, 275 points -- OpTic Gaming, Vancouver Surge

5-8. $80,000, 60 points -- Cloud9, Boston Breach, Toronto Ultra, Carolina Royal Ravens

9-12. $40,000, no points -- Las Vegas Legion, Gentle Mates, Stallions, Lore Gaming

13-16. $20,000, no points -- OMiT Brooklyn, G2 Esports, Team Heretics, Team Falcons

--Field Level Media