Home Gaming MLG drops South Africa for the $1 million COD champs

MLG drops South Africa for the $1 million COD champs

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You may recall back in 2014 that the South African Call of Duty team that was sent to Los Angeles to represent our fine country had a few issues… as in the end team had one South African and a bunch of English people stole our place thanks to some dodgy decisions.

Well the MLG has changed the official rules for this years championship by now stating that all four players in a regional qualifier need to be a resident or citizen of the region.

Eligibility: Players must be at least 18 years old as of Saturday, January 17, 2015.  Teams must include at least 3 Players who are a citizen or resident of their Online Qualifier country(s).  All 4 Players must be a citizen or resident of a country(s) within the corresponding Regional Final’s continent(s).

A very logical rule change that will hopefully help South Africa now showcase their true potential.

But unfortunately that doesn’t appear like it will happen this year as the official listing of international qualifiers doesn’t have a date for the South African regionals. Making things even worse, they are stating

“The best teams from five continents, Asia, Australia, North America, South America and Europe will compete for a spot through a range of qualifying events broadcast on MLG.tv”

Whether or not Africa has been dropped in response to last year’s drama has yet to be confirmed, at the time of writing our local Activision representatives are still trying to find out the official reasons for our apparent exclusion.

From our side we are obviously going to keep pushing to get South Africa reinstated, but just remember this the next time someone tells you not to complain when you speak up about something that is wrong.

Actions have consequences and the team that embarrassed the country last year could have doomed us to not being represented this year.

But hey it’s not all bad news. Granted we can’t offer you the opportunity to win your share of R11 688 100 in prize money for playing Call of Duty, but the winners of our PS4 COD tournament will walk away a cool R2000 richer. 

[Editor’s note: When I (Zoe) went to the COD Champs last year, it was made clear that the MLG wasn’t working with outsiders as much, preferring to launch their own leagues in a wider range of countries with a variety of partners. Perhaps these Championships are more representative of existing leagues MLG has created, or is working towards, while South Africa simply hasn’t made the cut this time. This may not be a punishment for the debacle of last year, but rather a new partnership policy for MLG.]

Last Updated: January 9, 2015

96 Comments

  1. Quo Vadis?

    January 9, 2015 at 07:52

    I’ll go! Wait, will that be ok if I enable the aim assist or not? LOL

    Reply

  2. Ghost In The Rift

    January 9, 2015 at 08:06

    I still dont get why Americans think we live in trees and caves…:/

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      January 9, 2015 at 08:10

      I am not sure that they do. Perhaps it is straight out a numbers game: not enough solid, competitive interest from this continent? Anyone here that can provide figures and such? Not just players from Africa, but what about competition such as this? Are there many good enough?

      I know nothing about COD, save that it is some sort of shooter. Modern day or something.

      Reply

      • Ghost In The Rift

        January 9, 2015 at 08:31

        Lol no really, i met a dude whose wife was American and he Namibian,when they got married her family really was under the impression that we live in trees and caves and hunt with bushman,they were not happy with the marriage and her moving here,most Americans think Africa is a “country”..:/

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          January 9, 2015 at 08:33

          Living in trees hahahaha

          Reply

        • Her Highness the Hipster

          January 9, 2015 at 08:35

          so based on one example you’re going to say “most”?
          Reality is people from all countries are under-educated and under-informed. Just look at SA’s matric ridiculousness. set a pass rate at 30% and then call it a high school qualification when kids can’t do basic math or are functionally illiterate. there are problems everywhere….

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 08:40

            Indeed, people are more than happy to scrape buy on 30% because really? How much do you need to study for that? I feel that they need to at least make it 50% for a start. It’s not that hard.

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 08:41

            Agreed.

            This nonsense of dropping the pass rate to 30% then being happy that the numbers are still higher than 2009 is no cause for celebration. Take the amount of people over the 50% mark and I bet the rate will be lower than it was in 2009

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 08:49

            Afriforum had an interesting theory According to them there was over a 1 000 000 people that started grade one 12 years ago yet only 680 000 or so wrote final exams making the pass rate 45% in their eyes. I’m not saying they are correct, I’m just wondering where that other kids went?

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            January 9, 2015 at 08:54

            many schools don’t let students enter matric if they don’t think they’ll pass. it’s a way of artificially inflating matric pass rates, and excluding a large portion of students from society. scary stuff in store for all the kids who get dropped along the way.

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 08:55

            It is scary, however I do believe in keeping people back a year if they need it.

            That being said however, the biggest form of artificially increasing the amount of students passed is still this dodgy business of lowering the required passmark for a pass.

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            January 9, 2015 at 09:28

            Lies, damn lies, and statistics. It’s just a way of hiding the problem from peoples’ eyes.

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 09:03

            Also gotta feel for the thousands living in poor conditions and not even having access to basic services and attending poor schools.

          • Weanerdog

            January 9, 2015 at 11:49

            Like having food and teachers

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 11:59

            And parent that aren’t abusive

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 08:54

            That’s like a drop out rate of 26k students year on year for 12 years 0_0

          • Brady miaau

            January 9, 2015 at 10:21

            Ah, but they are correct I think. Std 8 is not good enough, really.

          • Weanerdog

            January 9, 2015 at 11:49

            680 000 was the number registered much less wrote about R 500 000. The numbers were all skewed. I think from who started grade 1 you are looking at 32 % pass rate and remember that includes a number who are repeating years and guys re writing to get better marks to apply at tertiary education centers.

          • Quo Vadis?

            January 9, 2015 at 09:06

            It is utter bullsh!t. 50% is pass, 49% is fail in my book. Economic considerations for grades is also a bloody cop out. I grew up very poor. I wanted to go to varsity, but didn’t have the money. So I studied my ass off in school, played sport like a demon, and got exemption to study my LLB with a bursary AND a rugby bursary. Rugby paid the study loans, I worked some nights and most weekends as a barman for pocket money, and BOOM! Made it. This entitlement nonsense has me hot under the collar.

          • Lardus-Resident Perve

            January 9, 2015 at 09:11

            Every single American I have met, knew we did not live in caves. Mind you, it might be because they were smart people touring the world…just like most of the Aussies I met…OK 2 were grinding my gears but the others were cool…I digress…a lot of people tend to generalise…’Mericans are not all dim-witted 🙂

          • Weanerdog

            January 9, 2015 at 11:54

            A lot of Americans I met in 1995 had great pride in telling me that either they or someone they knew had visited Africa. Seemed that most had been to Morocco for some reason. They had a solid understanding that it was a Continent with different countries. I did, however meet one young lady who was confused by the fact that the seasons were different and asked if we therefore had Christmas in June (our winter) but in her defense she at least knew about apartheid and Nelson Mandela although she couldn’t quite remember his name.

          • Brady miaau

            January 9, 2015 at 10:20

            Well said! My wife used to teach Matric and I could pass the subjects now, without study or prior knowledge. When I did school it was WAAAAAAY more difficult.

            They are, by the way, going back to that and I think the current crop of Grade 4’s are the ones with the new, harder and more complex syllabus with higher pass rate.

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            January 9, 2015 at 12:03

            I worked with someone who, when Obama was 1st elected, asked me if there was a stats available for how many people in South America voted for him. Brazilians, etc.

            It’s one of the few times in my life where I was literally speechless.

          • Quo Vadis?

            January 9, 2015 at 12:12

            The MOST ignorant person I have ever met, was this one Dutch lady in Etosha. It was her dream to “wash an elephant in the wild.” She wouldn’t take no for an answer! She thought we were kidding when we told her that elephants are dangerous and WILL kill her if she approached them. She believed elephants were docile creatures since its a herbivore, and what see saw he had seen in movies. I was dumbstruck when I realised she wasn’t joking around.

        • Quo Vadis?

          January 9, 2015 at 08:35

          Even some South Africans, when I tell them I was born and raised in Windhoek, want to know “Where is that?”

          Reply

        • Brady miaau

          January 9, 2015 at 10:18

          I know. I know. I was once asked about Giraffes in the streets. What? Some news article about this happening once, somewhere in Africa, got it stuck on this persons mind. Also, no borders

          Reply

        • HvR

          March 27, 2015 at 14:51

          Bigger percentage of South Africans are ignorant thinking All Americans in the north are fat, love McD’s, want to live in California and south lives in the swamp and only shoot guns and hump their cousins.

          Reply

      • Guild

        January 9, 2015 at 09:43

        There is plenty of interest and teams in SA. Take a look at the dogaming and MWEB leagues, last year I remember the XBox 360 dogaming league having close on 45 teams. A lot of CoD players have moved from PS to XBox just for the competitive side of it and for a chance to play and go to CoD champs. Generally over the course of the year, you have the 2 ladder tournaments that are also broken down into the 2 seasons plus you have about 8 single elimination tournaments from various hosts. So there is plenty of interest and people playing competitively.

        I think the decision as Zoe stated was to support the countries that have established MLG supported leagues like Australia. Unfortunately SA doesn’t have an MLG supported league, the closest we have is the MWEB and dogaming.

        Reply

        • Matthew Holliday

          January 9, 2015 at 10:13

          as is the case every year, the majority of the 45 teams are casuals, because we dont have an effective tier system in place yet.
          one team will dominate the console league, because we only have 3 or 4 goodish teams and one good team.
          our local console scene has only picked up in the past 2 or 3 years.

          South African player pools are so small in comparison to internationals, but we still manage to have the biggest league in dota.
          our leagues dont have any consistant level of play, so the number of interested teams is less relevant.

          the local console scene needs time to grow befor bothering with MLG. it took years to get our CoD4 teams overseas.

          Reply

          • Guild

            January 9, 2015 at 10:28

            I agree. It would be great if the correct mechanisms could be put in place and get more commitment from players. But as it stands it will be a continuous cycle of casual playing till MSSA wake up or eSports is given to a proper governing body.

          • Matthew Holliday

            January 9, 2015 at 11:04

            it takes time.
            the AGASA league for cod4 had some pretty dedicated clans, but once it moved over to the DGL, it took 2 years to get a reliable premier league where the teams actually showed up for all their games.

            it was still dominated by 2 clans, but 3rd-6th place were still all great teams in their own right.

            the problem with the current leagues, is that games dont have the same lifespan as CoD4 to get the momentum rolling.

        • Brady miaau

          January 9, 2015 at 10:17

          I checked, we entered about 14 teams on MLG’s site last year for a COD tourney. But no results were ever posted. Why is that? Did they not play then?

          *Google COD Africa

          Reply

          • Guild

            January 9, 2015 at 10:24

            Dunno, if it was the Qualifiers tournament then they did play and that’s the whole RiZE debacle. There are handful of really great teams with consistent great players that stick together and practice. So generally they fight it out for the spot. Majority of the other teams are too casual with not enough commitment. Guys will play together for maybe a tournament then disband because of fighting.

          • Brady miaau

            January 9, 2015 at 10:28

            Thanks for the info.

            I imagine it is not easy to get a group of players together who can play and practise, time-wise, and get along with each other. I imagine it is very easy to start fighting about something small.

          • Guild

            January 9, 2015 at 10:38

            Yip, I’ve had my fair share of fighting with team members because they don’t pitch online for practice. It can work if the members are dedicated.

    • Hammersteyn

      January 9, 2015 at 08:14

      Most don’t have a decent education?

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        January 9, 2015 at 08:20

        Do we have to go through this one again today, like yesterday?

        Some of them do not. Some of the French do not. Some of the Australians do not. A lot of the South Africans do not. This can just go on and on and on.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          January 9, 2015 at 08:21

          Sorry, I was oversimplifying.

          Reply

          • Brady miaau

            January 9, 2015 at 08:25

            Hey, no stress. Just do not feel like another round like that Xbox Vs PS4 thing.

          • Sageville

            January 9, 2015 at 09:55

            PS4 > Xbox

          • Brady miaau

            January 9, 2015 at 10:16

            sigh. just sigh.

            Or something about your lineage or something.

            PS4> Xbox

            BUT

            Xbox One = PS4?

          • Sageville

            January 9, 2015 at 11:28

            Sometimes I like to just waltz into a random conversation, drop my pants, do some twerking and then leave….

            Just saying.

    • Ryanza

      January 9, 2015 at 09:54

      • Ryanza

        January 9, 2015 at 09:56

        • Ryanza

          January 9, 2015 at 09:58

          If Miss South Africa is from Africa then why is she not black.

          Reply

    • RandomStranger

      January 9, 2015 at 10:48

      Because we always joke about how the lions run around in our cities and snicker about american ignorance…. forgetting that they actually believe us and tell their friends.

      That is what happens when you combine the following two things… South African sense of Humour and American Arrogance

      Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    January 9, 2015 at 08:14

    Ugh Team Rize. I still remember that twitter page(which doesn’t exist anymore it seems). The little douche bags flipping the bird on the airplane they were so cool. Then just going through the motions at the tournament because clearly they didn’t have a single fuck to give.

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      January 9, 2015 at 08:17

      But I thought, given all the coverage they got (even I know about them), they were a good and a competitive team in a world stage? Or am I overstating it.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        January 9, 2015 at 08:21

        It was very controversial. Geoff wrote an article about it
        http://www.lazygamer.net/south-africa/theres-just-one-local-player-in-the-south-african-cod-team/
        Only one player in the team came from South Africa while the rest came from England.

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          January 9, 2015 at 08:24

          Oh, was it that team. But a quick search reveals they have a dogaming presence under just RiZe

          *edit* so any publicity can be good publicity to the only slightly informed.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 08:27

            Last I heard the team disbanded, but it;s possible they reformed.

          • Gavin Mannion

            January 9, 2015 at 09:02

            They reformed a while back

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 09:12

            Then they should compete again, but with SA gamers. Then I’ll cheer for them all the way if the qualify

          • HairyEwok

            January 9, 2015 at 09:17

            Did you see how Bravado did in the CS:GO Dreamhack last year. They got their asses whopped by team fnatic. It was a bloody embarrassment due to them playing like noobies, pro’s from our country just failing looking like they got amnesia on how to play the game.

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 09:19

            But there was the BF team from SA. The Southern Barbarians I think? Who actually won a tournament. We have the talent and potential.

          • HairyEwok

            January 9, 2015 at 09:27

            Your right on the name it was the Southern Barbarians. I agree we have the talent and that’s just it the BF team was made out of all the best players on SA not a specific team. Bravado is the only major known clan from SA so nobody can compete against them yet to head into international comps.

          • Aries

            January 9, 2015 at 10:49

            Played against some of them on bf4 recently, think they just sit in the premium servers, they beasts when they team play but not that insane when they solo play

    • Jonah Cash

      January 9, 2015 at 08:48

      Hey are you on twitter?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        January 9, 2015 at 08:50

        yeah, though I don’t know why?

        Reply

        • Jonah Cash

          January 9, 2015 at 08:51

          Add me, same name as this one!! Stop complaining, there are a lot of us there that are here as well!!

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 08:53

            LOL I already smsed you my handle. So you use twitter but not whatsapp?

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 08:56

            Because that makes sense

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 08:57

            We have a Destiny group on Whatsapp and I want to add him in case we plan a raid and someone can’t make it.

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 08:59

            He should get Whatsapp then

            #JonahNeedsWhatsapp

          • Sageville

            January 9, 2015 at 09:57

            I thought we all agreed that it was now a COD group…. what is this “Destiny” thing you speak of?

          • Guild

            January 9, 2015 at 09:58

            I agree, think we need to change the group name again

          • Sageville

            January 9, 2015 at 09:59

            “Sexier Sexy Time” feels very 2015 to me

          • Guild

            January 9, 2015 at 10:07

            lol do it

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 10:04

            LOL yeah you wouldn’t know.

          • Jonah Cash

            January 9, 2015 at 09:16

            Yip I love twitter!! I can be anyone 🙂
            On whatsapp I have to be me, and that just sucks!! I have already tweeted your handle out to other people that are on here!! I will make you like twitter…. Hahahaha
            Challenge accepted

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 09:20

            LOL thanks XD My inbox exploded with notifications of people who are now following me.
            *Googles for a twitter tutorial

          • Raptor Rants A Lot

            January 9, 2015 at 09:22

            I sense a FollowBackFriday storm brewing for you

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 10:05

            Indeed!

          • Sageville

            January 9, 2015 at 10:00

            No fair! Where are all my bazillions of new followers….

          • Hammersteyn

            January 9, 2015 at 10:04

            hahaha following you now…… baby

  4. WillowFight

    January 9, 2015 at 08:20

    North & South America? Isn’t that double dipping?

    Reply

  5. Mark Vincer

    January 9, 2015 at 08:26

    That’s a lot of money for a fishing contest!

    Reply

    • Jonah Cash

      January 9, 2015 at 08:50

    • bluegoon

      January 9, 2015 at 10:18

      OK I laughed.

      Reply

      • Mark Vincer

        January 9, 2015 at 10:20

        I know it’s probably an old joke BUT I DON’T GIVE A FLERK

        Reply

  6. Ghost In The Rift

    January 9, 2015 at 08:27

    At least we have NamLan here in Namibia,not VIETNAM!!!!

    So all is good with the world and balance is restored.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      January 9, 2015 at 08:32

      NEVARRRR FORGET eh?

      Reply

      • Ghost In The Rift

        January 9, 2015 at 08:34

        LOL!!

        Reply

  7. Raptor Rants A Lot

    January 9, 2015 at 08:37

    I don’t think this is a reaction to the debacle last year, but I’m sure what happened last year had at least SOME influence when MLG was deciding just how many countries to incorporate. They know SA wants to be involved but they also don’t have a strong existing league with us. So when deciding just how much they should consider us I’m pretty sure they decided to take the cautious route to avoid any potential issues.

    Reply

  8. FSR

    January 9, 2015 at 08:50

    Sad to say, but when the biggest underdog comes with the most drama, I’d also cut them off after so much bluster and such a poor performance.

    CoD is huge, and we simply aren’t up to international standards. Fact. We need more development and a more professional approach to esports. We can get there, but i’m in no way shocked that we lost our spot after 2 abysmal performances. There are other teams more suited to that specific tournament.

    Hopefully the shaking up of the MSSA is a step in the right direction.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      January 9, 2015 at 09:00

      Shaking up of the MSSA? Did I miss something? They seems absolutely identical as they always have been

      Reply

      • FSR

        January 9, 2015 at 09:05

        Well, a step in the right direction: “Mind Sports SA
        @mindsportssa19 hours ago:

        Mind Sports South Africa is proud to have Clint O’Shea (aka Zombie Dredd) as its Cape Town Regional Director for 2015.”

        link for saucyness: https://twitter.com/mindsportssa/status/553156927291928576

        Reply

  9. Ryanza

    January 9, 2015 at 09:52

    I so wanted to see Holden’s team compete last year. This shit needs to be sorted out. I want to see High 5 or any of those good ZA Cod teams compete this year. I do feel that our best can compete against the world and have a chance to win, unlike last year.
    Southern Barbarians put the country Southern Barbarians on the map.
    What happened to Tech 9?

    Don’t Support DRM. The Witcher 3 is coming.

    Reply

    • Guild

      January 9, 2015 at 09:58

      Budd I’m impressed you know the CoD teams. Although I was more for Jakez team going through (F34R). They have done pretty well competitively in SA and won majority of the tournaments with the same team.

      Reply

    • FSR

      January 9, 2015 at 10:34

      Tech 9 died after Blops IIRC, some moved onto PC and others to other teams. Man those guys used to tear shit up!

      Reply

    • Dan

      January 9, 2015 at 15:19

      interest and people playing competitively.

      Reply

    • Lance

      January 10, 2015 at 04:40

      my .ister-in-law makes $75 /hr on the computer . She has been unemployed for eight months but last month her check was $15398 just working on the computer for a few hours. More Info;.Budd

      Reply

    • Carl

      January 11, 2015 at 10:48

      my .other makes $63 an hour on the computer . She has been without work for 5 months but last month her paycheck was $16008 just working on the computer for a few hours. Go Here;.Budd I’m

      Reply

  10. Matthew Holliday

    January 9, 2015 at 10:01

    MLG uses xbox right?

    The South African CoD AW scene, on PC atleast, is pathetically small.
    our active userbase is way too small to warrant any notice from MLG.
    we have maybe 200 people in the active rotation, looking for a competitive scene with 200 people, when internationals have userbases of tens of thousands, is not realistic.

    although to be fair, the average level of play from those 200 is pretty high, as the majority of active local CoD players are the leftovers of our CoD4 teams.

    Reply

    • Guild

      January 9, 2015 at 10:29

      Yip MLG is XBox based. That’s why a lot of players moved from PS to XBox to try get more serious about CoD and competing.

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        January 9, 2015 at 10:56

        are trying*
        PC CoD died when CoD4 was removed from the DGL and replaced with crap ghosts.
        local console play is getting better, but its not there yet. its easier with CoD AW, with the boosting being so much better with a controller, but the console scene lacks the subtle tactics and teamwork that were around in the PC days of CoD4, granted, we had like 5 years of practise, but local consoles will get there.

        Reply

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