Quick Guide to Call of Duty Championship 2014

Today, the world finals of the 2014 Call of Duty Championship are set to begin in Los Angeles, California with 32 teams representing 17 countries/regions will compete for the honours. The set up is very similar to the World Cup as the preliminary stage features 8 groups of 4 teams competing for the top two spots the secures a place in the play-offs. What's different about the play-offs is that the loser of a play-off game will go into the "lower rounds" - and you have to lose a game in the lower rounds before you're completely out of the competition.

The tournament kicks off at 10:00am (PST), or 5:00pm GMT and will continue on through Sunday. On site for GRTV is CoD expert Nick Holmberg and he'll put together video reports and follow-up interviews. You can also follow updates via our GR Friday Nights Facebook page. You will be able to follow the action unfold on our Gamereactor Live page during the weekend.

Each match consists of 5 games from the following list of modes and maps. These are maps the teams no doubt know inside and out by now.

Game Mode / Map:

• Blitz - Freight
• Blitz - Octane
• Blitz - Warhawk
• Domination - Freight
• Domination - Octane
• Domination - Sovereign
• Domination - Strikezone
• Search and Destroy - Freight
• Search and Destroy - Octane
• Search and Destroy - Sovereign
• Search and Destroy - Warhawk

Domination Game Mode for Games 1 & 4, the Search & Destroy Game Mode for Games 2 & 5, and the Blitz Game Mode for Game 3 in best of 5 matches. In best of 11 in carries on like this: Blitz Game Mode for Games 6 & 9, the Domination Game Mode for Games 7 & 10, and the Search & Destroy Game Mode for Games 8 & 11. Naturally all matches are played with e-sports rules.

There is also a veto system in place where each team can veto a maximum of one mode/map combination. Each mode/map combination can only be played once in a match.

Complicating things a little further is the set up for the Championship Match and this is where the best of 11 comes into play. If the two teams in the final have meet in the winner's bracket the match will continue on from the score from the first match in a best of 11 match. If, however, the two teams in the final haven't met it will be a best of 5 match and if it's won by the team from the winning bracket (having gone through the play-offs undefeated) that's it. If however, the other team from he loser's bracket wins the best of 5 it will expand to a best of 11 game. Complicated? Yes, a tad bit.

The 32 teams competing:

TCM Gaming (UK)
Epsilon Esports (UK)
TEC Intensity (UK)
Team Orbit (UK)
Vitality Rises (France)
Vitality Returns (France)
Killerfish (Germany)
SK Gaming (Germany)
Reign Mix (Sweden)
AllStars (Netherlands)
Wizards (Spain)
Sublime (Italy)
Lightning Pandas (EU)
Team Rize ZA (South Africa)
Klarity Gaming (UAE)
Brazil 5 Stars (Brazil)
SSOF Gaming (Brazil)
Aztek Gaming (Mexico)
Nsp (South Korea)
Trident T1dotters (Australia)
Immunity (Australia)
VexX Revenge (Canada)
WiLD Gaming (Canada)
Echelon (Singapore)
Strictly Business (U.S.A.)
CompLexity (U.S.A.)
Team Kaliber (U.S.A.)
FaZe (U.S.A.)
EnVyUs (U.S.A.)
Rise Nation (U.S.A.)
OpTic Gaming (U.S.A.)
Xfinity Gaming (U.S.A.)

The prize pool:

1st: $400,000
2nd: $200,000
3rd: $120,000
4th: $100,000
5th: $70,000
6th: $50,000
7th: $35,000
8th: $25,000

The winners of the US qualifiers, Strictly Business, are favourites to capture the tournament, but will likely face stiff competition from other U.S. teams - CompLexity showed a lot of character coming through the loser's bracket and overcoming adversity to claim second in the U.S. tournament and Team Kaliber also showed strength. It's going to take a lot from the European top teams UK based TCM Gaming and Epsilon Esports to overcome the American threat.

Here's some of our coverage from the European Call of Duty Championships on GRTV to whet your appetite ahead of the action:

Interview with European champs - TCM Gaming

Interview with Swanny (Epsilon)

Interview with CoD expert Chris Marsh

Interview with Hastro (Team EnVyUs)

Interview with Killerfish

Interview with Lightning Pandas

Interview with Joe Cecot (Infinity Ward)