Mindfreak

Mindfreak is a Call of Duty team based in Australia. They are the most achieved team in Asia-Pacific history with 12 regional victories and two international victories at the CWL London Open 2019 and CWL Anaheim Open 2019.

Ghosts
Mindfreak would be the Australian representative for ESWC 2014 with their roster of BuZZO, Shockz, Fighta, and Naked. They would be grouped with Epsilon eSports, eQuinox eSports, and KILLERFISH eSport. After taking out KILLERFISH in the first match, they would lose to the other two teams and fail to qualify for the bracket.

Advanced Warfare
Within a few weeks of the release of the new game, Naked moved to the Mindfreak manager while Denz joined the squad the roster would remained unchanged for the next two seasons. The team took second in the Call of Duty Championship 2015 Australia Qualifier 1 to book their ticket to the offline regional qualifier. At the event, Mindfreak took first out of five other Australian teams and two South East Asian teams and qualified as the top team in the regional. At the Call of Duty Championship 2015, Mindfreak won their first match against UX Gaming before dropping to North American titans Team Envy. In a match to determine the second place team to get out of the group, Mindfreak defeated Team Menace.fi]] and made it to the Championship Bracket. They lost to Team Revenge in Winners Round 1 but then went on a run by defeating Gamers2, Aware Gaming, and Team Kaliber before falling to Prophecy in Losers Round 4. They then lost to Automatic Reload 3-1 in the 5th/6th place match. This remains (As of May 2019), the highest ever placing by an Asia Pacific team at a major international event. This exceptional placing earned the team an invitation to the Gfinity Spring Masters where they lost both of their Group Stage matches 3-0 to Prophecy and Team Kaliber to be eliminated. Mindfreak would return home for the remained of the season as they won ACL Sydney 2015, ACL Brisbane 2015, and the Doesplay Gold Coast 10K Pro Series to close out the season as the undisputed best team in Australia-New Zealand.

Black Ops 3
With the CWL announced, Mindfreak attended the ANZ CWL 2016 Stage 1 Qualifying Invitational Tournament. They would need to win two matches before losing two to qualify for the first official ANZ league for Call of Duty. They defeated Avidity in the first round before getting upset by Team Skyfire in map 5. They rematched against Avidity and took the series 3-0 again to qualify for the league. Mindfreak finished the first stage of the Regular Season at the top of the standings with a 11-3 record. This qualified them for the Playoffs where the team took the event handily, winning both series against Team Immunity and Tainted Minds with an 8-1 total map count. They were then invited to the Crown Melbourne Invitational as ANZ champions. In Round 1 they beat fellow ANZ team Team Orbit 4-0 before meeting that fate in Round 2 to European Champions Millenium. Mindfreak would continue their domestic dominance with another win at the Mwave CGPL Autumn 2016 before returning home for CWL Stage 2. This stage they would finish in second place to Team Orbit although it was good enough to qualify for the Stage 2 Playoffs. At Playoffs, they beat Chiefs in Round 1 4-0 to give them a LAN final against the Orbit. The series was close, but Mindfreak took it 4-2. They earned enough Championship Points to auto qualify for the Call of Duty World League Championship 2016. In their group would be FAB Games eSports, Luminosity Gaming, and Chiefs eSports Club. The fell in Map 5 to Luminosity and then beat Chiefs. This set up match against FAB where a win for Mindfreak would set up a three-way tiebreaker. This did not happen though as they were beaten 3-0 and ended the season disappointingly with a Top 24 finish.

Infinite Warfare
With no Pool Play spots awarded to APAC teams at CWL Las Vegas, the team would not attend the first major of the SEAson. With the team struggling online, Denz took a major risk and left the team for the second best team in Australia, Tainted Minds. He was rumored to have been offered more money than what Mindfreak was paying. Excite joined the team from Chiefs eSports Club. CWL Atlanta would be their first major of the season and Mindfreak would have to fight through the Open Bracket, which they did. In Pool Play, they lost their first three series against Enigma6 Group, FaZe Clan, and Rise Nation before beating Team Infused in their final match to skip one round of losers. This would be the end of their tournament as Mindfreak fell to Team Allegiance 3-1. They headed back to Australia for the CWL Sydney Open 1 and lots of crucial Pro Points for the sole CWL Global Pro League spot for APAC teams. The team dropped no maps going into the Winner Final where they faced Tainted Minds with Denz for the first time on LAN. Unexpectedly, they lost 3-2 and were sent to the Losers Bracket. After winning the Losers Final against Validate Black, Mindfreak came into the Grand Finals with revenge on their mind and beat Tainted Minds 3-2 and then 3-0 to take the championship. This win gave Mindfreak a huge Pro Points buffer going into the final event before the league, CWL Dallas. Tainted Minds would need to out place Mindfreak significantly to get enough points to qualify but Mindfreak placed better at Top 12 and solidified their spot. Mindfreak joined Group Red at the league with Team Envy, Splyce, and Cloud9. They won their only match of the double round robin group in their first match against Cloud9. It was a 3-0 and with Cloud9's only other win coming in a 3-2 fashion in the second mach with Mindfreak, Mindfreak avoided relegation. Mindfreak then won the CWL Sydney Open 2. This regional win, however, was not good enough for Mindfreak as they wanted to contend internationally. So they managed to re-sign Denz to replace Excite. This roster change would not pan out as expected as the team placed Top 20 at CWL Anaheim, dead last in Group Red in the Global Pro League Stage 2, and then closed out the year with a Top 24 finish at the Call of Duty World League Championship 2017.

World War II
The team stuck together going into the new season and were back to normal, dominating the early online tournaments. Mindfreak would once again need to finish with the most Pro Points in APAC to qualify for the CWL Pro League. Their campaign began at CWL Dallas and the team would finish Top 12 after an impressive Losers Bracket run following a very poor 0-4 Pool Play. Tainted Minds would have to start in the Open Bracket and with a Top 64 finish, they nearly guaranteed Mindfreak the APAC spot. Mindfreak once again started in Pools at CWL New Orleans and were one series win against FaZe Clan from Winners Bracket but end up in Losers again. The beat Open Bracket team InControl Gaming 3-2 before falling to Red Reserve for a Top 16 finish. This was good enough to make it into the Pro League though as Tainted Minds finished Top 32. Mindfreak would land in Division A of the Pro League. It would not be easy for them as it took five matches to earn their first win against Team Vitality. They would win just three more series, with one being the second match against Vitality who finished dead last. The team was sent to relegation to save their Pro League spot but first attended CWL Atlanta and CWL Birmingham. Mindfreak beat Red Reserve and UNILAD Esports to go 2-2 in their pool and advance on tiebreaker to the Winners Bracket for the first time. They gave Luminosity Gaming a fight but lost in map 5 to get sent to losers where eUnited knocked them out of the tournament at Top 12. At Birmingham, Mindfreak only won one series. That one being against Open Bracket team Vast eSports. They entered Losers and Ghost Gaming swept them 3-0.

Now they needed to re-qualify for the CWL/2018 Season/Pro League/Stage 2, which they did. At Relegation, they beat EZG.Blue and then Tainted Minds to reclaim their spot. Tainted Minds would qualify later to join Mindfreak as two APAC teams in the Pro League for the first time. The next day they began SEAttle. In Group C, they finished on the bad end of a three-way 2-2 tiebreaker with eUnited and compLexity Gaming and had to start in Losers again. Once again, they were knocked out immediately, this time by Cyclone. Mindfreak returned to the league and beat Tainted Minds in their opening match but would only win one more series before the mid-stage break and finish 2-5. At CWL Anaheim, Mindfreak would beat Evil Geniuses, Echo Fox, and Elevate to go 3-1 in Group C but luck was not on their side and they were sent to Losers again due to a three-way tiebreaker. This time, though, thy would beat Ghost Gaming and Splyce to earn a Top 8 finish. Their best finish in three years. A confident Mindfreak came back to the league and resumed normal operations. They finish seventh in their division again and failed to qualify for the playoffs. At the Call of Duty World League Championship 2018, Mindfreak would be grouped with Red Reserve, Ghost Gaming, and Zone. After they both went 1-1 in their first two matches, Mindfreak would play Ghost Gaming for the second spot in the group. Ghost took the map 5 and Mindfreak once again placed Top 24 at Champs.

Black Ops 4
The team saw major changes in the off-season. After re-signing Shockz and Fighta, up and coming 18 year old Louqa joined the team as their new fifth for 5v5. BuZZO re-signed too but then Denz left the team to join European team Reciprocity. He was replaced, for the second time, by Excite. Thanks to their World War II Pro Points, Mindfreak started CWL Las Vegas in the Play-In for Pool Play. They lost to Str8 Rippin but then beat The Imperial and Tainted Minds to get in to Pool Play but also guaranteed their spot at the CWL Pro League Qualifier. Mindfreak only won 3 maps in Pool Play and were sent to the Losers Bracket where they beat Open Bracket team FC Black before falling to Red Reserve and placing Top 20. With BuZZO retiring from playing and becoming Mindfreak's coach and Excite leaving, Swifty and Beastn joined the team. Mindfreak entered the Pro League Qualifier as a team that was expected to make it in to the League. In their Pool, they defeated Evil Geniuses, The Imperial, Movistar Riders, and Nation of Power but once again, fell victim to the three-way tiebreaker. They would finish fourth in the Pool and have to play in the final bracket to get into the League. The team started the bracket out hot by beating FC Black and G2 Esports. They would go up against Team Space for the League spot but lose 3-0 and fall the the Losers Bracket for their last chance against French team Overtime eSport. In a hard fought battle, Overtime took the series and APAC was left without a team in the Pro League. The team was now stuck in the Open Bracket for the year but looked to make the most of it with Pro teams in their own bracket at events. Mindfreak came out to win the CWL Fort Worth Open and dropped only one map going into the Winners Final where FC Black swept them. Mindfreak beat Cyclone in the Losers Final, and set up a rematch against FC Black in the Grand Final. Mindfreak kept it close by eventually fell in map five to finish second place. They returned to Australia for the XP Esports Queensland Pro AM 2019 and took first place as they continued to prove that they are the best ANZ team. The team took a short trip to Japan and played three Japanese teams in an international exhibition before the mid-season break.

Mindfreak started the second half of the season by attending the CWL London Open. They were looking strong before losing to Aspire eSports in Losers Round 6. They beat Sage eSports and Giants Gaming and then got revenge against Aspire eSports to make it into the Grand Finals. Mindfreak absolutely dominated Kairos Esports in the finals by winning 3-0/3-0 to win their first ever international event.