The 2022 Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship was a highly anticipated event that took place this past weekend and brought together some of the best players from around the world as they compete for a prize pool of US$1,700,000. After a long weekend of gruelling competition, Tribe Gaming emerged as the champions, earning the coveted title of World Champions.

Since 2020, Tribe Gaming has been one of the top contenders for the title as they have remained the most dominant team in the North American region. The team was made up of some of the best players in the world, including Boris “BoLu” Lunin, Jezz, Angel “Marshy” Gonzalez, Maiwand “Vague” Zai, Brian “Tectonic” Michel and their substitute David “Slothy” Alvarado.

After topping their group, Tribe didn’t have the best start to the Playoffs as they were knocked down into the loser’s bracket in the first round of the Playoffs by China’s most dominant team in Wolves losing the series in a nail-biting 2–3.

Tribe would go on to face the number-one team from Europe, STMN Esports knocking them out in a clean and convincing 3–0 fashion. Using that momentum, they would go on to steamroll the Philippines’ Smart Omega in another dominant 3–0.

After Wolves sent Tribe into the lower bracket, they themselves met the same demise at the hands of Luminosity Gaming losing 1–3. Landing on the other side of the lower bracket meant that Tribe would have the perfect opportunity to get revenge on the Chinese team. When these two teams finally met once again, even with the momentum that Tribe had, it was still extremely close with Wolves taking Map 1 Summit Hardpoint in a 17-point game. But Tribe came back swinging winning the next three games and winning the series 3–1 and sending Wolves packing.

But Tribe wouldn’t be able to rest just yet as in the lower bracket final they would go on to face Brazil’s last hope in iNCO Stalwart. iNCO had defied expectations and had dominated the upper bracket, not dropping a single map until the upper bracket final where they finally met their maker and got sent down into the lower bracket by none other than Luminosity, 1–3.

Possibly demoralised from their loss against Luminosity, iNCO was completely dismantled by Tribe Gaming 3–0, solidifying Tribe’s spot in the Grand Final where they would go on to face their former teammates and regional rivals in Luminosity Gaming.

The Best of 7 Grand Final was intense and closely contested, with both teams giving it their all. As Luminosity were from the upper bracket side, they were given a 1–0 advantage to start the series, but that wouldn’t stop Tribe as dominated the first three maps of the series. Although being down 1–3, and with everything on the line, Luminosity wouldn’t go down without a fight and took the next Hardpoint and Search and Destroy.

With the series all tied up at 3–3 and both teams at tournament point, it all went down to Map 7 Summit Control. With the score going back and forth, it came down to the final round of Control, and Tribe came out all guns blazing, completely shredding Luminosity’s lives and stalling them until the timer reached zero. And with that Tribe were crowned the first official Call of Duty: Mobile World Champions.

Tribe Gaming’s victory was a testament to their hard work and dedication to the game over these past couple of years. With constant debates between who’s better and ‘West vs. East’, we now know for certain that the West is, for now, the best. They were deservedly rewarded with the lion’s share of the prize pool and a custom-made trophy to commemorate their achievement.

Overall, the first in-person Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship was a thrilling and exciting event, and Tribe Gaming’s victory was a well-deserved one. Although there were multiple technical issues throughout the event, I thoroughly believe that this event was a massive success and a much-needed one since the game’s launch. As for Tribe, the team demonstrated incredible skill and determination throughout the tournament, and they will no doubt be remembered as one of the greatest Call of Duty: Mobile teams of all time.