Rise Nation overcomes mass player defection to win 'Call of Duty' tourney

LAS VEGAS -- Three days and 160 teams later, Rise Nation came out on top of the $100,000 Call of Duty World League tournament at MLG Vegas this weekend, the first time the CoD World League introduced CoD Infinite Warfare over Black Ops III.

Rise Nation recently lost three members to Luminosity Gaming late October, replacing them with Ulysses “AquA” Silva, Brice “Faccento” Faccento and Tyler “Felony” Johnson. If MLG Vegas is indicative of things to come for Rise Nation, it will have proved to be a good trade.

The tournament that took place Friday through Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The 160 teams either purchased a pass or won a spot during open qualifiers online.

The grand finals between Rise Nation and Cloud9 was best of 5. Rise Nation only took Cloud9 by one point in the intense match.

Watch the two go head-to-head below:

This was the first tournament in the Call of Duty World League 2017, a series of tournaments that will have a collective $4,000,000 up for grabs globally. MLG Vegas also hosted a $100,000 Overwatch Invitational tournament and a esports-centric party called "End Game" which featured live music, games, and festivities.