The event of 2025. The crown jewel. GOTN LAN 2 is just days away, with 13 teams coming to Columbus, Ohio for Call of Duty 2’s 20th anniversary tournament, competing for North America’s trophy & cold hard cash. Group B features a rematch of LAN1 grand finals, as well as a whole slew of teams in the middle of the pack who have all produced impressive results at one point or another. On the surface, this group could be blown wide open with just one or two results.

Welcome to Group B

Nephilim

Magnum, ashen,c4rve, stiffy, kimble

Nephilim bring the OG flavor to this group. With names that have withstood the test of time, they come in with a chip on their shoulder. While they may not have the best results as of late, this team has the experience needed to make a splash at LAN. Magnum on the scope will look to lead this team to results on the battlefield. In a tournament like this, it only takes one map to get things rolling. Nephilim will surely need an upset or two, but if they can make it happen, the sky is the limit for this team.

We’re hyped – everyone is stoked about being able to have this experience and that we’ve been able to do a SECOND ONE this year. That would have been crazy when this game was new, it’s batshit to think about it happening 20 years later. But yeah, we’re excited man. I always kicked myself for not being able to go to more LANs through the years, and we were all pretty bummed we missed the boat for the first one in Dallas. Bringing in c4rv3 and getting K1mble back into things has been awesome. I think we have good chemistry, and we all play well together. Just gotta leave it all in the server and see what happens.

I’d like to think we could steal a map or two from one of the higher seeded teams, but the real goal is to get out of groups and make it to the play-ins. More than that though, we wanna have fun and make it a good experience. Whatever happens, happens. We’ll give it all our old fingers and eyes can give. I think we’re looking forward most to how we measure up against some of the middle-seeded teams. Plus, LAN is a different animal. As we saw in Dallas, anything can happen.

I know Ashen and stiffy would have like to have been able to go to Dallas, but I was || close to booking a last second flight and filling in as a ringer. I had major fomo. That’s the biggest reason I wanted to jump into a season and keep the momentum from LAN1 going. Hopefully we can do the same and pick up after the new year with S2 and LAN3?????!!? -magnum

Strokers

LOOSE, Hero, Forsaken, abk, warboy

This team come into this event with high spirits, looking to ride the “new team” high. LOOSE leads a team of Strokers into battle with the odds stacked against them. It always has to be someone, but that won’t be stopping this group from trying to make a run. This team may end up having the most fun at LAN2, regardless of results. With “Coach Doug” giving this group tips, it might give them the edge they need to take on some of the behemoths in this group. The expectations may be low, but that may be just what this team need to play loose (heh) on LAN.

Strokers are pumped up. The boys are looking forward to meeting new faces and connecting with old friends. The venue looks amazing (mainly the bar) and Columbus looks like a great host city. Our expectations are to compete. 4/5 of the roster has LAN experience which goes a long way in my opinion. I think we have a chance to surprise people.

There are several matches that are gonna be interesting for us. First thanks to the cabal for this draw. We start out into the wind against X6, then Nemesis, then the defending champs Bricked up. The starting 5 on Bricked are all Alpha Strokers so there will be some Stroker on Stroker violence. ABK and Warboy both have opportunities to spoil their former squads which adds some drama. Lastly, I expect Hero to be intoxicated during the entire event. “Plant the bomb tom” will be a common phrase on Saturday afternoon. Lastly, I expect Forsaken to lose his temper positively, since he has been recently reformed. -LOOSE

Who are you rooting for in the GOONS vs +f matchup at 11:00 on Saturday?

This one will be tough. Great dudes on both teams. I cant root against Cruizer or Panther. I will pull a momma Kelce from the Super Bowl and just root for them to both play well, and see where the chips fall. Gonna be equally as tough if Bricked plays +f or goons. Either way I will be showing up early Saturday to watch and support the boys.

Thoughts on the shotgun?

The shotgun is perfectly imperfect. It is arguably the most important, yet most difficult role strategically because of that little smoke can. Looking forward to a Shotgun Union picture at LAN. -LOOSE

Mid Seeds

Awakening

nilla, tipzy, verb, neoo, xlzz

Awakening are led by the OG High Noon trio from LAN 1. There were rumors of the full High Noon demise, but they were able to stay together despite departures from Gl4d and Tripel. They stayed together in style too, putting together an impressive roster rounded out by neoo and cod2 OG xlzz. The team hasn’t quite found the results they wanted, but there is no doubt the talent is there. In addition to impressive cup results early on, Awakening took down both Plus forward and Bricked Up in the regular season, before dropping out in 5th/6th in the playoffs. Could this be the event they break through?

I’ll be honest, the boys and I are feeling hot right now. We have been trying different things. When we had our summer slouch but we took that opportunity to iron some things out and through that we have found a dynamic approach that seems to work really well.

I fully expect us to be one of the favorites for our group. The x6 game might get pretty spicy given the history between the players.

I’ll be honest, heading into LAN I feel much more confident than I did with the highnoon roster. A lot more going on behind the scenes and individuals prepping as well as a team. Real ones know the works we’ve been putting in. -tipzy

Nemesis

everestt, berry, zyk, reflex, broa

Nemesis is a bit of an enigma coming into this tournament. Nemesis took the community by storm when they came back to cod2 for GOTN Season 1. The roster put together an impressive 9-5 record from out of nowhere, including a win over x6 on Burgundy, and followed that up with a win in the playoffs over Awakening which secured them a top 6 finish. However, the results as of late haven’t lived up to that standard. The loss of Cpt. Miller aka chuck after the season left big shoes to fill, but they tried to do so with two big names, reflex and broa. On paper, this is a very good roster that has built up the respect that they deserve going into LAN2. With the nade/plant king, as well an underrated scope who led them in battle to many victories, often shouldering most of the load, this team has proved they have what it takes to get it done. It’s up to captain everestt to get this team performing to the top of their potential, and if they can do it, this is another team that can make a run.

We’re feeling good heading into lan. It was definitely rough at the start with 2 new pickups and figuring out what works for us. But we feel we’ve been getting better and better each week, leading up to lan.

I think we have a very strong group, especially with having the previous top 2 teams from last lan in it. I think the match to watch for us will be our first against awakening. With how playoffs went down, we know that they’re going to want revenge. So it should be fun and exciting match to watch.

We definitely haven’t gotten the results we’ve wanted since the end of s1. We’ve had some serious talks with each other to figure out what works best for us. The boys have been grinding and putting in the work with scrims and strats every week. Were excited to see what were capable of on lan and hopefully surprise some teams with stuff we’ve been saving for it.

whitesox is a virgin nerd pussy kid for dodging another lan -berry

Empyrean

tox, trauma, redz, kevlar, roflcakes

The roster formerly known as wizards come into this tournament with a mixed bag of recent results. After a disappointing GOTN Season 1, the team regrouped and have been chugging along since. This core will look to use some of their previous success, namely in NightCup 12, right before season 1, where they made a great run finishing top 3, even knocking off juggernauts Plus Forward. The team has been putting in the work recently, and will look to make this tournament their next big run. With the elements even for everyone, anything can happen. Kevlar and redz will look to not send everyone home with covid again.

The boys are definitely excited to gather with community again. The teams are stronger compared to the first LAN, and it’ll make the event more competitive and fun overall. We’ve put the time in and are tightening the bolts on our project up to the event. We believe in each other and that will make for a great experience in wins and losses.

We expect to at least get to the play-in match at the end of day 1. Our match against Nemesis has been anticipated for some time now. We knew we’d either be in the same group together, or end up seeing them in play-ins. With that in mind we’ve kept a close eye on them when we could. The trio of awakening, nemesis, and empyrean will be where the attention is at in our group for us. The x6 vs bricked up will undoubtedly be a banger, a LAN1 final rematch! -redz

High Seeds

Bricked Up

doug, 1shot, mylo, polo, dirty_german

There’s an endless string of compliments that you can give this roster. LAN1 winners. Multi-cup winners. But what might be even more impressive than both of those is that this will be the lone unchanged roster from LAN1. In 2025 Call of Duty 2, that is an unreal thing to say. But it’s for good reason. You can’t deny the results from this group, and that’s one of the key reasons for that happening. The current LAN holders will look to defend the title next weekend. #wcct

HONESTLY – We’re feeling pretty good. We are right where we want to be. We’ve had two back to back finals losses in cups, but we’ve learned a lot in those runs and feel like we’re peaking at the right time. We all seem to forget that going in to the Dallas LAN, Bricked Up wasn’t that hot. We had a cup win, but we were still a new team and some of us were fresh out of the desert. We’re feeling real sassy rn on god type shit.

Our expectation is to repeat our last LAN success and go undefeated in groups. Our goal is always to win every single game and if possible, every single map. We’re definitely looking forward to playing you and the x6 boys. I feel like there is a lot of mutual respect among our two teams going back to last LAN’s finals. X6 has only gotten better – and we’ve come to appreciate our weekly scrim nights. If someone finds the chink in our armor during groups, it’ll be nothing but spilt milk – and when you’re as bricked up as we are, you never cry over spilt milk. -doug

Group B is a bit interesting as the marquee match up is the LAN1 finals rematch. Does that carry any additional significance for you?

As I said, I think this matchup is always elite. We’re all gamers, and both teams have a mix of CoD2 OG’s and some young buck hard nose cock slinging aimers. But the past is the past – x6 moved on from Eric and picked up Tanaka. Playing them feels like a completely different team. In short – last LAN is a thing of the past – the only significant aspect of this matchup is that I think both teams will use it to test the waters for a potential playoff bracket showdown. -doug

x6

zondo, willzki, lex, tanaka, telly

x6 come into LAN2 in solid form. Two months ago, x6 made the tough decision to swap out eric, and bring in Tanaka after a string of second places plagued this team for many months. Multiple cups, LAN1, you name it. But the streak was broken when 11 teams signed up for an action packed Media Cup. After losing in the UBF to Bricked, the team pulled off a victory over Janitorz, then a bo3 rematch victory over bricked to get their first official event victory. The team will look to build on that, as the new roster now has the confidence, and the pedigree to go all the way.