The Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra both pulled off narrow victories on Saturday to advance to the winners-bracket final at the Call of Duty League’s Major III in Arlington, Texas.
Atlanta took down the Seattle Surge 3-2, while Toronto also picked up a 3-2 win, dispatching the Boston Breach. The squads will meet on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the grand final and the loser falling to the elimination-bracket final, where they will face either Boston or OpTic Texas.
Major III began with all 12 Call of Duty League teams, and the double-elimination event continues through Sunday.
The FaZe got off to a fast start, winning 250-185 on Embassy Hardpoint and 6-2 on Breenbergh Hotel Search & Destroy before Seattle came roaring back. The Surge took Breenbergh Hotel Control (3-2) and Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint (250-220), but Atlanta finished Seattle off with a 6-5 triumph on Embassy Search & Destroy.
McArthur “Cellium” Jovel led the all-American FaZe with 98 kills and a plus-1.38 kills-deaths ratio, while Australian Amer “Pred” Zulbeari finished with a match-high 110 kills to go along with a plus-1.29 K-D ratio for the Surge.
Toronto found itself in an early hole when it fell 250-213 on Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint, but responded with a 6-5 victory on Al Bagra Fortress Search & Destroy and a 3-0 sweep on El Asilo Control. The Breach bit back with 250-243 triumph on Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint, but the Ultra took the decisive fifth map, Breenbergh Hotel Search & Destroy, 6-2 to avoid the elimination bracket.
Three of four Toronto players finished with positive K-D ratios, with Great Britain’s Jamie “Insight” Craven leading the way at plus-1.25 (89 kills-71 deaths). Boston’s Dylan “Nero” Kotch of the United States racked up a match-high 94 kills.
Although the Breach slipped into the elimination bracket, they took care of business, earning wins on Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint (250-200), Al Bagra Fortress Search & Destroy (6-2) and Al Bagra Fortress Control (3-1) to fly by the Vegas Legion.
Seattle wasn’t nearly as successful, succumbing to OpTic. The Surge fell behind 2-0 before keeping themselves in contention with a 3-1 victory on Breenbergh Hotel Control, but Texas answered with 250-120 blowout on Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint to seal the win.
OpTic had defeated the Florida Mutineers 3-1 earlier Saturday to set up the meeting with Seattle.
Boston and Texas will meet in the fourth round of the elimination bracket. The winner of that meeting will head to the elimination-bracket final for a shot at the grand final.
The tournament concludes Sunday with four matches:
–Atlanta FaZe vs. Toronto Ultra (winners-bracket final)
–Boston Breach vs. OpTic Texas (elimination bracket, Round 4)
–Loser of Atlanta/Toronto vs. winner of Boston/OpTic (elimination-bracket final)
–Winner of winners-bracket final vs. winner of elimination-bracket final (grand final)
Call of Duty League Major III prize pool and points distribution
1. $200,000 + 65 CDL points
2. $120,000 + 50 CDL points
3. $80,000 + 40 CDL points
4. $40,000 + 30 CDL points
5-6. $20,000 + 20 CDL points — Las Vegas Legion, Seattle Surge
7-8. $10,000 + 10 CDL points — Los Angeles Thieves, Florida Mutineers
9-12. No money or CDL points — New York Subliners, London Royal Ravens, Minnesota Rokkr, Los Angeles Guerrillas
–Field Level Media
