Call Of Duty League 2022 Championship Weekend/Day 2 takeaways — Thieves stomp Optic, Faze ice up against Surge

Talk about a day! Sure, not everything was a 3-2 on Day 2 of Champs, but everything was a banger. We saw our first teams dip out of the tournament today, the winners final get set up, and oh boy, an absolute thrashing. Today was exactly what you expect the combination of Call Of Duty: Vanguard and Champs to be, so let’s take a look at what we thought about today’s four matches.

London Royal Ravens vs New York Subliners

Actual: 3-2 New York Subliners

• And again, this team’s struggles online show up, but in an even worse way. The only map this team definitively took was the Desert Siege S&D, which they rank towards the top of the league at. Beyond that, the win on Gavutu was nice, but it wasn’t a pummeling. More of holding on if you ask me. The Control was extremely sloppy, allowing New York to get an offensive win on a map where it’s nearly impossible, and then their nemesis, the map known as Berlin. Sure, they were up 2-0 at one point, but overall this was an ugly loss, and it sent them home.
• You can win despite getting outslayed, but not when it happens like this. London was thrashed by -37 kills in this one, and it seemed like they constantly lost the important ones as well. The lone time I remember them taking over the map was Afro inside P3 on a five spree. Even that one got ruined by him ego challing the back spawns instead of playing for streaks. It’s not a good look, and between Afro’s terrible .66 KD and only 60 kills in FIVE maps played, their superstar wasn’t so super. 
• The question here would be, where does London go from here? At the beginning of the year you’d think they’d look to re-sign Afro and hold onto the building blocks of Gismo and Nastie, but after another LAN where this team massively disappointed, do you change your mind on that? Afro will get paid from someone, but you have to wonder if the leadership at the Royal Ravens are at least looking at their options.

• After dealing with the pain of a reverse sweep yesterday at the hands of Atlanta Faze, New York did the same thing to the boys from across the pond. If you only looked at the stats you’d be curious as to how this one wasn’t a 3-0, because the Subliners were on a tear. It all started with a masterful Gavutu Control, with an offensive win where things got a little hairy. With less than two seconds on the clock New York managed to make sure the investment of a glide bomb earlier wasn’t in vain, and in the ensuing defense held strong to start the comeback.   
• The play on the Berlin Hardpoint by Afro was impressive, but no one was more impressive than Hydra. The French phenom was on a mission, frying everything that moved, including an insane pistol shot jumping from P5 towards P4. He finished +19 kills, almost 12k in damage, and with a 1.25 KD, and 31/20 on that Berlin HP.
• Although he stumbled versus Faze, Kismet had a fantastic bounce back in the comeback versus London. He was constantly doing the dirty work, and he always seems to be on a spree even if he has a tough go of it for a moment. You need players like that, ones willing to die five times doing their job, not let it faze them (no pun intended), and then get full streaks.

Boston Breach vs Toronto Ultra

Actual: 3-1 Toronto Ultra

• It was a valiant effort, but Boston just couldn’t get going today. Maybe it’s just how Toronto matched up against you, but this was the first time this tournament it didn’t go to Game 5. All that being said, this was this squad’s first year in the league, and they made some waves. Maybe a full year with Vivid will help, but you have to think about TJHaLy’s role going forward. Especially if you can lure someone like Big Wake to Boston.
• The SMG duo has been so important for this team, and unfortunately this wasn’t their day. Both Nero and Vivid underachieved, and it wasn’t even the other SMGs who had their number. They combined for 161/203, -42 in kills, and a .80 KD. It felt like they just couldn’t do anything, and they were surprisingly ineffective on the opening Tuscan Hardpoint.
• The one positive, they thrashed the Ultra on the Desert Siege S&D, a map Toronto was supposed to be good at. They choked them out and never looked back, a perfect 6-0 that was never in question. Boston outslayed them by 14 kills, and even more their total deaths was only 8. Nero had several highlight plays, including a ridiculous three piece where he read every player on the Toronto side.

• They had to play this one a little bit differently than usual. We all know this squad as one that wins via the Search and Destroys and clutching the Control. However, this time it was all respawns, taking Boston out on Tuscan and Berlin. I totally understand the Berlin, your ARs are going to rule the map, but that one was closer than Tuscan. In any case, Ultra may want to double check their S&D heading into the match against Surge; they’ve yet to win one at Champs.
• You want to see CleanX pop off, you want to see Bance be annoying, and you want to see Insight icing up with insane S&D plays, but if Toronto wants to keep going, they need this version of Cammy. Often referred to as “Cold War Cammy”, this is the kind of form we haven’t really seen from him all year. We’ve seen glimpses, but we haven’t seen him take over a series. In this one, he was impacting the map, and Ultra desperately need that all weekend long.
• I mentioned Bance being annoying, and I’m really surprised how little it feels like we’ve seen of that this year. He had an okay series at 95/90, but he’s at his best when he can make life a living hell for the opposing team by getting behind them and making people account for him. Maybe it’s the team not being as dominant as before, forcing him to take more on in his role, but for Ultra to be their best, he has to get back to that.

Seattle Surge vs Atlanta Faze

Actual: 3-2 Atlanta Faze

• While I want to give credit to Seattle for what they accomplished in this one, in all fairness this so easily could have been a 3-0. In fact, Arcitys threw shade at them, saying they’d won 5-0. It was a margin of seconds, and Seattle has actually won their last three hardpoints by only 9 total points. Yes, Pred is incredible, and Mack made the kind of play he apparently reserves for Atlanta Faze, but you can’t rely on miracles at Champs. At least they get Toronto, assuming their Ws were flukes.
• The S&D woes continue. They were had on Berlin, with Mack and Pred combining for a 2/12 stat line. But the worst map in this one was the 5-6 loss to Faze, and all because of one statistic. Seattle had eight of the eleven first bloods on Tuscan. That means they had man advantage in eight rounds, and mostly squandered it. I’m not sure if they just got in their own heads, but they made questionable decisions that kept giving Faze second chances, and you can’t give the guys who last hoisted the trophy on this stage second chances.
• If they want to win tomorrow, they had better figure out Control and Search and Destroy fast. They’re 0-2 in Control, and 1-2 in Search, and they aren’t looking much better than they did at Major IV. Lose, and you’re out, so it’s time for an all-nighter. The easy way to get it done? Get Mack going, who only has a .56 KD in those modes at Champs.

• I’d be lying if I told you I was completely happy with those Hardpoints. Not sure what suddenly happened after the first half of the year when they were one of the best Hardpoint teams in the game, but the luck they’ve had as of recent in the closing moments has been abysmal. Play for scrap, you can’t break. Set up for the new hill, someone four instantly go down. They’re 1-3 so far this weekend and the one’s they’ve lost are separated by only 15 points. The clutch factor has to come into play, because the LA Thieves are up next.
• All hail the MVP. Once again, Cellium made his presence felt, even if they went all the way to Game 5. He was, as per usual, a menace, getting a wallbang kill at the “Shotzzy spot” in Fire on Berlin S&D, and reading the map perfectly anytime he was on it. He finished 91/63, +28 kills, and another 1.4 KD. It’s insane what he’s done this year.
• The very thing I got onto Boston Breach on during their Round 11 on Tuscan yesterday, I praise Faze for today. Why? They used their experience to execute. Now, Seattle certainly played too passively, but Atlanta also made moves to get their setup ready. That’s not the easiest thing on Tuscan, but Simp snuck through enemy lines to a corner as aBeZy planted the bomb, and Simp caught Pred as he tried to make a hero play, removing the Rookie of the Year from the equation. Before you knew it, Faze had three down, leaving Accuracy trapped between them and only managing a kill before going down.

Los Angeles Thieves vs Optic Texas

Actual: 3-0 Los Angeles Thieves

• This was not at all how I expected this to go. I certainly thought LAT would play a heck of a game, but they straight up EMBARRASSED Optic. 250-58 Gavutu Hardpoint? And your SMG only had 19 engagements, but over 3 minutes of hill time? That was about as perfect as you can play it, and while I won’t play back Kenny’s previous comments, challenge them on Gav at your own risk.
• It just kept going really. The 6-4 Search and Destroy was close, but it wasn’t really in too much doubt after the 4-3 round. Envoy and Shotzzy, Scump’s previous duo and his current one, were in a 1v1, and Envoy had the bomb down. Shotzzy may have saw him first, but Envoy read the play right and used a box as cover to wallbang him down. It was a turning point, because map point was too much for Optic to overcome.
• Finally, Octane. I don’t necessarily like him, but I respect his incredible skill, and “The Human Turret” was on display today. He was 69/39, an incredible +30 kills and 1.77 KD. I’m not sure we’ve seen such a high KD in a match this year, and the team around him was frying as well. If you can keep them off AR maps you’ve got a shot, but if they keep this up, you’ll have a hard time beating them in a nine map series.

• Well, that didn’t go as planned for Optic. That was a beatdown of massive proportions, and not one that inspires you to be better. That’s one where you question everything about how you played, because obviously nothing worked. And then you have to face a New York squad coming off a icy reverse sweep, with Crimsix who has had your number this year? You can only play who is in front of you, and Optic are not getting the best hand dealt after the win versus Toronto.
• It wasn’t a good game for anyone on this team, but Shotzzy and iLLeY had the worst time of it. iLLeY just couldn’t do anything in respawns, -30 kills in those, and even worse a .46 KD in them. You have to muster more than 24 kills, which is something Envoy did in the Gavutu Control alone. Shotzzy had a terrible Hardpoint, going 7/21. It’s even worse when you realize he died eleven times straight to end it.
• I’m not sure exactly what to say from this one beyond that they looked completely outmatched. This team has endured its struggles, losing iLLeY for half the season and having to play with a substitute. But it’s a bit concerning that they looked better then than they do now. They seem to have peaked all too early, and the Major I win seems so far away with where they are right now. It’s not an impossible loser’s run ahead, but it’s certainly not a cake walk given who is left standing.

Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for more Call Of Duty League news, info, videos, and more, and we’ll do our best to bring you content here and on our YouTube channel! You can follow the league both live and after hours on the official Call Of Duty League YouTube channel right here. If you want to jump into the game, check out CallOfDuty.com, and if you want to know more about it first, check out our review right here.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: