Well, we all expected some good games, but we expected close games. We certainly got good games and “technically” close games, but no one though those would be four 3-0s. I can also tell you that no one expected two of the 3-0s as well. I don’t want to give any of it away, so let’s get into what happened, and how it shapes tomorrow.
Florida Mutineers vs London Royal Ravens
- Florida almost seemed like they were trying to lose the first two maps of this one, and then exploded in the middle of each game to take some very improbable victories. It’s not always making the splash plays, it’s making each shot count, and they totally did that today.
- I’ll be honest, I don’t know if even Florida realized the comeback they just made. After the fourth round they lost they made some insane adjustments, making London play at their pace and hard countering them, especially in that 10th round that was over in the blink of an eye. This team is always one to watch out for, especially if they play together.
- The Mutineers just decided to slay out in that final round of Control. It looked like London had a ticket back into this one given the round 5 defense, but Florida made it so dang mixy. Add in Davpadie playing like a demon in that round (finishing 31/19), and it all led to an almost inconceivable 3-2 win to a 3-0 sweep.
- Good golly Zero have mercy. The Tuscan Search and Destroy was ridiculous, with Zero’s 8 spree allowing the Royal Ravens to sprint out to a 4-0 lead. The most incredible shot of his many hits was the hop snipe from vines, and if Trei is hitting those all tournament you might as well hang it up. It unfortunately didn’t win them the map, but sheesh, those were stupid shots.
- Every time London seemed to have a hold at the start, they crumbled when it mattered. They looked great at the start of the Gavutu Hardpoint, but Florida held only the 4th perfect hill of the year on P3. For one of the best breaking teams of the year, that’s unacceptable.
- Following that up with the Control, they almost won that opening offense with 5 ticks. That almost guaranteed the Royal Ravens would get defense in the fifth round, and they held on until they got it. But, you have to stop them, and it seemed like Florida rushed them in that final offense and they just couldn’t figure it out. London got 3-0ed because they made plenty of mistakes and couldn’t step it up in clutch moments, and that’s why they’ll be playing tomorrow for their tournament lives.
Los Angeles Guerrillas vs Boston Breach
- It really sucks watching this team without Gunless on it. Spart is giving it his all, and you can see that, but he’s running on such a small amount of practice with this team and versus CDL pros. They made each map mixy, but you can’t help but think Gunless might swing a map or two their way.
- Now, the one thing I didn’t expect at all was a meta change, and Spart brought it man! We’ll have to see if LAG lasts longer than the next match, but ones things for sure, the impact he made with that weapon will be felt, even if it gets GA’d (which is impact). In that round he started 16/6, with a 39/25 finish.
- This might have been a 3-0, but it was very tightly contested. Boston only had 4 more kills than the Guerrillas, so they obviously didn’t go down without a fight.
- Boston played a much better Gavutu HP than they did versus London. It was pretty close at first, but once they started getting breaks on hills it changed the outcome. Methodz was his excellent self in this one, but Capsidal played an integral role in the finish, with some great multi-kills to keep LAG off the hill and a 22/18 scoreline.
- Boston’s S&D was good today with the 6-3 Berlin win, but not great. There were too many moments where the Guerillas made it close in 3v1 situations, bringing it to a 1v1 twice. You can’t let that happen versus anyone, but in a major tournament those could cost you a shot versus the top squads.
- What a baller final offense on the Tuscan Control for Boston. It looked kind of chalked for them, down 14 to 20 lives, but Breach just played patiently and waited to have map control to make their move. Four went down after Methodz got control of Radio, and several players stacked the point. A bunch of gunfights ensued, but Boston had the upper hand in the trades.
Atlanta Faze vs New York Subliners
- New York tried to make it 7 in a row, but Faze was just too strong on Gavutu Hardpoint. It started a bit slow for the reigning champs, but you could see things completely change as the game went on. Just look at Arcitys, who started 0-5 and finished 19-17 and dropping a glide bomb to put the cherry on top of the win. The two heads up rotations at the final P3 and P4 by Simp and Cellium were also phenomenal calls, and both gave Faze the points to blow it open in the 250-146 victory.
- It felt like Atlanta was looking to lose the Search and Destroy, but Simp said no. His 1v3 clutch was a thing of beauty, reading the map perfectly, then followed it up in the next defensive round with a 1v2. He swings S&D maps their way, and it’s a reminder why he was named MVP last year.
- Here’s our regular, “what the crap is wrong with Faze on Gavutu Control” bullet point. I really have no clue why they make it so hard, even in this win it looked like Crimsix was going to clutch up versus an entire team. They pulled it off in the end but they had to drag it back down 0-2. Atlanta won’t be able to do that against the better teams in this tournament, and you have to think every single team will pick Gavutu on them.
- I’ll give New York this, it was like all the other 3-0s today, a competitive one. In fact, they may have given Faze more trouble than anyone expected. If not for the falling apart at the end of the S&D and Control, we might have been looking at a game 5.
- For the fanfare around PaulEhx, he took the brunt of Faze’s bullets. He finished 45/66, -21 kills, and a .68 KD. His roughest spot was the Control, with -13 kills in the loss.
- It was a hard fought battle, but it wasn’t the SMGs holding New York back. Neptune seems like he’s finally hit his stride, and Hydra is heating up as well. Combined they were 114/107, +7 kills, and a 1.07 KD. If they can keep up those numbers and do even better there’s a chance they can make a loser’s bracket run.
Seattle Surge vs Optic Texas
- That just happened. After losing to them twice, Seattle asserted their kingslayer abilities and pulled off the unthinkable, not just beating Optic, but demolishing them 3-0. Sure, that was happening all day, but no one expected this one, at least, not with the Surge winning.
- It all started out on Bocage, and it wasn’t that close with a 250-159 win. They managed to win this one versus Optic, but it wasn’t a fluke, you could tell they were dialed in. With hold after hold and break after break that map was never in question, and Mack was on point, even though he was apparently sick according to Pred via Sean Collins of the Dallas Morning news. He was a running multi-kill every time he was in the feed.
- How did it happen AGAIN?! Accuracy again hopped a defuse, and Optic just sat there letting him do it. I don’t know why teams plant the bomb towards Radio steps and don’t cover it. After that he had another clutch on the ensuing offense, managing to trade out Dashy then beaming Shotzzy who was up in Radio.
- This one has to sting for Optic. They came out flat, but you still expected them to rebound, especially in the Control. But Seattle didn’t leave anything to chance, taking them out in 4 rounds and the Major I champs dropped to the loser’s bracket. The records at stake were two-fold, Toronto’s 13 Control wins that they had tied, and Atlanta’s 13 win streak from last season, of which they had 12. Both disappeared in this one, and there’s a long road ahead.
- iLLeY makes great reads and great plays, but he was shut down in this one. He didn’t have a single positive map when it comes to kills, finishing -21 and a .68 KD. Some days you just can’t figure it out (my recent Ranked Play says hello), and today must have been that day for iLLeY.
- I know Optic fans still show out, but could the lack of home field advantage had an effect here? Sure, it doesn’t change entire maps, but you can’t say it doesn’t help when you’re down 2-0 to have the entire venue screaming Let’s Go Optic. I don’t expect them to crap the bed tomorrow, but don’t forget they have to play Minnesota, and this is their Major. Could make for an interesting mix of support.
Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for our takeaways as Major II continues, 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.
David Burdette is a gamer/writer/content creator from TN and Lead Editor for Gaming Trend. He loves Playstation, Star Wars, Marvel, and many other fandoms. He also plays way too much Call Of Duty. You can chat with him on Twitter @SplitEnd89.
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