Call Of Duty League 2022 Major III/Week 3/Day 1 takeaways — More than a Faze?

Not the most competitive day for the Call Of Duty League today, and the weird thing is you’d have expected more out of the matchups we saw. Maybe not necessarily from Paris Legion, but even they have managed better than we’ve generally seen out of them. I guess today was somewhat of a lost day for the viewers… unless you hate Faze. We’ll get into that below.

Paris Legion vs Toronto Ultra

Actual: 3-0 Toronto Ultra

• This is really the end of this team. After showing some heart and resilience back in Major II, both at the qualifiers and the tournament, and showing up at the Pro-Am, they’ve fallen to 0-5. Not only that, they had beaten Toronto in those qualifiers and both teams were headed in opposite directions. Not any more.
• There were rumors before this match that Temp didn’t want to play at all this weekend, and you somewhat wish he didn’t. He didn’t necessarily turn in a stinker, but his .91 KD is definitely below standard for the guy who literally has been dragging this team to being competitive. If Paris wants to compete next year, assuming they don’t up and sell, they need to figure out how to build around him and GRVTY.
• That is to say, chalk this SMG line now. It isn’t going to get any better than this, with John and Jimbo alternating how bad they can perform each week. I’m even willing to say that Jimbo’s situation is just like Decemates, held back by what this team can do, and let’s not forget they’re not playing from a facility so I believe Jimbo is facing higher ping disadvantages. For John, it’s time to cut him and look at the future, because there’s not a moment I can look at from him this season where he’s the difference maker for this team.

• Toronto is starting to feel themselves now and get into a groove that could help them be one of the last teams standing at their own home Major tournament. Every single one of them was in the positive, and they outslayed Paris by 33 kils.
• Cammy is starting to come on again, and if he can get back to his MVP potential that will be scary for the rest of the league. Sure, he was only +16 kills with 7k damage and a 1.33 KD in a short series versus Paris, who seem to have finally quit trying, but any way this guy can rebound will suddenly put Toronto on track to compete for chips. I’ll never forget his snapping on all four of Faze in a Raid S&D round which kept the Grand Finals of Champs close. He’s an all-world player and talent, and we haven’t seen this level of play out of him in a while.
• Ultra continues to look good in Control, and they’ll need that to keep going for them in order to beat the Optics of the world. The 3-0 was quick and decisive, with no one dropping below an even score. If they can make Berlin their playground, suddenly they have two good maps under their belt (Tuscan being the other), and it’ll make other teams sweat during the veto process.

Seattle Surge vs Florida Mutineers

Actual: 3-1 Seattle Surge

• Seattle may not be the world beater some thought they might be at the beginning of the season, but they have enough in the tank to always be a pain in the side of teams vying for championships. The 3-1 felt somewhat clinical, and if they hadn’t had to fight back down 4-1 in the Search and Destroy this may have been a 3-0. Look for them to take this momentum into the weekend as they face London for a chance to rise in the winner’s bracket.
• This is exactly what you want to see from the rookies, especially from Pred. When Sib and Pred get kicked down, this roster really struggles, but if they can be more consistent this team will beat teams like Optic and Faze. Pred in particular was going rogue and had 126 engagements in the Hardpoints, even throwing up 32 on a “tough on SMGs” map like Berlin. Even more important was his 1.38 KD between both maps, 73/53 on the day.
• Maybe Mack needs to get sick again, because his stats during his “flu game” run were insane compared to what we’re seeing. Some of that could be the rookies playing so much better, after all, only so many kills to go around, but he had a rough Bocage HP and S&D to start off the match. He picked it up in the Control and Berlin HP, but they need his pop-off games if they want to go deep into the next tournament.

• I sure hope Florida is still playing sick, because they didn’t have a great day on the sticks. Beyond Davpadie’s even stat line, they were outslayed by -27 kills, and largely couldn’t find their footing, especially at the end of Berlin when they couldn’t even touch P1 due to Seattle’s slaying. Get well guys, it doesn’t get any easier versus a competent Boston team that wants to get into the winners bracket.
• I hate saying this every time, but this Mutineers team only goes as far as Skyz takes them. He had the least amount of engagements of his team and impacted those engagements less than anyone. Say all you want about Vivid’s inconsistencies, at least he’s out there getting in people’s faces. Skyz was 63/74 for a .85 KD, and only had more damage than Davpadie and Mack in the lobby. He’s got to be more impactful.
• I’m very concerned about this team’s sudden fall off in Control. They’ve lost 3 out of 4 this stage, and they only won the one on Gavutu versus a struggling Guerrilla’s team. Between Major’s I and II they were 9-6, not necessarily a commanding stat, but they were at least ahead, and they were looked at as a top attacking team. Other squads do get better and you have to adjust, but that third game mode is going to be the difference more times than none.

Minnesota Rokkr vs Atlanta Faze

Actual: 3-0 Minnesota Rokkr

• Talk about heading into Major III with confidence. In an ultimate “prove you’re legit” match, Minnesota didn’t just beat Atlanta Faze, they smashed them into the flipping ground. They knocked them out on their best map in the Bocage Hardpoint by 100 points, trashed them with six straight round wins after Faze’s initial round win on Bocage S&D, and then made them look stupid in a 6-15 life count where Faze should have taken them out in a final 3-1 Control round. It was clinical, and this team will look scary versus anyone at the Major.
• For all we’ve said bad about him, Priestahh may be finally adjusting into his role as the main AR. The stat line may not look incredible at +7 kills and a 1.14 KD, but he made a bunch of important kills for his team, locking in spawns and time in that crucial Bocage Hardpoint which arguably decided the series. If he can keep this up, including a nearly flawless 10-1 S&D where he didn’t die once after the initial round, they’ll do damage at the Major.
• Someone who isn’t needing any adjustment at all is Attach. This role was made for him, and Faze should be embarrassed the man only got traded out 10 times the entire series. He was a mind-bending +23 kills and 1.55 KD along with that ridiculous non-traded stat, along with the most damage in the lobby by 1300 points.

• Faze is my favorite team in the league ever since its inception, not because I’m a homer but because I was already an Atlanta Reign fan and aBeZy is from my area. That being said, I’m not going to pull punches or be biased, because this team got straight up embarrassed and I’m not even sure they can beat LAG on Saturday. They look lost, which I’ve said many times before, but it hasn’t been as bad as this. This is the first time this starting four has ever been taken out 3-0, and they have a lot of soul-searching to do headed into Major III. 
• Cellium was doing his best to cover up this team’s inconsistencies, but every once in a while you have a bad day. He had his here, and you have to wonder if Minnesota intentionally looked to take him out of the game. No one else was able to step up, and Cell looked oddly human in this one with the least amount of kills on his team at 42/56 for a .75 KD and -14 kill. He’ll have to shake this one off if this team has any chance in the upcoming tournament.
• After a championship year in which no one came close to them, you can’t be nearly as confident in Faze as you were. In power rankings they’ll be at best a third depending on how the rest of the weekend shapes up, and even as low as top six. I still think they have the talent to be the best in the league, but something is going on over there that’s keeping them from manifesting it. Maybe they just hate Vanguard that much, maybe Optic really did break their mental state, but they’ve got to summon that championship pedigree and figure it out right now, because they’re probably about to drop their hold on first in CDL points.

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