Call Of Duty League Stage 1/Week 3/Day 3 takeaways — Finishing the fight

It’s the final day of the Call Of Duty League’s first stage of qualifier matches before Major I. This day rounded out mostly as we expected, besides maybe a much easier game from one crew. Here’s what we thought, although we’re disappointed to have to wait a week to see more Call Of Duty action.

London Royal Ravens vs Seattle Surge

• It was definitely exciting to see these two play each other, especially with the storylines of these two franchises turning everything around. But what may have been more surprising than that was how London didn’t really seem at all bothered beyond the Search and Destroy. They took it to Seattle, including on arguably Seattle’s best map and mode, Gavutu Control.
• They may have blown the game versus the Guerrillas, but there was none of that here. Every single player was positive and sported a 1.10 KD or higher. Besides a really rough Berlin S&D, they only were -2 kills between the entire squad in the wins, a -1 by Nastie in both Hardpoints.
• Afro really turned up today. He started the Gavutu Control with a 7 spree, getting fully streaked out. If he can continue this momentum into Major I they can make some noise.

• For Seattle this is a really disappointing loss. I can’t say I know the math or the tiebreakers, but they seem to have gone from top 2 or 3 to a possible 5th or 6th spot. That really sucks for them.
• You may not get a lot of stats here, and that’s because this tests the resolve of Seattle. We saw Pred get really angry at the end and quit out of the match so that his stats were missing on the final feed. It’s a young team, albeit with a guy who’s been there in Accuracy. I think they’ll be fine, but the pressure is on and they have to answer it.
• Speaking of the rookies, here’s a few stats for ya. They were not good today, and you could even say they were shut down. Together Sib and Pred were -42 kills, with a .75/76 KD. They’ve got to let this one slide off their back.

Boston Breach vs Optic Texas

• We talked above about the heartbreak for Seattle, but even overmatched you have to think they felt this was winnable, especially after somehow hanging on to win the opening Gavutu Hardpoint. But three straight losses, including a stomping on the Gavutu Control, was the unfortunate end to this one.
• Maybe it’s just me, but I’d be really frustrated with my team if I was Nero after the final Tuscan Hardpoint. I went off on an 8 spree, got streaks, we grabbed 33 unanswered points on the opening hardpoint, we had a great setup for point 2. But upon heading to P3, we had a grand total of 37 points. It’s unacceptable to play that good to start and only get four points.
• The one positive from this match has to be the aforementioned Nero playing out of his mind. He hasn’t really had a great series yet, so maybe it’s the start of a breakout for him.

OpTic getting big maps from all four players today. Dashy on this HP, Shotzzy, iLLeY on SnD, Scump on control. Good sign for a team that preaches that they have no carry.

— Sean Collins (@seanzcollins) February 20, 2022

• For Optic, this is literally the best case scenario you could have hoped for sans the blown Gavutu Hardpoint and near collapse on the Tuscan S&D. This shows real grit though, and as long as you walk away with the W versus the tougher teams Optic will take it.
• This team went from being worried about playing from losers to the number four seed in the winners bracket. They also took down Toronto 3-0 to do it. That’s serious momentum to carry into your home field of the eSports Stadium Arlington.
• Scump may have not been the superstar of this match, but Dash, Illey, and Shotzzy are rolling, and that may be more important.

Atlanta Faze vs New York Subliners

• If you were worried about Faze after they came back to close out the Berlin Hardpoint, the Tuscan S&D put your mind at ease. It was dominant, with Faze grabbing nearly every first blood to give themselves numbers advantage.
• Atlanta’s approach to Gavutu Control is blowing my mind. It seems like they don’t know what they’re doing at all times. They’re getting picked constantly, they turtle up and play slow… on both offense and defense. It makes no sense. The win versus Boston looks like a fluke, and it seems like they might lose a tournament because of a coin flip.
• The Tuscan Hardpoint was a bloodbath, and it was aBeZy and Arcitys who helped win the day. aBeZy’s constant pressure on a map like Tuscan can’t be underestimated, and Arcitys timely plays keep them in the thick of things. The one thing I don’t like, twice New York was able to grab spawns at tank because someone leaked through. Can’t do that versus good teams.

GGs to NY! We won 3-1! Crim is my son at this point #eZaF

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— FaZe aBeZy (@aBeZy) February 20, 2022

• New York started well on the Berlin Hardpoint, and they kept it close, but they just couldn’t close it out. Then they dropped the Tuscan Hardpoint with a bad start. It seems like they can’t get out of their own way in this mode, and they have yet to win one this season.
• At least for all the bad, Royalty did look better even on higher ping. He finished -8 kills, a far cry from yesterday’s -26 kills. He also felt like he was impactful on several rotations in Hardpoint, which is what you need to start winning them.
• They’re starting in losers, but they may be the most deadly of all of them. By that, I mean this team is ridiculously scrappy, the veteran leadership they have can turn series around, and most importantly, I think everyone is underestimating them. I wouldn’t bet against Clay and Crim, who could very well be the last losers bracket starting team left standing after day one.

Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for our takeaways as the season 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.

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