Call Of Duty League Stage1/Week 1/Day 2 — What we think going in

The first day of the Call Of Duty League season is in the books! I can’t necessarily say I was surprised by the results (maybe by New York getting 3-0ed), but today could hold more insanity. We’ll finally get to see more of most people’s top three in Atlanta Faze, Toronto Ultra, and Optic Texas, as well as a rematch of the Kickoff Classic Grand Final. Take a look below and see what we think going in to today’s matches.

Atlanta Faze vs Paris Legion, Feb 5th at 3pm EST

• Faze didn’t look so hot in their first showing of the year, but neither did London or New York versus the unstoppable force known as the Seattle Surge. Again, it was just a preseason game, so it’s hard to read much into that match until Faze starts losing in the regular season.
• That being said, Simp needs to be the superstar he was last year for them to keep winning, especially in Control. He had I think his worst stat line ever at the Kickoff Classic, -16 kills and a .82 KD. Even worse was the Control, 13/22 for a .59 KD. Simp actually started 6/1, meaning he was a frustrating 7/21 after. I don’t think he ever wants to see that again, and he’ll come in with something to prove.
• What’s going to be really interesting this year is seeing what maps Faze is strongest on. They didn’t have many weaknesses at all last year, and part of that was using the regular season to establish what maps they were bad on. Did that happen at the Kickoff Classic? Or do we still know so little about this team? It seemed at the Kickoff like they’ve got work to do to find and become vetos.

• Paris, for all they’re dogged on, didn’t look half bad on the main stage. The Thieves nearly made it to the finals, yet Paris pushed them to a close opening Hardpoint and won the Control. Most of us thought it was a 3-0 first round bye for Los Angeles, but maybe the Legion have more in the tank than we thought.
• I don’t know that I can point to one particular player as to who has to be the “star” for this team. This feels closer to a situation where they just have to play more team ball and “out fundamental” other teams. They probably still won’t beat the Torontos or Optics, and we’ll see versus Faze today, but if they don’t panic and play together maybe they’ll surprise us.
• Even though I don’t want to point to one player, Decemate did have himself a nice match in the Kickoff Classic, posting +12 kills and a 1.17 KD. Besides a lackluster Search and Destroy those are indicators he’s probably got the most upside of them all.

London Royal Ravens vs Optic Texas, Feb 5th at 4:30pm EST

• Okay Ravens, you got it done versus the Florida Mutineers, but Optic present a much more difficult challenge. Even on a bad day Optic can rip up a bottom four team, so it’s up to London to show the world they’re better than that.
• The way the Ravens win this is by making Optic play slow, and make them come to you in my opinion. This Optic team feels like they want the map to be as chaotic as possible, so I’d veto Bocage the second possible.
• If Gismo can do what he did yesterday and Afro can make Pred-like flanks in Control, the Ravens may have a chance at upsetting the obviously favored Texas foursome.

• Even though the Ravens present a stiffer challenge than we saw from their outing at the Kickoff, this should be a 3-0 or 3-1. Let it get to a 5th map though, and I think Optic will start sweating, and panic isn’t something this team will handle well,
• TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK. Yeah it’s a stupid quote, but until Optic Texas starts playing together they won’t reach their lofty goals. We saw it the entire last season, and while this is a new team that needs a little time to gel, if these issues continue to pop up past the first 2 Majors it probably won’t get much better.
• As much as Shotzzy or Dashy are probably the superstars, Scump has to step into a leadership role and steer the ship. He has to keep them calm and collected, because I don’t know that we’re going to see that from anyone else, even if everyone speaks highly of and respects Illey.

Seattle Surge vs Toronto Ultra, Feb 5th at 6pm EST

• It’s insane that the Call Of Duty gods are already giving us a rematch of the Kickoff Classic Grand Finals, but we’ll take it. You have to think even being a preseason tournament that Seattle wants revenge, and they’ll have been burning the midnight oil looking over the VOD of their last meeting. I want this one to go to a map 5, and I’m sure Seattle wants that too.
• Besides the absolute destruction of the final Berlin Hardpoint, Seattle was largely competitive. That being said, I’d veto that Berlin Hardpoint, even if just to keep from PTSD creeping in.
• That last map does skew the overall stats, but Accuracy and Mack need to be more impactful, even if they’re only even or positive by a few kills.

• For Toronto, they have to remember what they did on the Berlin Hardpoint and just do that again all year. That was a smackdown, with Insight and Bance reeking havoc to the tune of +29 and CleanX seemingly everywhere, outgunning Seattle every rotation.
• When it comes to vetos, try to set up maps where your speed as a team will be an advantage. That means dropping Bocage on Hardpoint, because chaos isn’t your friend Toronto. This team is cold and calculated, so places like Gavutu and Berlin are their stomping grounds.
• Speaking of Gavutu, Toronto didn’t play it once in their three maps of Control. I know it’s versus Seattle and their perfect record, but I’d still want to get reps on it early, or else teams may take advantage of it once more Control maps are in rotation. Who better to learn against than the Kings of Gavutu?

New York Subliners vs Los Angeles Guerrillas, Feb 5th at 7:30pm EST

• If there were ever a chance for a get right game for New York, it’s here. I don’t know if it’s just been playing the better team, but Seattle has beaten you twice now. The Guerrillas aren’t as bad as their record, but they’re no pushovers.  You’ve got to go in with a killer mentality and not let the frustrations of the previous matches get in your head. Talking to you Clayster.
• We talked about it in yesterday’s takeaways, but Hydra has to dictate the maps. He is your superstar and your entry sub, and barely being positive isn’t going to work. He’s got to take over, and stomping his competition in Huke and Asim into the dirt is where it has to start.
• For all we talk about Hydra, Neptune also needs to step up. He’s not always going to be the guy to take over the map, but I want to see some smart plays out of him that change the momentum. That quick defuse to push the Bocage Search and Destroy to a round 11 is exactly what I’m talking about, but then he seemed caught out of position by Pred in the final round. If Neptune gets away with his life (and looking at the map he could have), it could have been a different story.

• For Los Angeles, you’ve been gut punched twice, and unlike New York you haven’t beaten anyone this year. It has to get better, but it starts with figuring out your slow starts on Search and Destroy. Simply put, they looked awful yesterday, with Boston running up huge round leads before LAG even started to make comebacks. You can’t let a team get that far out in front of you in this league, and S&D can win championships.
• We talked about it yesterday, but Huke has to stop being so inconsistent. One second he drops nearly 40 and the next it’s a donut. He’s arguably the superstar on this team, it’s time to play like it every map.
• Even with the team underperforming, Gunless was really consistent in the flex role. If he can keep being solid for this team they at least have a chance in any match they’re in.

Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for our takeaways as this week’s matches takes place, 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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