Call of Duty League 2027 Power Rankings after the Monster Energy Launch Invitational

It's been a quick start to the launch of Modern Warfare 4, with the games release, a new season, and the pre-season tournament occurring within the first two weeks of release, give or take a day. While it's far too early to predict who's going to win Champs, there are some teams in the Call of Duty League who have already made waves during the Monster Energy Launch Invitational, especially considering how much of a shuffle we saw during the offseason. Below are our power rankings.

1. Toronto KOI

They had been looking good in scrims, but I don't think anyone would have predicted a trophy for the guys at KOI. I always looked at them to be in the top four, as moving on from Insight would speed them up, but the pace at which they played this weekend was insane. Kips looks like a superstar, following up what probably should have been a ROTY campaign with a 1.22 KD in the tournament (BreakingPoint doesn't have Hijack listed on the leaderboard so it may be better or worse). He was flying around the map. RenKor also popped takeover several times, trading maps with Ethan, who might be a ROTY candidate in his own right. With CleanX being the steady presence he is, KOI's 6-0 run and 19-3 map count could be an indicator of a juggernaut

2. Paris GentleMates

I'd have had them listed as the top team if not for KOI's dominance. Paris is on the same level, however, handling their run through the bracket with relative ease outside of a close match with Los Angeles Thieves and of course losing twice to KOI. Still, the thought process behind bringing in Vegas Faze's Champs-winning trio is paying dividends immediately. You can tell how comfortable they are together watching the minimap. 04 is making impact off the rip with his pacing, and Drazah looked final in most matches, turning the tides whenever they were in peril. I wouldn't put it past them to make the Major 1 Grand Final and even win the whole thing.

3. Optic Texas

You have to think this was a bit of a discouraging finish. Sure, Faze lost to Cloud 9 New York as well, but this is the one team that didn't make a single change to their roster. Could this game just not suit them as well? Admittedly, the left stick forward stylings of the recent Black Ops omnimovement titles gave Optic the opportunity to headbash their way to plenty of victory, so who knows. That said, it may take them some time to acclimate. Mercules seemed to feel a lot of the pain, with a pedestrian 1.02 KD, and Dashy's 1 KD wasn't helping either. They seemed to get in the hole early and mount comebacks too late. At least they have a month to regroup and find their flow – we all know Optic can start slow.

4. Cloud 9 New York

Call me crazy for sticking them here, but I'd really only put Faze above them and you could argue these spots are interchangable. Cloud 9 looked great, but with major caveats. Yes, they did beat both Optic and Faze, and looked good doing so. That said, this team is majorly map and their AR duo dependent. I don't trust Insight or Cammy to be able to keep up once other teams have their feet under them. If you ban Rooftops versus them, you limit the ARs ability to post up and play positioning while their SMGs roam and slay. That said, Pred looked tremendous, and Lurqxx could be in the MVP running with better teammates next to him. Can they keep it up to and past Major 1 though? I'm not sold. This feels like the Carolina Royal Ravens all over again.

5. Vegas Faze

After the first series versus the Huntsmen Challengers squad, I was a bit worried. Then, they started putting a few things together. This team is raw – they don't know how to play together just yet, and systematically they are making plenty of mistakes. Even so, the talent is undeniable, and once they get more matches and scrims under their belts, look out. Hydra was all over the map and looked like the best SMG in the game, sporting a 1.20 KD despite underperformances by his teammates. There were several moments in their matches where he won them the map by himself. If he gets started early, after starting slow most of his career, he could easily be the MVP. I'm disappointed in both ARs, as Scrap wasn't very impactful, and Alluka looked like a rookie and like he was trying to find his place among his superstar teammates. I think they'll figure it out, but this wasn't the best showing even if there were positives to take away.

6. Miami Heretics

Similarly interchangeable are the six and seven spots, but I'm going to pick Miami here. They at least beat a pro team and made the final eight team bracket compared to Riyadh Falcons (who they beat), and Los Angeles Thieves. This team also reminds me of Cloud 9 in that I'm not sold on them being able to have staying power once we make it into the regular season. Super and ReeaL were cooking, with 1.22 and 1.19 KDs between them. MettalZ and Snoopy were abysmal, however, with both falling under .97 KDs. For a team that generally has lived by the sword in their gameplay style, they're going to die by it when more fundamentally sound teams play them. Considering Faze had less cohesion between them and handled Miami in the respawns, I'm not convinced they'll be a threat at a Major.

7. Los Angeles Thieves

I'll give them one on Falcons considering they can hang with the big boys. They lost gritty matches to GentleMates and Cloud 9, but lost handily in the Search and Destroys. You'd almost just chalk it up to a bad weekend, as the trio of Ghosty, Envoy, and aBeZy don't usually play badly in Searches. Like Faze, they need time to figure out each other. At least aBeZy looked like the superstar player they'll need him to be this year, leading the tournament (albeit with only two games played) with a 1.34 KD. If Ghosty and Envoy are dependable and DK develops and breaks out, Thieves can be hard outs and surprise at Majors.

8. Riyadh Falcons

Another team that underachieved, and you could argue this one is worse with the level of players on deck. After dropping Exnid, picking up Sib, and trading for Kremp, I expected a lot more out of the Falcons. However, they only managed to beat a single team over the weekend, and it was an amateur one in Telluride Bush, who almost beat them in the final bracket qualifier match. This team could be like Faze, needing time to gel and figure out what the other is doing on the map. That said, you've got a selfless player in Kismet surrounded by three island players in Cellium, Sib, and Kremp. They will beat the bad teams and upset some good teams, but I'm not sure if the talent on paper will translate if they can't find a way to work together.

9. G2 Minnesota

This is where we hit the grab bag portion of the power rankings – you could throw almost anyone here in the bottom 12 and it'd probably make sense. I'm giving the nod to G2, and only because they made the final eight team bracket. Simply put, this is a team thrown together and will likely lose to everyone ahead of them, but at least have the capability of beating teams under them, even if its tough sledding. This is a safe team; they're all decently solid players. The problem is this team doesn't have any potential – none of these players have been able to overachieve at the pro level unless you count TJHaLy's maddening inconsistent pop offs or Spart's singular Vanguard tournament where a gun meta shift dictated the win more than he did. All of them looked rough and only got out of the bracket by beating Carolina twice.

10. Carolina Royal Ravens

Which brings us to Carolina. Sheesh, buckle up Royal Raven fan. It's going to be rough now that you're without Lurqxx. At least the team is trying something with Renegade, and Nejra has potential. I'm not thrilled about the Skyz and Owakening duo on AR – this isn't Modern Warfare 2019, and it showed. There isn't as much to say here as with other teams, but if I'm Carolina, I'm picking up the first couple of ARs that make headlines from Challengers. You could do worse, trust me.

11. Boston M80

As much as they probably deserve to be on the bottom since they didn't win a single map, at least it came at the hands of pro teams. Neptune had the worst day of all 64 players according to BreakingPoint, with a .65 KD that looks worse when you consider he only had 6 maps on the board. None of them got higher than the 46th ranked KD, with Estreal at a .79. KD isn't everything, but someone has to kill someone in order to win a map. I think they have the capability to be a good team, but this was a terrible first showing.

12. Vancouver Surge

Hopefully they can sell the spot soon. On day one, they won the first launch tournament and everyone was talking about how good the two rookies of Nemensions and Vik could be. Wevy also showed potential on Cloud 9 last year. Instead, they got knocked out of the tournament by Bush, the only team outside of Faze's surprise to lose to a Challengers team. The problem for Surge is that they don't have the talent for that not to be a regular issue, which isn't good considering there are several Pro-Ams this year. Get SpaceStation on the phone already.

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