The Dallas Empire clutched up in game five, round 11 today to put the finishing touches on a 3-2 win over the Toronto Ultra in their winners bracket semifinal match at the 2021 Call of Duty League Championship.
With this victory, Dallas find themselves in the winners final of CoD Champs for the second consecutive year, looking to repeat as champions. But despite being the defending champs, many pundits have teams like the Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Chicago ahead of Dallas. The notion that Dallas aren’t favorites this time around isn’t lost on iLLeY.
“We won Champs last year. There’s a reason we won Champs. It’s not luck,” the star AR player said to Jess Brohard after the series. “We’re being underrated but it’s all good. I honestly like being the underdog. I like showing everyone what we’re capable of and we’re going to show everyone what we’re capable of this weekend.”
Dallas are winning series in the same fashion they did on their way to the 2020 CDL Championship: by playing good Call of Duty, even if it means being outslayed. The Empire are concerned with winning and nothing else, making the dirty plays necessary to come out on top. The only member of Dallas to post a positive K/D throughout the series was Shotzzy, holding a 1.23 K/D over the match’s five games. The rest of the Empire went a combined negative 19, but they made the necessary winning plays.
Dallas are on a collision course with the winner of the Atlanta FaZe and New York Subliners match and both teams provide interesting storylines. Atlanta, who bested the Empire 5-4 in the grand finals at the Stage Four Major, have been the best team all season long and have had Dallas’ number since the Empire knocked FaZe off last season to claim the CDL Championship.
On the other side, New York’s best player is a familiar foe. Clayster, who spent last season with the Empire and helped them bring home the championship, is back in the Subliners’ starting lineup and has New York looking like a legitimate threat to claim the throne. Either team the Empire face will bring a personal flair to the CDL Playoffs winners final match tomorrow evening, especially with a shot at the grand finals of CoD Champs on the line.
Toronto held a 2-1 lead today heading into the map four, Moscow Hardpoint, and were looking like they were going to run away with the map and series. But unfortunately for the Ultra, who are coming off the worst collapse in CDL history, their lead in the Hardpoint and ultimately the series slipped away. They did bring a 5-2 deficit in game five back to an even 5-5 scoreline, but they were unable to win the needed sixth round.
Toronto will now take on OpTic Chicago in an elimination match at 5pm CT today.
