The new-look Florida Mutineers knocked off the Minnesota RØKKR today to notch their first victory in the Call of Duty League’s final set of qualifiers in their second match with their new roster.
After falling to the Boston Breach earlier this weekend in the team’s first official series since signing MajorManiak and 2ReaL ahead of the season’s fourth stage, the Mutineers looked like an entirely different team in a 3-0 sweep of Minnesota. Of course, MajorManiak had been a member of the RØKKR since the start of the 2021 CDL season before he was dropped during the midseason break in April.
While Florida’s newest AR player is always even-keel, it’s hard to think that this match wasn’t circled on the calendar for him and his teammates. MajorManiak played on a different level, dropping 67 kills over the series’ three games and posted a match-high 1.40 series K/D in a dominant performance against his old team.
“It feels good,” MajorManiak said in a post-game interview. “I think it feels, more importantly, better though, because of our lack of practice, especially in SnD. For us to come out and actually win that Bocage in the way we did was big. And now we have an extra week to actually prep and scrim and get a lot of reps in, so that’ll help as well. It feels good to play against them and get that dub.”
While the series did not look close in map count, the individual maps were full of drama. In a back-and-forth Tuscan Hardpoint that saw multiple lead changes, Florida made incredibly clutch plays to break into the final hill to take map one 250-246. While the Mutineers ran away with the Bocage Search and Destroy, MajorManiak led Florida with a 9-4 statline en route to a 6-2 victory, putting his team up 2-0.
In the series’ final map, Tuscan Control, each team won their defensive rounds to send it to overtime. Minnesota needed just one more tick at the B point with Havok appearing to be a split-second away from pushing it to a fourth map. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Skyz had other plans and knocked Havok off the hill, ensuring the victory and sweep for Florida.
With the victory, Florida are now tied for ninth place with Minnesota in the standings. Both teams have 120 CDL Points and are just five points away from the eighth-place Los Angeles Guerrillas. The top-eight teams in the standings will play for the CDL Championship in Los Angeles in August.
The Mutineers will be back in action next week, taking on the London Royal Ravens on Saturday, July 2 at 2pm CT. Minnesota will take on the Royal Ravens on Friday, July 1 at 3:30pm CT.
