The Los Angeles Thieves punched their ticket to Championship Sunday at the Call of Duty League’s Boston Major with an impressive 3-0 victory today over the Toronto Ultra today.
Los Angeles have now won three straight series 3-0 since they lost their opening match of the tournament to OpTic Texas in the first round of the winners bracket. The victory gets them to Sunday and also brings them one step closer to the elimination finals. And in one of their most important matches of the season, the Thieves’ biggest stars shined brightest.
In the series’ first map, Mercado Hardpoint, Octane and his Los Angeles teammates started off hot. The veteran earned full streaks right off the bat, and his 31-13 performance was a major catalyst in the 250-165 victory that was never that close. The team’s other AR player, Drazah, impressed as well with a 17-14 statline in the Hardpoint.
In the Hotel Search and Destroy, Drazah and Octane were once again massive for the side of Los Angeles. The AR duo combined for 18 kills in the Thieves’ 6-2 victory. Drazah put up a 12-2 statline on his own, dominating Toronto throughout the map. Search and Destroy was a focal point for the Thieves after their loss to OpTic earlier this weekend, and it has clearly paid off.
“Last three series have been 3-0s, so it’s been pretty nice. You can’t ask for anything better than that,” Envoy told Dot Esports after the match. “I think I’m going to attribute all that to our game two, our searches. I think when it comes down to a tighter series, to a game five, I think if we keep those searches going, we’re going to still bring the ice.”
The series stayed at Hotel, this time for the third map on Control. But no matter the game type, Los Angeles has been rolling every team they have faced lately—and this game three was no different. The Thieves rode a huge performance from their star SMG player, Envoy, to a 3-1 victory. He posted a 1.48 K/D in the map and attributed Los Angeles’ dominant run on their regained confidence.
“When we play with confidence, you can see it in our gameplay and you can see it in the results,” Envoy said. “I’m expecting a big fight from everyone, everytime. I mean, all the teams this year, as the years go on in the CDL get better and better so I expect a fight. But the way we keep playing, hopefully it’s not.”
“Our SnD is looking a little better but I feel like it wasn’t really the game mode or map type,” the other half of L.A.’s sub duo, Kenny, echoed. “I think it was just a confidence issue for us.”
There clearly isn’t a confidence issue within the Thieves’ organization at the moment, and the team is looking to get back to their winning ways for the first time during the Modern Warfare 2 season. The defending CDL world champions will play the winner of the Boston Breach vs. Texas match with a spot in the elimination bracket finals on the line tomorrow at 2pm CT.
