The first Saturday of the 2022 Call of Duty League season provided instant classics. The Atlanta FaZe needed a game five to take down the Paris Legion and the London Royal Ravens completed a reverse sweep to knock off OpTic Texas today.
OpTic looked to be in control when they raced out to a 2-0 lead over London before the situation fell apart in the back half of the series. London dominated both the third and fourth maps, Tuscan Control and Berlin Hardpoint, to send the match to game five. Despite dropping two maps in a row, Texas found themselves in a strong spot in the Bocage Search and Destroy, up 4-2.
Unfortunately for OpTic fans, the map and series ultimately started to slip for the team. London picked up three rounds in a row to push the map to a 5-4 round count. While Texas did counter to send it to round 11, the Royal Ravens completed the three-vs-three retake to finish the reverse sweep.
London, a team that struggled mightily in 2021, start their year with a perfect 2-0 mark. Many expected the team to be improved over last year’s abysmal campaign, but to complete a comeback like that against OpTic shows they’re a force to be reckoned with in the CDL. Gismo had an extremely impressive series. The rookie led London with a 1.26 K/D and more than 12,000 damage over the series’ five maps.
For OpTic Texas, this loss continues a trend of disappointing defeats dating back to last season. This team has massive amounts of talent, just like the 2021 OpTic Chicago squad did, but have yet to put it together. Today’s outcome follows a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Thieves in the Kickoff Classic in January. Scump was the lone member of OpTic to post a positive K/D, holding a 1.09 K/D for the series.
Down 2-1, Atlanta were a map away from starting the season 0-1 on the heels of their one-and-done performance in last month’s Kickoff Classic. But thanks to an impressive performance from Arcitys, who posted a game-high 1.54 K/D, Atlanta brought the series back to a game five with a 250-174 victory.
The defending CDL champions then emphatically slammed the door on Paris’ upset hopes with a dominant 6-1 performance on Berlin Search and Destroy to clinch the victory and improve to 1-0 on the season. Atlanta’s AR duo, Arcitys and Cellium, led the way with 1.22 and 1.10 K/Ds over the series’ five maps.
Paris, Atlanta, and Texas are all back in action tomorrow while London is off until Feb. 12.
