The Los Angeles Thieves are one step closer to winning the Call of Duty League Boston Major after a thrilling 3-1 victory over OpTic Texas today, sending the league’s most popular team home in a match that could have gone either way.
OpTic started off strong in the series’ first map, Hotel Hardpoint. After the first Hardpoints led to an early stalemate, Texas began to turn it up and stretch their lead. L.A. did manage to bring it back but OpTic’s lead was too much for the Thieves to overcome and the team in green got on the board first with a 250-203 win.
Shotzzy has already played extremely well in this CDL Major tournament and he kept that form going with a 29-21 performance in the critical victory.
Heading to Embassy Search and Destroy, L.A. desperately needed a win to avoid dropping into a 2-0 hole. Things didn’t go as planned for the Thieves in the early goings, though, with OpTic jumping out to a 4-2 lead. But L.A. fought back, rattling off three straight rounds to bring it to map point, up 5-4.
OpTic did manage to win a tough two-vs-three situation to bring the map to a decisive round 11. Huke got the bomb down, but the Thieves were masterful in the retake, dropping all members of OpTic and defusing the bomb to tie the series.
OpTic started off on offense in the Fortress Control with a couple of segments notched but were unable to pick up either point. L.A. immediately grabbed the B point in the second round, giving themselves the advantage in offensive segments. While holding the A point is a difficult proposition, Shotzzy rattling off seven straight kills made life easier for the Green Wall and they held to even the map at one round each.
Late in the third round, with OpTic looking to snag an offensive win, Huke went massive with a two-piece, creating the opening Texas needed. More kills came in for OpTic and, with the team stacking the point, gave Texas the offensive win they were so desperate for.
Texas looked poised to close the map out, playing strong defense on the last tick L.A. needed to win the round. They were a stone wall for almost two minutes until the Thieves snuck in with seconds left, stacking and grabbing the point. It was a soul-crushing moment for OpTic, considering it appeared they were well on their way to a series lead.
The Thieves were dominant in the final round, with Kenny’s two-piece via the Cruise Missile acting as the proverbial dagger in the map. With a 2-1 lead, L.A. headed to Embassy Hardpoint just one map from the losers bracket finals and a potential matchup with the Minnesota RØKKR for a spot in the grand finals.
In what would end up being the series finale, both teams battled the way you would expect with a championship on the line. OpTic jumped out to an early lead, but the Thieves managed to bring it back. The lead changed hands multiple times down the stretch in every single hill before an extremely heady play by Thieves allowed for their final break-in.
With two members of Texas in the Hardpoint, both players’ attention was turned to the stairs. But unfortunately, no one watched the ladder. Kenny walked up and waltzed his way into the Hardpoint in the series-winning play. It was pure jubilation for the side of the Thieves but absolute heartbreak for OpTic in a 3-1 loss where all three lost maps were winnable.
L.A. will now take on Minnesota in the elimination bracket finals with a date against the Atlanta FaZe in the Major Two grand finals on the line. OpTic finish fourth—a solid outing but still considered below expectations for one of the winningest brands in CoD.
