The Los Angeles Thieves’ hot start to the 2022 Call of Duty League season continued after a dominant 3-1 victory over the Toronto Ultra today.
Los Angeles fell behind 1-0 after a lopsided loss on Bocage Hardpoint, but the remainder of the series was all Thieves. Los Angeles won three straight maps to close the series out and finish Major I qualifiers with a 4-1 record. Perhaps the most impressive feat by the Thieves was their 6-4 victory over Toronto in Tuscan Search and Destroy to tie the series at one map each. Toronto have been a team that strives in SnD dating back to last season, and Los Angeles could not afford to go down 2-0.
“We’re doing really good in hardpoint but our Search and Control have been lacking. So as long as we get some wins there, it will be easier to take these series like we did 3-1, instead of going last map,” Thieves’ Envoy said in a post-match interview. “We’ve done a lot of work to our SnD. I feel like the first couple weeks of the year, I mean, we weren’t very comfortable. And now we’re just settling in.”
Los Angeles lost their first match of the season to Atlanta FaZe before rattling off four straight series to head into next months’ Major I as one of the hottest teams in the CDL. With 40 CDL points, the Thieves are tied for first in the CDL standings with Atlanta.
Toronto, coming off of a loss to OpTic Texas just a day ago, find themselves on a two-game losing streak ahead of next month’s Major. They finish the Major qualifiers at an underwhelming 2-3 mark, with losses to the Seattle Surge, OpTic, and Thieves. One silver lining for the Ultra, though, is that they had one of the toughest schedules to start the season and should be well prepared for the Major tournament in March.
Despite the rocky end to the qualifying stage for Toronto, there is no need for fans to panic. This is an extremely talented and experienced team that faced a bit of adversity this season. Cammy, one of the best players in the world, missed time earlier in the season with an illness.
Often, when a player exits the lineup for some time, there can be a grace period needed for the team to get back on track. He has struggled since coming back into the starting lineup, but the good news for Ultra fans is that Cammy is an elite talent and may just need time to find his footing.
Both Los Angeles and Toronto will be back in action at the CDL’s first Major event of the year on March 4.
