Minnesota RØKKR beat the Florida Mutineers with a swift 3-0 series sweep and a dominant performance in today’s Call of Duty League Stage Five group play finale. Minnesota finished Stage Five with a 3-2 record ahead of next week’s major and clinched a spot in the winner’s bracket.
Despite the winning record, Minnesota haven’t played at their best this stage. Before today’s match with Florida, the RØKKR lost both series against the top teams in their group, Dallas Empire and Toronto Ultra, by a total map count of 6-2.
Today’s match took a different turn, and Minnesota looked like they could make a run for both the upcoming major and the CDL Playoffs. Minnesota outslayed Florida by 36 kills throughout the series, led by MajorManiak and Priestahh, who posted 1.53 and 1.63 K/Ds in the series’ three games.
“That win was the most important match of the year for us,” MajorManiak said in the post-game interview. “With Florida behind us in CDL points, and 100 Thieves, winning that match was very, very critical. Not only did it put us in winner’s bracket, but it puts Florida in loser’s [bracket].”
Florida finished Stage Five with a 3-2 record and close out their group play run with a disappointing performance. The Mutineers came into the final weekend of group play with a 3-0 record but dropped their last two series with a map count of 6-1. Florida still have plenty of reason for optimism heading into the major and playoffs, but getting back to the form they showed earlier in the stage will still take some work.
Both Florida and Minnesota are done with group play and will be back in action during the Stage Five Major in Arlington, Texas, starting on July 29.
