The top two teams in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas and Atlanta FaZe, won their matchups during the CDL’s Stage II qualifying matches ahead of the Minnesota ROKKR Major.
After falling in the grand finals of the OpTic Texas Major, Atlanta started off the season’s second stage with a surprising 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Surge. The schedule did them no favors for their second qualifying match of the stage, either: they matched up with the London Royal Ravens, one of the hottest teams in the CDL.
FaZe, however, reminded everyone they were still the defending CDL Champions in a thorough 3-1 victory. Arcitys’ impressive start to the stage continued, posting an incredible 40-22 statline to lead Atlanta to a 250-194 victory on Gavutu Hardpoint. Once FaZe got to Bocage Search and Destroy, the series was all but over. Three members of Atlanta were over double-positive en route to a dominant 6-2 victory.
London staved off elimination during a 3-1 victory on Gavutu Control that saw Afro and Nastie post 1.31 and 1.40 K/Ds, respectively. Unfortunately for the Royal Ravens, that would be the only success they would see all day. Atlanta clinched the series with a thrilling 250-236 win on Tuscan Hardpoint, giving the team their first victory in Stage II. Arcitys led the way with a 1.14 K/D over the series’ four maps.
OpTic’s red-hot start to the season continued as they cruised past the Florida Mutineers by a score of 3-0. Florida came into today’s series on a two-series winning streak in which they didn’t drop a map, but Texas are a different beast.
The series kicked off on the always-entertaining Bocage Hardpoint, which is one of the Mutineers’ best maps. They started off extremely hot in the killfeed and scoreboard before OpTic started to take over. Dashy continued his MVP-level season, leading Texas with a 39-25 statline on their way to a 210-193 victory.
In the series’ second map, Berlin Search and Destroy, OpTic’s SMG duo of Scump and Shotzzy were making big plays all over the map, posting 1.50 and 1.80 K/Ds, respectively, to lead Texas to a dominant 6-3 victory and 2-0 series lead. The series’ eventual last map, Tuscan Control, came down to an unbelievable last stand from the boys in green.
With Florida needing just one more second on the final point, Shotzzy was in the hill to contest while picking up two massive kills, forcing the Mutineers to spawn out and kill the clock. OpTic took the map 3-2 to clinch the sweep. Dashy posted an absurd 1.50 series K/D, continuing his personal hotstreak.
OpTic will be back in action next week when they take on the Los Angeles Guerrillas on March 26 at 5pm CT. FaZe return to action on Friday, March 25, when they face off with the Mutineers.
