The London Royal Ravens got their first victory of the Call of Duty League’s second set of qualifying matches with an impressive win over the Las Vegas Legion today by a count of 3-1, breaking a seven-match losing streak in the process.
The victory comes just days after the team announced yet another roster change, with the squad bringing PaulEhx back to the roster to take Zer0’s place. The change came just a month after he was dropped in favor of Skrapz. But now, London has both PaulEhx and Skrapz in the starting lineup and the new-look squad put the Royal Ravens in the win column for the first time since Dec. 4 of last year.
This match was dominated by Skrapz, as the competitive CoD veteran had his best performance since joining the Royal Ravens, and perhaps one of the best of his career. He posted a 1.76 K/D over the series’ four maps and dealt nearly 11,000 worth of damage, while his lowest individual map K/D in the series was 1.50. Simply put, he was untouchable on the map against his former team, whom he spent the Cold War season with.
In the series’ first map, Mercado Hardpoint, Skrapz and London set the tone for the series early with a 250-202 victory. Led by Skrapz with a 2.14 K/D, the Royal Ravens owned the slaying category with 24 more kills than the Legion. PaulEhx and Nastie also impressed, with the two posting 1.19 and 1.44 K/Ds, respectively.
While London started off hot with the Hardpoint win, Vegas brought the series back to a 1-1 count with a methodical Search and Destroy victory. Vegas’ TJHaLy was on his game, posting an 11-4 statline in the 6-2 victory. Despite their respawn mode struggles, the Legion are one of the best SnD teams in the game and proved it in this match. Unfortunately for Las Vegas fans, their respawn is as disappointing as their SnD is elite.
In the Hotel Control, London jumped out to a 2-0 lead and it quickly appeared that the Royal Ravens were on their way to another one-sided victory in the series’ third map. Vegas did manage to snag a round to bring it back to 2-1, but London was too overwhelming in the end, winning the map 3-1 and giving themselves a chance to clinch the series on the Hydro Hardpoint.
The final map of the series was a back-and-forth affair, but Skrapz and company proved to be too much for the Legion yet again. He posted a 29-17 statline to lead the lobby in kills, while Nastie was right behind him with a 22-18 performance. London clinched the series with their 250-200 victory.
After breaking the long losing-streak, London will look to rattle off a two-match win streak when they take on the Florida Mutineers in the team’s last online qualifier of the CDL’s second stage on Friday January 27 at 2:00pm CT. The Vegas Legion have a chance to get back to .500 in the qualifiers when they take on the New York Subliners immediately following the Royal Ravens-Mutineers matchup.
