The third Major of the Call of Duty League 2023 season is underway. Again, we have the four teams that finished at the top of the table in the online qualifiers, Surge, FaZe, Breach, and Ultra, continuing their excellent momentum after starting with convincing wins.
The CDL Majors only last three days, so teams have little time to recover from losses and prepare for their next matches. But this does not detract from the fact that we will all enjoy each of these matches to the fullest.
#CDL2023 Major III
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— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 10, 2023
Seattle Surge beats LA Guerrillas in five thrilling games
The Surge came into this Major III with the firm conviction to prove that their first-place finish in the online qualifiers was no coincidence, and they did just that. Although the team had to suffer a little to win, the boys pulled out all the stops and returned from a 1-2 series against them.
The series started in Hardpoint (Embassy) mode, and we had a phenomenal battle that ended with a score of 250-194 in favor of the Surge. Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi had a spectacular performance in this match, carried Seattle to victory, and finished with a K/D of 1.23.
Then began the awakening of LA Guerrillas, as the Californians managed to win two consecutive games to put the series 1-2 in their favor and within one win to advance to the next phase of the Winners Bracket. The second match was again played at Embassy, but this time at Search&Destroy, and ended with a score of 6-3, while the third match of the series was played at Al Bagra Fortress (Control) and finished with a score of 3-2.
In the two games won by LA Guerrillas, Adam “Assault” Garcia led his team to victory.
With the series 1-2 against, the Surge woke up and hit back again at Hardpoint (Al Bagra Fortress) with a score of 250-89 and El Asilo (Search&Destroy) 6-4. Amer “Pred” Zulbeari was the protagonist of the Surge comeback with some truly spectacular plays.
PR3D 😳@Pred | #DrownThemOut | #CDL2023 pic.twitter.com/0yJgbaz4oe
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2023
With this win, Seattle Surge advances to the next round of the Winners Bracket and will face Atlanta FaZe next Sunday.
Just too icy 🥶@SeattleSurge move on to Winners Round 2.#DrownThemOut | #CDL2023 pic.twitter.com/A6kBESs5kg
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2023
Atlanta FaZe crushes LA Thieves and reaffirms their tag as favorites
Atlanta FaZe didn’t come into this Major III with any pretenses and gave LA Thieves a real thrashing in the first game of the Winners Bracket.
McArthur “Cellium” Jovel led FaZe to victory with impressive stats of 1.63 K/D and 12 assists.
The series started off evenly matched, as LA Thieves put up such a fight that they came close to upsetting FaZe in the first game in Hardpoint mode at Mercado las Almas. However, Atlanta reacted quickly and took a narrow 250-239 victory.
The second and third maps were very comfortable for Atlanta FaZe, as it seems that LA Thieves ran out of fuel in Mercado las Almas. Embassy (Search&Destroy) and Breenbergh Hotel (Control) were the scenarios where Atlanta crushed LA Thieves so that Californians could not make a single point.
With a crushing 3-0 win, Atlanta FaZe moves that much closer to their second Major title of this 2023 CDL season and will now take on Seattle Surge in Winners Round 2.
atLANta 🫣@ATLFaZe continue their S&D streak and move to Winners Round 2#EZAF | #CDL2023 pic.twitter.com/DMm7pTIxyN
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 10, 2023
Boston Breach sends the home team to an elimination round
The Breach kicked off this Major III with a bang by crushing OpTic Texas with an excellent 3-0 score. The series was played at Embassy (HardPoint), El Asilo (Search&Destroy), and Control (Al Bagra Fortress). Unlike the match between FaZe and Thieves, Boston and Texas gave us a spectacular, exciting series from start to finish.
The Breach struck the first blow in the series with a 250-212 Embassy victory. Joseph “Owakening” Conley was responsible for ending all home hopes in this game and finished with a K/D of 1.32.
The match got much more intense at El Asilo, and either could have taken the win. Everything seemed to indicate the awakening of Cuyler “Huke” Garland and Brandon “Dashy” Otell. However, Ben “Beans” McMellon took it upon himself to say no to their approaches and led Boston to a narrow 6-5 victory.
F R Y I N G 👨🍳 pic.twitter.com/O7djNmYbrz
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2023
Finally, on the third and final map, Boston pulled out the stops again, thanks to Beans, who had a fantastic first day of competition. The Breach secured their victory with a 3-0 score and will now face Toronto Ultra in the next round.
CLEAN SWEEEEEEEP 🧹@BostonBreach knock @OpTicTexas into the Elimination Bracket of Major III.#IntoTheBreach | #CDL2023 pic.twitter.com/83bZIt4NAi
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2023
Toronto beats New York to stay in the Winner’s Bracket
Toronto Ultra pulled off a reverse sweep of the New York Subliners. After being down 0-1 in the series, they managed to win three consecutive games to earn a 3-1 victory.
This series between Toronto and NY was played at Hotel (Hardpoint), Al Bagra Fortress (Search&Destroy), Hotel (Control), and Zarqwa Hydroelectric (Hardpoint).
The Subliners took the lead thanks to an excellent performance by Matthew “KiSMET” Tinsley, who finished with a K/D of 1.35 and led his team to a very close 250-246 victory.
From then on, Toronto Ultra deployed all their available arsenal and won three consecutive games to win this series. Tobias “CleanX” Jønsson and Thomas “Scrappy” Ernst carried Ultra in this series.
The boys from up north bring the heat down south 🔥@TorontoUltra open up Major III with a win.#StrengthInTheNorth | #CDL2023 pic.twitter.com/5ekuqAF6c4
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2023
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