COD League Recap: Opening Weekend
It’s finally here; the 2021 Call of Duty League, featuring Black Ops Cold War, is here. Inside these four days, we saw dominating victories, extremely close matchups, and a massive upset. Let’s take a look at how this weekend rounded up in this COD league recap.
COD League Recap: Day One
The first day of the league brought us two matchups. First, we had the Minnesota Rokkr taking on the Los Angeles Thieves. The Thieves won this series 3-1 and we dominant on the respawn maps. The only map loss they had was the Search and Destroy, which they lost 6-4. In the final map, Moscow hardpoint, the Thieves were able to secure a map and match victory with a score of 250-60.
The second matchup of the day showed the Seattle Surge taking on the Dallas Empire. Dallas came into this game a huge favorite and were able to put their skills on display with a dominant 3-0 performance. Seattle struggled in all three maps and were never able to keep any of them close. Empire was able to show why they are the favorite to repeat this season.
Day Two
The second day of matches brought us two more best of five series. In the first matchup, we had Optic Chicago taking on Paris Legion. Optic has been in the conversation for one of the best teams in the league, and they proved it with a 3-0 victory. They were able to keep the second and third maps close, some good news for Paris, only losing search and destroy 4-6 and control 2-3.
Following that series, we had Atlanta Faze taking on Los Angeles Guerrillas. The Guerillas had a tough go of things last season and were hoping to make a statement trying to win against last year’s runner ups. Unfortunately, Faze was too much to handle and beat the Guerrillas 3-0. Faze was in control in all three of the maps and never wavered.
Day Three
On the third day of the competition, we were able to see some matchups being much closer. In the first series, we had The Guerrillas taking on Paris Legion. For the first time in the 2021 league, we had a match go to a fifth and final map. The Guerrillas were able to secure map and match victory with a 6-4 win in Raid search and destroy.
Next up, we had Toronto Ultra taking on Florida Mutineers. Toronto has been in the conversation most of the preseason for being a potential top team with Methodz and company on the roster. They did not disappoint with a quick 3-1 victory over the Mutineers. The Mutineers were able to win a close Garrison control and kept the hardpoint maps relatively close, which should give them some confidence for their matches next weekend.
The final series and the “Marquee Match” was between the New York Subliners and the Los Angeles Thieves. Los Angeles was able to win this series 3-0, but a look into the scores shows that this could have easily been a Subliners victory. New York lost the hardpoint only by nine points, and both the search and destroy and control maps by one round.
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Day Four
This weekend’s fourth and final day of matches saw all three of the matches go to a five-game series. First, we had the Seattle Surge taking on London Royal Ravens. Seattle was coming into this game after being dismantled by Empire on day one. The Surge were able to work out some inner issues and found a way to clutch up in game five and pull out the 3-2 victory.
Following that series, we had the Minnesota Rokkr taking on Dallas Empire. Rokkr was a longshot to win this series, especially after the Thieves were able to beat them so badly on day one. Luckily for Rokkr, Empire came out and had one of their worst series since that team has formed. Dallas could only win the two hardpoints and was unsuccessful in the other two modes, and lost the series 2-3.
Our last match of the day and weekend was the “Marquee Match” between Atlanta Faze and Chicago Optic. This was a series every Call of Duty fan had circled, as these two teams are highly regarded as two of the best teams in the league. Faze was able to win this series 3-2, and a lot of that comes from their search and destroy dominance. In two search and destroy maps, Optic Chicago could only secure one-round victory, losing the final map 1-6. If Optic is going to make a run this season, they are going to have to figure out how to improve in that mode.
COD League Recap Overview
It was great to get competitive Call of Duty back. It is still very weird seeing these guys have to compete online due to the pandemic, but the league did a great job with the production to make it enjoyable to watch. Make sure to check back this week as I will be previewing and predicting next weekend’s set of matches.
