Well, that was fun.
This weekend's Call of Duty League play featured the rise of the Toronto Ultra (what?), the New York Subliners nearly eliminating the Atlanta FaZe from the tournament playoffs (what?) and OpTic Gaming in the grand final on Sunday (what???). Some of the teams considered among the worst in the league showed that there might be more parity in the CDL than we thought, particularly in an online-only era, and there are plenty of questions left unanswered by the puzzling results.
Here's a look back at a hectic weekend in Call of Duty and what it means for the league.
Which bracket stage qualifier was the most surprising?
Ocal: This was truly the "here comes a new challenger" of weekends for the CDL.
A lot of people say that this is the most competitive that pro CoD has ever been, with fewer teams and stacked rosters on paper, and this weekend truly showed that. Yes, Dallas and Chicago were not present, but Minnesota, the team many point to as a lock to win a future tournament, and Florida, a past tournament winner this season, did not do well here. Instead, teams like Toronto emerged with impressive wins, the New York Subliners continued their momentum since Makenzie "Mack" Kelley joined the lineup, and OpTic Gaming Los Angeles made their first final after being completely written off even as of a month ago.
Of all the teams that made a mark this weekend, I would say Toronto was the most surprising, only because the Ultra started with an uncertain 10-man roster, made some changes, including making Daniel "Loony" Loza a substitute, and have finally found some stability. Anthony "Methodz" Zinni popped off and had a great tournament, too.
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Toronto first showed signs of life in the Dallas home series, getting a surprising win against Florida, but it was this weekend, with dubs over the Subliners and Minnesota and a tight Game 5 loss against OpTic that went to the last round in the semifinals that turned some heads. So, without any bias whatsoever, completely ignoring the fact that I was born and raised in Toronto but am completely impartial and calling it right down the middle, you have to admit that based on what you saw in the Florida home series, the Toronto Ultra will 100% win the world championship.
Rand: I'd have to agree with Arda here and go with the Toronto Ultra. Since opening weekend, the Ultra said they would continue to test out different lineups with the full roster, but I was surprised when Loony, seemingly one of their better individual performers, was benched prior to the Ultra's performance during the Dallas Empire home series. Then, Toronto nearly beat the Empire and eventual tournament winners, the Florida Mutineers.
Even with the roster shift and their improved showing, I thought it was likely too late for Toronto to do much of anything given its place in the standings and given other teams' improvements. I definitely didn't see the Ultra making it to the bracket stage this weekend. I'm happy to be proven wrong, because outside of Dallas and Atlanta, the field looks surprisingly open right now.
Which of those same teams has the best chance to claw their way toward the top of the CDL?
Ocal: OpTic looked really good. Martin "Chino" Chino is extremely well respected both in and out of the game, and he has clearly made improvements on that team; they are really clicking. I can definitely see this momentum continuing for them. NYSL, same thing with Mack. They look like a rejuvenated roster. But, OGLA now have valuable winning experience in tough situations, and I can finally envision them winning a tournament weekend.
Rand: Although they didn't make it as far as OpTic Gaming Los Angeles in the bracket, I'm going to go with the New York Subliners if I'm forced to choose between the two. OpTic definitely have the talent to be at the top of the league, but I'm more interested in the Subliners. They too have a remarkably talented lineup, and we were saying similar things about both OpTic and NYSL during their first few 2020 performances: "This team has the talent; why are they not performing?"
What gives me hope regarding NYSL is that we had already seen slight in-game improvement from them, even before Mack joined the starting lineup. Now with Mack in there, players that we always knew could perform at a consistently high level, like Donovan "Temp" Laroda, are popping off in addition to the team generally just looking much more coordinated.
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What happened to the Minnesota RØKKR?
Ocal: Honestly, Saturday was such a weird day. Look at scores of every matchup: 3-1, 3-1, then four 3-0 results. Surprisingly one-sided contests to decide the semifinals. You hate to be London, Florida or Minnesota in that situation. It's rough.
RØKKR coach Brian "Saintt" Baroska expressed his frustrations on Twitter.
"Worst day we've ever had, could not close out a single map today," he said.
I said on our weekly CDL show "Search and Destroy" that if the RØKKR didn't make the final, I'd be concerned. I'm not as worried for this team as I thought I would be because I think they have terrific minds planning and scheming in that camp, but I do think that the concern about them not being able to win a tournament weekend is building. With that said, however, Minnesota is still fourth in the standings and in a good position, so it's not time to hit the alarm just yet.
Rand: The RØKKR started off strong with a 3-0 sweep of Florida, continuing their trend of preparing well for opponents who beat them previously, before floundering against the Toronto Ultra and New York Subliners.
One of the reasons I really want this RØKKR team to succeed is because this team isn't made up of the biggest names in Call of Duty but is a group of solid, strong individual talent that works really well together. En route to becoming one of the more surprising teams (compared to pre-scrim preseason expectations) in the league, players like Adam "GodRx" Brown have emerged as stars of Call of Duty in 2020. The preparation of Saintt and Jacob "REPPIN" Trobaugh forces you to recognize them as one of the best coaching staffs in the league. However, Minnesota now faces its toughest challenge yet: recovering from not making the bracket stage for the first time this year in a tournament weekend that by most accounts should have been the RØKKR's or the FaZe's to win.
Who is your MVP of the weekend?
Ocal: Has to be a FaZe player. Look at Chris "Simp" Lehr's numbers in the final: He led with 108 frags, put up a 1.367 K/D (kills/deaths) and did MVP things all weekend with top-five numbers in K/D across the weekend in Hardpoint, Search and Destroy and Domination. He's the best for a reason, and he's a leader in a clearly defined top two in this league along with Dallas. Also a shout out to Mack, who had great numbers this weekend and crushed it for my CDL fantasy pool. Please keep that going!
Rand: McArthur "Cellium" Jovel, no contest. Beyond the numbers, when it looked like the Atlanta FaZe were down and out against OpTic on Map 2 of the final, it was Cellium who pulled out the clutch play on Gun Runner Search and Destroy in Round 11 to tie up the series.
Now that they've both won two titles, who is better: Atlanta FaZe or Dallas Empire?
Ocal: You have to say Dallas based on the last time they played -- Dallas won a grand final by beating Atlanta. Both squads have had more success in the league than any other team, but head-to-head, at least in the online era, The Router Kings have gotten the job done. So, today, as we stand, it's Dallas. But that title can absolutely be contested.
Rand: Definitely the Dallas Empire. Outside of Launch Weekend in Minnesota, the Empire have been undoubtedly a top-caliber team in this league, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. More recently, the Empire have also looked stronger and more consistent in their wins, while the FaZe have shown more cracks in their play. The mark of a good team is winning despite these cracks, and that's exactly what FaZe did this past weekend, but if the two teams met right now, I'd definitely bet on Dallas.