Another Major, another loser’s bracket run; the Atlanta FaZe have won the Stage 3 Major in convincing fashion over the New York Subliners. It took Atlanta some time to catch fire in Stage 3 after suffering a devastating loss to Toronto at the Stage 2 Major. It’s clear as day, though, that FaZe are once again the team to beat in the Call of Duty League.
Whether it was a need for revenge, or proving to the world they’re still the best, Atlanta came out hot against the New York Subliners. They showed no mercy on the maps they won, making intense play after intense play. Each member of the roster had their moment and contributed largely to the win.
This marks Atlanta’s second major win of the season and they net yet another $200,000 in the victory.
Atlanta FaZe capture second major win of the season
The grand finals featured a best-of-nine format again, which worked in FaZe’s favor. They had the opportunity to get warmed up with a losers’ bracket match against Toronto Ultra before facing New York. As FaZe plays more Call of Duty, they seem to only get more dangerous.
It seemed as though every member of the roster was going off at one point or another. Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson led the way in the KD department though, posting a 1.22 in the series. Arcitys was even named the Player of the Stage.
However, it was the other members of the roster who seemed to make the flashier plays in the finals. McArthur “Cellium” Jovel put an exclamation point on the grand finals plays with a three-piece at the start of a Search and Destroy round on Raid.
Don't blink or you'll miss it 🤯@Cellium | #CDL2021 pic.twitter.com/ggmkywiuvY
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) May 17, 2021
Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris spoke about the team’s dominance on Raid Search and Destroy after the series concluded.
“After we clutched that last round [on Control], I was like ‘We got this in the bag guys, we have Raid S&D’,” aBeZy said. “That’s been one of our best S&Ds all year and you know we played it flawlessly and it feels amazing.”
Although Atlanta looked a bit shaky on some maps, they were dominant for a majority of the match. Their Search and Destroy has improved significantly from where it was a month ago and their Control looks to be among the best in the CDL.
On the losing side, New York failed to finish their impressive Stage 3 with a win. They still showed a ton of promise though, with rookie Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez looking like a top player in the league. The French Phenom led the Subliners with a 1.03 KD in the grand finals, but no member of the roster finished with below a 0.90 KD. The squad, led by James “Clayster” Eubanks, should only improve from here on out.
An S&D clinic on Miami from @Subliners as they 6-3 @ATLFaZe!#EZAF still holding a 3-2 series advantage: https://t.co/wmB1gxuPFf#NYSL | #CDL2021 pic.twitter.com/e3DzWKGZuA
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) May 17, 2021
Looking ahead to Stage 4
Atlanta celebrates this win now, but they won’t have much time before the CDL gets back into the swing of things. Stage 4 begins less than two weeks from now, and every squad is fighting for CDL Points to secure their seed for Champs. Only eight teams will make the Champs bracket, so the bottom-four teams need to improve quickly if they want a chance at the season’s final event.
Also, Stage 4 sees the return to LAN with the Major. Though the home series events will still be online in Stage 4, the Major is where it all counts. There certainly won’t be a dull moment in the CDL over the next month or so.
Stage 4 begins on May 27 with the OpTic Chicago Home Series and runs until June 14.
