The Call of Duty League has released the official bracket for the playoffs now that the regular season has concluded. All 12 teams will have a chance to complete for the three million dollar prize pool and the 2020 title. The playoffs begin August 19 which was leaked during the last home series on the broadcast. These dates, as well as the exact playoff seeding, have now been officially confirmed by the CDL.
The Atlanta FaZe and Dallas Empire secured first and second seed respectively when the season ended. Both teams will be placed in the 3rd round of winners, which is one win away from the winner’s final. The Chicago Huntsmen and Flordia Mutineers secured 3rd and 4th place at the end of the season and will take 2nd round of winners in the playoffs.
These top four placements allow teams the best chance of winning the entire event. Unfortunately, the bottom four have the opposite chances. The Seattle Surge, Optic Gaming, Paris Legion, and Los Angeles Guerrillas finished the season in the bottom four. Whoever loses the first matches will bow out in 11th/12th place with no prize earnings.
Call of Duty playoff seeding explained
Previous Call of Duty titles has done championships differently, with the Call of Duty World League implementing amateur leagues into champs. Last year during Black Ops 4, Gen.G, one of the most prominent teams in the league, bowed out early due to amateur teams beating them. This shocked the entire league and showed how anyone can have a good weekend and win the championship. Even fan-favorite team 100 Thieves were able to make a losers bracket run to finish second against EUnited.
This iteration of champs has been seeded solely off how teams performed during the year. While upsets can happen, it is less likely due to worse teams lower in the bracket. Starting on August 19, the lower teams will fight their way through the elimination brackets while the higher teams wait until later in the week to play.
The actual championship begins after playoffs on August 29, when the elimination and winners final will take place. From there, the winner’s bracket and loser’s bracket team will face each other in the final. Unlike previous years, this final will consist of a best-of-nine instead of two best-of-fives. Without a break in-between series, the team that is ahead will be able to hold the momentum.
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