Outside the continuous dominance of the Atlanta FaZe, the Call of Duty League’s Stage 2 has thrown a curveball at Upcomer’s first Call of Duty League power rankings. We could see a competitive showcase once teams face off during the second major in April.
While OpTic Chicago continues to fall apart, roster changes made by the Minnesota RØKKR have started to pay off. The London Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge and New York Subliners have shown new life midway through the season while both Los Angeles teams continue to struggle.
We’ll see more action at the LA Guerillas’s Home Series, which runs from April 1-4. The next major takes place the weekend of April 7. Here are our power rankings heading into those events. Statistics were pulled Atlanta FaZe analyst Austin O’Neal‘s database.
1. Atlanta FaZe
Season record: 11-0
Stage 2 record: 3-0
FaZe have no equal in 2021. Their roster fills four of the top five spots in the list of top K/D (kill/death) ratios in Stage 2 after the undefeated squad ripped through the LA Thieves, Toronto Ultra and New York Subliners. The Subliners were the only team who managed to win a round against the FaZe. No one else came close.
It’s doubtful that FaZe will be able to maintain this undefeated streak for the rest of the season, but no other squad is in a place to beat them repeatedly or knock them out of a tournament. After a first-place finish in the first major, the addition of Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson to an already stacked roster doesn’t seem fair.
– Aron Garst
2. New York Subliners
Season record: 9-5
Stage 2 record: 3-1
New York is on the upswing. The James “Clayster” Eubanks-led squad took out the London Royal Ravens and Los Angeles Guerrillas in simple fashion. Their only loss in Stage 2 has been to the FaZe, but it’s clear that the Subliners have bounced back while other top teams are falling apart at the seams.
Outside some embarrassing plays by Obaid “Asim” Asim, the Subliners have been the definition of consistency this season. All four players have achieved a positive — or near positive — K/D recently. No one is a serious weak point on this squad, but they’ll have to improve if they want a shot against FaZe.
– Garst
3. Dallas Empire
Season record: 8-4
Stage 2 record: 2-1
More cracks are starting to show in the defending Call of Duty League champion’s roster. Despite a strong, 1.13 K/D performance by Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal, his squad still lost in a close series against the Minnesota RØKKR. The Empire stayed in the fight, both statistically and through the final score, but couldn’t keep up in Search and Destroy. The loss is a clear sign Dallas needs to figure something else out for the non-respawn mode.
The Empire are still one of the strongest teams in the entire league, but the wave of young and fast rookies is beginning to challenge their dominance. iLLeY, who was a rookie last year, will need to prove he can go step-for-step with this new wave of faces.
– Garst
4. Minnesota RØKKR
Season record: 5-5
Stage 2 record: 2-2
The RØKKR were a different team two weeks ago, but a roster shakeup has transformed the squad in record time. After benching Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak for Eli “Standy” Bentz, the RØKKR have beaten both the Dallas Empire and OpTic Chicago. Standy’s efforts led the team to shutout Chicago altogether — something unheard of at the beginning of the season.
Standy shook OpTic to their core with a 1.52 K/D in the series and an especially dominant Search and Destroy map where he only died four times. This scenario could be similar to the debuts of other rookies recently, where veterans underestimated the newcomers. That won’t happen again, so we’ll see if Standy can continue to roll. One thing is true: Standy’s new role has helped Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi and Preston “Priestahh” Greiner return to form.
– Garst
5. Florida Mutineers
Season record: 5-6
Stage 2 record: 2-1
Florida is currently tied for first place in Group B of Stage 2 after a thrilling sweep over OpTic Chicago during Week 2. While the matches were close, the Mutineers pulled out a much-needed win and proved they can hang with the top rosters in the CDL. Cesar “Skyz” Bueno leads the team in Stage 2, posting a 1.26 K/D in the past two matches.
The real difference in Florida’s current two-game win streak has been the supporting cast around Skyz and Joe “Owakening” Conley. When the whole roster is clicking, few teams look like they can stop the Mutineers. The question for Florida is whether or not this consistency from the rest of the roster can keep things afloat.
– Joey Carr
6. OpTic Chicago
Season record: 7-5
Stage 2 record: 1-2
After a solid 7-3 start to the Call of Duty League season, OpTic Chicago have come undone in Stage 2. This past weekend, OpTic went 0-2 without winning a single map against the Minnesota RØKKR and Florida Mutineers. The losses aren’t as bad as they may appear, though, as each map over the weekend was fairly close in the end.
It’s clear something hasn’t been working right for Chicago since the Stage 1 Major. No individual player stands out as the problem since the whole roster is performing on an average level. Perhaps some adjustments before the Stage 2 Major could turn the ship around, but OpTic are currently in dire straits.
– Carr
7. Seattle Surge
Season record: 3-6
Stage 2 record: 2-1
The Seattle Surge appear to be the exact same bottom-half team they were during Modern Warfare despite revamping their roster around Sam “Octane” Larew for Season 2. Their only victory during Stage 1 was against the London Royal Ravens, who went without a victory in the first stage. However, after dropping out in the first match of the major, the Surge have started to bounce back. They swiftly defeated the Florida Mutineers 3-1, took Dallas Empire to a Game 5 and swept the Paris Legion 3-0.
All the members of Seattle are on the up-swing with almost all members dropping a 1.0+ K/D last weekend alone.
– Danny Appleford
8. Toronto Ultra
Season record: 4-7
Stage 2 record: 1-2
The Ultra were absolutely decimated by the FaZe during Toronto’s Home Series. While the team looked better this weekend, the results were still mixed. A close shave against the Guerrillas where the Ultra had to dominate the final map in order to squeak out a win is not a good sign of improvement.
Jamie “Insight” Craven has been a slight improvement over Anthony “Methodz” Zinni, but other veterans on the team haven’t been pulling their weight. Ben “Bance” Bance missed a number of shots on Miami that would have won his squad the match over the Thieves. He’ll need to bounce back this week.
– Garst
9. L.A. Thieves
Season record: 6-6
Stage 2 record: 1-3
The Los Angeles Thieves started out hot during Stage 1 and were beginning to resemble the dominant 100 Thieves roster from the Black Ops 4 era. However, an unexpected shutout loss to the Los Angeles Guerrillas in the upper bracket of the major signaled the team’s decline. They finished tied for fifth at the major overall but recently suffered a reverse-sweep against the New York Subliners.
After that match, L.A. Thieves decided to replace Donovan “Temp” Laroda with Challengers star Carlos “Venom” Hernandez. However, with a 3-1 loss to the London Royal Ravens and a 3-0 loss to Atlanta FaZe, the Thieves look like a shell of their former selves.
– Appleford
10. Paris Legion
Season record: 3-7
Stage 2 record: 1-3
The Paris Legion started off slow at the beginning of the season but began to heat up after back-to-back wins over the Florida Mutineers and Toronto Ultra. They finished fourth overall in Pool B but were knocked out early in the Stage 1 Major by Florida.
They’ve started Stage 2 with some promise, sweeping Minnesota RØKKR before losing to OpTic Chicago 3-1. But Luis “Fire” Rivera had a tough weekend, dropping a 0.7 K/D against Dallas and a 0.59 K/D against Seattle. Paris Legion may need a roster revival to get themselves back on the winning track.
– Appleford
11. London Royal Ravens
Season record: 2-7
Stage 2 record: 2-1
Paul “PaulEhx” Avila has given London a burst of life midway through the year, but it may not be enough to turn the fate of this team around before the end of the season. The Royal Ravens managed to end a six-game losing streak with wins against the Los Angeles Thieves and Guerrillas, although they haven’t been able to win against the league’s top teams.
PaulEhx entered the Call of Duty League from the amateur scene after London benched Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, who said that the team had “hardly any practice” and was “destined to fail.” London hasn’t bucked that prediction yet.
– Garst
12. L.A. Guerrillas
Season record: 3-8
Stage 2 record: 0-3
The Guerrillas turned in yet another winless, week during Stage 2. While they managed to secure three combined maps, L.A. doesn’t have the look of a roster who can go far in the 2021 CDL. Aside from the London Royal Ravens, who are turning things around a bit, the Guerrillas have the lowest map wins and lowest map win percentage in the league.
The SMG players of the Guerrillas, Brian “Apathy” Zhelyazkov and Reece “Vivid” Drost, are constantly posting K/Ds in the sub .90s, putting more pressure on the assault rifle players to score kills. With the way things stand, L.A. would need a roster shift in order to keep pace with the rest of the CDL.
– Carr
