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Stage 5 is upon us, and that means the Call of Duty League 2021 season is nearly over. Only one stage stands between the top eight teams in the league and the Call of Duty League Championship, where one winner will be crowned the best in the world. 

There’s an interesting set of matches before we get there, though, with the Dallas Empire and Toronto Ultra fighting for better seeding in Group B and Atlanta FaZe taking on New York Subliners and OpTic Chicago in Group A. How each team plays during the next week could earn them an advantage in the most important week for Call of Duty in 2021. Playing poorly could do the opposite. 

Here are Upcomer’s Call of Duty League power rankings heading into Stage 5. 

Atlanta FaZe

  • Season Record: 30-4
  • Stage 4 Record: 8-0
  • Movement: –

The FaZe breached the 100-game win mark for the season heading into the Stage 4 final and finished things off with yet another major title and perfect stage to cap it all off.

There’s little left to say, about Atlanta’s run for the last three stages, that we haven’t said already. From CDL Player of the Stage honoree McArthur “Cellium” Jovel to league MVP favorites in Chris “Simp” Lehr and Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris to veteran Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson, there’s little doubt this is the best roster in the league. The question is, can Atlanta FaZe keep their form as the season rushes toward Champs, or will they be ousted by a more experienced squad — as they were in the 2020 final?

Sean Morrison

Toronto Ultra

  • Season Record: 22-12
  • Stage 4 Record: 5-3
  • Movement: +1

Toronto has finished third in the last two Majors, falling just behind Dallas and New York. The all European squad has been falling short in close games after a crazy losers bracket run at the Stage 2 Major. They’ll need to find some magic again in order to finish ahead of Dallas in Group B to secure better seeding at champs. 

You can never count Toronto out. They could have turned the tide against Atlanta during the winners finals. A close round of Control could have gone in their favor if Atlanta hadn’t locked things up, as they are known to do. 

Aron Garst

Crimsix Dallas Empire
Ian “Crimsix” Porter helped get his team to the grand finals at the Stage 4 Major. | Provided by Call of Duty League

Dallas Empire

  • Season Record: 21-15
  • Stage 4 Record: 7-4
  • Movement: -1

Dallas has finally found a combination of players that works after going through a few iterations of their roster. Since underperforming on the Los Angeles Guerrillas, Reece “Vivid” Drost found his groove in helping the Empire get all the way to the grand final at the Stage 4 Major. He and the rest of the squad couldn’t pull off a win against Atlanta, but it shows a significant improvement after weeks of ups and downs. 

The freshly minted squad rolled through Toronto, Chicago and an Asim-less New York before reaching the grand final. The only other team that took Dallas head on? Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez, who beat Dallas head coach Ray “Rambo” Lussier in 1v1 ping pong. Let’s see if he repeat that success at the Stage 5 Major. 

 Garst

New York Subliners

  • Season Record: 21-12
  • Stage 4 Record: 5-2
  • Movement: +1

New York bounced back from a messy start to the major with a five-game series win against the Florida Mutineers. But, missing Obaid “Asim” Asim definitely hurt the team’s chances in the major. 

It’s tough to get a read on whether having Asim would’ve changed much against Dallas in a 3-1 loss later in the tournament. The Empire, after all, cut through most of the competition en route to the final. But, there are some positives going into Stage 5; namely the team’s marked improvement on Search and Destroy throughout the major. Whether that is a symptom of the roster change or a sign of what the Subliners could do on bigger stages for the rest of the year remains to be seen.

Morrison

OpTic Chicago

  • Season Record: 20-15
  • Stage 4 Record: 5-3
  • Movement: -1

Stage 5 is easily the biggest circuit for OpTic Chicago thus far. Their hyped-up return to LAN ended in disappointment; they were crushed by their rival, Dallas Empire, twice in the Stage 4 Major. This upcoming stage will either make or break OpTic’s season but they have a tough road ahead of them. 

They were placed in Group A for Stage 5, which is looking more fierce by the day. The likes of top dogs Atlanta FaZe and New York Subliners are in the group along with the unknown LA Thieves. If Chicago can string together a couple of wins against the top squads in their group, it might be enough to boost their confidence and spark a run at the Stage 5 Major. 

– Joey Carr

Michael "MajorManiak" Szymaniak
Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak will need a standout performance during Stage 5 | Provided by Call of Duty League

Minnesota RØKKR

  • Season Record: 13-15
  • Stage 4 Record: 4-4
  • Movement: –

RØKKR roughly translates to spinning wheel, which feels like the perfect summation for where Eli “Standy” Bentz and crew are right now. The team has shown flashes of promise before quickly fading into old habits against powerhouse teams like Chicago and Atlanta.

Minnesota has a slightly easier Group in the lead up to the Stage 5 Major. However, there is little reason to believe this team will do anything more than break even with an early exit at the beginning of the next tournament.

Garst

Florida Mutineers

  • Season Record: 14-16
  • Stage 4 Record: 4-3
  • Movement: –

Florida has possibly the most untapped potential of any roster in the Call of Duty League. The formidable AR duo of Cesar “Skyz” Bueno and Joe “Owakening” Conley has carried Florida to their top eight spot in the standings. However, it’s the recent arrival of Travis “Neptune” McCloud that could help them piggyback the teams ahead of them. 

Neptune was arguably a top five player at the Stage 4 Major, posting the second highest KD of any player in the field. If he can continue that play along with the Mutineers’ AR duo staying strong, Florida could surprise some teams in Stage 5. 

Carr

LA Thieves

  • Season Record: 14-17
  • Stage 4 Record: 1-5
  • Movement: +2

LA Thieves bombed out of the Stage 4 Major after Cuyler “Huke” Garland was unable to be tested for COVID-19 and showed up late to the event. This forced the team to play with Zach “Drazah” Jordan, who performed well with his former teammates.

Now, coming into Stage 5, the team has picked up John “John” Perez and benched both Huke and Thomas “TJHaly” Haly. This group of four is just one iteration of the constant revolving door of players coming out of the LA Thieves. No one knows how John will play after a year hiatus.

 – Danny Appleford

Seattle Surge
Seattle is all but eliminated from championship contention | Provided by Call of Duty League

Seattle Surge

  • Season Record: 7-20
  • Stage 4 Record: 3-5
  • Movement: -1

Seattle Surge saw a massive upswing in performance during the Stage 4 Major on LAN. Sam “Octane” Larew was the biggest contributing factor to this. He brought back his own “human-turret” self to push Seattle further than they’d ever gone at an event. 

If they continue this momentum behind Octane for Stage 5, there’s a good chance we might see some life from them. However, they’re still out of contention for Champs with how little they won throughout the season. 

Appleford

Los Angeles Guerrillas

  • Season Record: 8-20
  • Stage 4 Record: 1-6
  • Movement: -1

Recently, the LA Guerrillas played their Academy team in an eight-map scrimmage. While the Academy team is made up of former professionals, the Guerrillas’ main roster should always win a majority of the matches. Instead, the eight-map series saw the starting roster lose every map, including a 250-11 loss in one Hardpoint. 

Though the team might be getting used to the addition of Billy “MentaL” Putnam — who was added to the roster after Stage 4 in place of Martin “Cheen” Chino — this is a troubling sign for Stage 5. If the Guerrillas can’t win a single map against their Academy roster, it seems out of the realm of possibility that they can take down a CDL roster in Group B. 

Carr

London Royal Ravens

  • Season Record: 7-19
  • Stage 4 Record: 1-5
  • Movement: +1

London fans, and this ever-shifting Royal Ravens roster, must be thankful we’re nearing the end of the competitive year.

Ahead of Stage 5, we haven’t seen any massive roster moves from London, a surprise for many in the league who have seen players come and go throughout the year. At this point, it might be best for the Royal Ravens to stick with what they’ve got, grind through their final few games and then try to build around players like Marcus “Afro” Reid, a fresh talent and bright spot amid a one-win Stage 4, and Paul “PaulEhx” Avila.

Morrison

Matthew "Skrapz" Marshall
Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall has the 2022 season to look forward to | Provided by Call of Duty League

Paris Legion

  • Season Record: 7-17
  • Stage 4 Record: 2-4
  • Movement: -1

Paris has struggled to make a lasting impression on anyone during 2021. They’ve had breakout successes off the back of Matt “Skrapz” Marshall but that hasn’t been enough. The team either looks great together or they look like they just recently formed as a team.

Paris Legion, like Seattle, are most likely out of Champs regardless of the outcome of Stage 5. At this point, all we can hope for is a last minute surge in performance to end the year on a positive note. 

Appleford