The anticipation built up for Call of Duty League Champs came to fruition today at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The bottom six teams of the bracket took to the stage to fight it out and advance to Friday. Two teams moved on while two squads were sent home in a single match.
After day one, the LA Thieves and Florida Mutineers were the unlucky two to leave Champs without a win. While the squads take home $25,000 each, they finish last in the bracket at 7th-8th. It’s a disappointing finish for both teams, who each felt they were coming into their own at the tail end of the season. However, at the end of the day, they were outmatched by their opponents.
LA and Florida bow out of CDL Champs
Both the Thieves and Mutineers began the day in the losers bracket. LA matched up the Stage 5 Major champion Minnesota ROKKR after they were swept by Dallas Empire. Florida found themselves in a battle with an angry OpTic Chicago who nearly pulled off a reverse sweep against the New York Subliners.
LA put up more of a fight, as they took Minnesota to a game five on Miami Search and Destroy. However, anyone who’s watched the CDL in 2021 knows that whenever the ROKKR plays Miami S&D, they usually come out victorious. The same happened today, as the ROKKR looked a little better on the map than the Thieves. Coach Jordan “Jkap” Kaplan was disappointed in the loss, tweeting after the match “really wish we had more of a chance to show the progress we’ve made.”
It was a disappointing end to CDL Champs and the season for LA. After a record eight roster changes during 2021, the Thieves need to seriously regroup in Call of Duty: Vanguard during 2022.
As for Florida, they looked overmatched by OpTic Chicago in every facet besides Search and Destroy. For some reason, OpTic can’t put it together in the mode, as they went 0-3 on day one. Besides their win in Search, though, Florida didn’t manage much of a fight in the match.
While the Mutineers played admirably at times, the sheer slaying power of Chicago was too much in the end. Florida ends CDL Champs with an expected finish, as they hadn’t performed well at major events all season. However, the team has a great core group of young players and should contend next season.
Day two of CDL Champs continues tomorrow, Friday, August 20, at 3:00 p.m. ET with Dallas Empire vs. Toronto Ultra.
