The Minnesota ROKKR have gone from the first seed at the Stage 2 Major to not winning a map at the Stage 3 Major, falling to the London Royal Ravens during round two of the loser’s bracket in a 3-0 sweep. The EU squad was coming off a win against the Seattle Surge yesterday and used that momentum to pull off a great upset.
It was a quick and easy sweep for the Ravens, who dominated most of the maps. The rookies for the roster came up huge while members of the ROKKR were unable to get anything going. This puts Minnesota out of the tournament, as they leave with no CDL Points, no earnings and an embarrassing loss.
ROKKR bow out of Stage 3 Major early with loss to London
After the first Hardpoint, which was close at 250-232, the Royal Ravens took things to a new level. The rookies Paul “PaulEhx” Avila and Alex “Zaptius” Bonilla went off for London, showing they belong in the Call of Duty League. Both had their moments throughout the series, with their Search and Destroy prowess headlining their performance. However, it was Zach “Zed” Denyer who made the flashy play in Search, pulling off an exciting ninja defuse.
“WE LOVE NINJA DEFUSES! @ZachDenyer #CDL2021,” tweeted the Call of Duty League account.
WE LOVE NINJA DEFUSES!@ZachDenyer | #CDL2021 pic.twitter.com/HtO3nzVhDV
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) May 14, 2021
PaulEhx and Zaptius were the only members of London to post a KD above 1.00. Zaptius led the way with a 1.13 though, sending Minnesota home early. PaulEhx stated that the roster got a ton of confidence after defeating Seattle, helping them to the 3-0 victory today.
“Once we got that first win, we already knew after that our confidence was going to be at an all-time high,” PaulEhx stated. “Confidence is the key. Confidence can get you so far.”
The clear weak link for the ROKKR was Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi. He finished the series with a 0.78 KD and slowed down his teammates noticeably. Accuracy’s performance may have been impacted by the fasting he’s partaking in as part of Ramadan celebrations. He noted online that it was having at least some impact on him.
“My teammates are nasty for getting me through Ramadan,” Accuracy tweeted.
My teammates are nasty for getting me through Ramadan
— Lamar ❄️ (@AccuracyLA) May 6, 2021
Regardless of the reason, the ROKKR are out of the Stage 3 Major, failing to win a map. London, on the other hand, continues their loser’s bracket run and will face the LA Thieves tomorrow, May 15, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
