London Royal Ravens to host CDL Challengers event

The Call of Duty League (CDL) is set to begin its inaugural season in Minnesota on Jan. 24. Every CDL team will be in attendance and play Modern Warfare on LAN for the first time. The launch weekend will set into motion various events that will take place nearly every other week. After Minnesota hosts their event, it’s off to London on Feb. 8-9.

However, some controversy came with London’s February event, as they only have 32 open bracket slots. This is far lower than Call of Duty esports is used to, leading many fans to call out the Royal Ravens. Well, it appears this outcry worked, because London has announced they’re throwing a Challengers event with nearly triple the teams.

London holding a 100+ team Challengers event

The Call of Duty Challengers League is a system where amateur players can compete in hopes of landing a spot on a CDL organization. Scattered tournaments will take place throughout the CDL’s first season, letting these Challenger teams compete for prize money and recognition. Think of previous CWL events, and that’s what the Challenger events will look like.

The Dallas Empire has previously stated they’d be willing to throw an event for amateur teams. Team Envy owner Mike “Hastr0” Rufail even said the prize pool could be upwards of $50,000. Adding to this idea, amidst their current situation, the London Royal Ravens seem to be interested in throwing a Challengers event.

Players we hear you! Whilst we have been unable to change the challengers format for the Feb event, we will be offering a much larger 100+ team challenger tournament in June. We'll provide more details soon. We hope you’ll still come and support us at the Copper Box in February.

— Carolina Royal Ravens (@RoyalRavens) January 14, 2020

According to the team, they’re unable to amend their open bracket for the Feb. 8 event. However, to make up for this, they’re willing to throw another event in June that will far exceed anything we’ve seen so far. While it is in June, towards the end of the season, it should be the biggest Challengers event of the year. Also, it could coincide with their June 20-21 CDL event, making for an epic weekend.