In one of the most competitive series of the 2021 season, the New York Subliners defeated the Atlanta FaZe on May 15 to earn their spot in the Stage 3 Major grand finals. They became the first team to beat Atlanta twice this year and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Subliners turned to their young guns to match the hot FaZe roster that looked unstoppable heading into the match. After defeating both Dallas and Toronto in the winners’ bracket, it seemed as though Atlanta was destined for yet another grand finals. However, the Subliners turned the series on its head and sent FaZe to the losers’ bracket for the first time this year.
New York Subliners and Atlanta FaZe collide for terrific series
Arguably the hottest team coming into this event, New York looks like a completely different squad than the one who started the season. The addition of Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez has clearly been the difference-maker for the roster, as he holds one of the highest KDs for a submachine gun player in the CDL.
Keeping on trend, HyDra was the star of the show against FaZe, along with Obaid “Asim” Asim. The SMG duo posted KDs above 1.05 and made some incredible plays throughout the match. However, it was HyDra who had the highlight of the series, winning a 1v1 against Chris “Simp” Lehr in map five, round 11 on Express Search and Destroy.
“Welcome to the Major III Final, @Subliners! #NYSL with the BIG GAME 5 ENERGY to complete a 3-2 W against @ATLFaZe,” the CDL account tweeted.
Welcome to the Major III Final, @Subliners! #NYSL with the BIG GAME 5 ENERGY to complete a 3-2 W against @ATLFaZe! pic.twitter.com/wLpM9XS6TE
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) May 16, 2021
The Subliners’ play in Search and Destroy was the main reason for their win. FaZe was nearly unbeatable in the mode in Stage 3, but New York was able to win both maps to close out the series.
Atlanta played extremely well at times, but simply couldn’t hang on long enough after going down 0-2 early. Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris was off his game, posting a 0.86 KD, while Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson had a massive series, finishing with a 1.16 KD. FaZe now drop to the losers’ bracket finals and await the winner of OpTic Chicago and Toronto Ultra on championship Sunday.
New York moves straight to the grand finals and will need to wait until 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday to see who they’ll face for the Stage 3 Major championship.
