The Toronto Ultra Home Series kicked off Stage 2 of the Call of Duty League on March 18. From interesting matches to technical difficulties and in-game glitches, the home series was a rollercoaster throughout and had a little bit of everything for fans.
Aside from the various highlights of the event, the community was able to watch some high-level Call of Duty for most of this past weekend. New rosters were in play that helped bolster the competitiveness of the league to a higher level. However, the top teams in the CDL still look like the top teams after week one of Stage 2.
1. Atlanta FaZe are still on top of the league
While it wasn’t up for much debate, it’s now more clear than ever that Atlanta FaZe are cemented as the No. 1 team in the CDL. Up to this point, FaZe still hasn’t lost a match, boasting a remarkable 10-0 record.
Stage 2 began with Atlanta taking on New York in one of the marquee matchups of the weekend. Though the Subliners are still improving, this match proved just how far ahead FaZe is in the league. It was a 3-1 win for Atlanta that could’ve been 3-0 if they weren’t purposely reckless on Express Search and Destroy.
Atlanta also defeated the Toronto Ultra in an impressive 3-0 sweep, moving their record to 10-0. The “Tiny Terrors” squad has only dropped nine maps this season and they are, simply stated, better than the other 11 teams right now.
2. London looks like a different team
One of the two new rosters in play at the Toronto Home Series was the London Royal Ravens. Earlier in the week, the organization announced that Chris “Parasite” Duarte was replaced with former WestR amateur player, Paul “PaulEhx” Avila.
London was a trainwreck, to put it lightly, in the events prior to Stage 2. They were 0-6 and won a total of seven maps. However, that was immediately turned around at the Toronto Home Series when PaulEhx made his debut.
The Ravens swept the L.A. Guerrillas 3-0 and looked like a completely new team. The squad’s Search and Destroy was especially impressive, which is in direct correlation with bringing on PaulEhx. While the roster only played one map, things are trending up for the CDL’s bottom-dwelling team.
3. Insight will help the Ultra in future events
Perhaps the biggest story heading into week one of Stage 2 was the Toronto Ultra benching Anthony “Methodz” Zinni. The Ultra replaced the veteran player with substitute, Jamie “Insight” Craven; a move that was criticized by fans leading up to the home series.
Whether or not benching Methodz was the correct call, bringing up Insight was clearly the right choice. The European rifler performed extremely well in his first professional event, slaying out massively in almost every map. He even dropped a whopping 13 kills in Search and Destroy against the L.A. Thieves.
Some fans might disagree with Methodz’s benching. The overarching feeling is that one of the other two veterans on the roster should have been sent to the sideline. However, few can argue that Insight doesn’t deserve a spot on the starting roster after his performance at the Toronto Home Series.
One of the biggest issues from Insight’s debut is that Toronto went 0-2. However, they drew some tough opponents, FaZe and L.A. Thieves, so the record is slightly misleading. The Ultra put up a good fight in both matches but ultimately they need more time to practice with Insight now on the roster. With that extra practice, Toronto could be a team to watch down the stretch.
