Call of Duty League 2020 Power Rankings: Post-Launch Weekend

The opening weekend of the Call of Duty League (CDL) concluded with a variety of results including some shock surprises from underdogs and some poor performances from some seasoned veterans.

Now the season is in full-swing, we now have some form of idea as to what to expect from all 12 franchise teams in the league.

Ahead of the second week of action taking place in London from February 7th-8th, here are our power rankings after the first week of competition.

1) Atlanta FaZe

Heading into Launch Weekend as the team to beat, there were questions as to whether Atlanta could transition their impressive online form into a tournament setting. They did just that, taking down the New York Subliners and the Dallas Empire in convincing fashion.

The sub-machine gun (SMG) partnership of Chris "Simp" Lehr and McArthur "Cellium" Jovel asserted their authority on the opposition, excelling with the MP5. Expect the dynamic duo to continue their reign of terror as the season progresses.

The FaZe have proved that its online performance is no joke, comfortably beating two of the stronger teams in the league. Could Atlanta be on course for a dominant season?

2) Chicago Huntsmen

Hot on the heels of Atlanta are the Chicago Huntsmen. Two convincing wins against OpTic Gaming Los Angeles and the Dallas Empire has consolidated their position as one of the front-runners in the CDL.

The reunion of the "T2P" partnership between Seth "Scump" Abner and Matt "FormaL" Piper has already begun to reap the rewards, with Scump becoming an excellent SMG player while FormaL has slotted into the aggressive Assault Rifle (AR) role with ease.

The star of this team throughout Launch Weekend was Alec "Arcitys" Sanderson. A dominant SMG showcase from the 2019 world champion was often the key to the successes of Chicago in the opening weekend of competition. It is interesting to note that he is the favoured sniper on the team, considering the prowess that FormaL has with that particlar weapon.

3) Paris Legion

Prior to the start of Launch Weekend, nearly the entire Call of Duty esports scene had placed the Paris Legion near or at the very bottom of the pre-season rankings.

The Legion came out swinging and with a point to prove, taking down the London Royal Ravens and OpTic Gaming Los Angeles in a hard-fought five-game thriller.

Despite the lack of French talent representing the franchise, the Australian trio of Luke "Louqa" Rigas, Conrad "Shockz" Rymarek and Denholm "Denz" Taylor excelled in their respective roles. It was great to see Louqa and Shockz back at the highest level of competition after their absence from the Pro League during the Black Ops 4 season.

Now they have proven what they are capable of, the Legion will have to build on their fantastic opening weekend performance if they are to stay within reach of Atlanta and Chicago for the duration of the season.

4) Minnesota RØKKR

The hosts of Launch Weekend managed to start the season on the front foot, defeating the Toronto Ultra and Los Angeles Guerrillas in what was a controversial match.

Former world champion Adam "Assault" Garcia impressed in the aggressive AR role, managing to do a bit of everything, from holding specific areas of the map down to flying towards an objective to assist his sub-machine gunners.

With difficult games on the horizon for the RØKKR, these two wins could be extremely important if they are to stay in the running near the top of the table.

5) Los Angeles Guerrillas

Call of Duty's resident villain, Patrick "Aches" Price was in fine form in front of the chorus of boos that the Minnesota crowd launched at him throughout the weekend. The crowd did not put him or his teammates off, managing to secure one win against the Florida Mutineers despite a significant lack of practice in comparison to the other teams.

Losing to Minnesota thanks to one of the Guerrillas players using a restricted perk, leaving Launch Weekend with a win is still impressive nonetheless.

With little time to practice before the Guerrillas are back in action at the London home series, it is going to be interesting to see how LAG can build on their previous performances. A bit of extra practice here and there and LA are really going to join the extremely tight mid-table battle.

6) Dallas Empire

Heading into Launch Weekend, I had my eyes firmly set on the Florida Mutineers making waves. The team could've easily walked away with two victories under their belts but fell to Toronto in a hotly contested five-game series. Regardless, taking home at least one win is better than none at all.

The Mutineers is a team that is filled to the brim with underrated talent, including former Halo world champ, Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom, who had just made the switch to Call of Duty last season. His performance with the MP5 was certainly one of the standouts of the weekend and a player that should be on the radar of everyone in the league.

Florida certainly have the ability and the potential to move up the league table as they can beat some of the superior teams in the CDL.

7) London Royal Ravens

Another team that many people had written off was the London Royal Ravens. In first few months after the release of Modern Warfare, several London players experienced VISA issues when making the move stateside, leaving a lot of people under the impression that the quality of practice was not up to the standard of the top teams.

They quickly quashed those rumours in their opening game against New York, handing them a swift 3-0 win. Bradley "Wuskin" Marshall was the star of that series, scoring a well-timed 1v3 clutch in game two.

A loss to Paris in their second game was a bit of a surprise considering their performance against the Subliners. The UK team managed to throw away a 4-0 lead in game two, which ultimately set them up for defeat against a strong Paris team.

Despite the loss, London possess a lot of potential to do well in the league. With their first home series of the season coming up, they have a chance to secure plenty of points in front of the best crowd in Call of Duty esports.

8) Florida Mutineers

Heading into Launch Weekend, I had my eyes firmly set on the Florida Mutineers making waves. The team could've easily walked away with two victories under their belts but fell to Toronto in a hotly contested five-game series. Regardless, taking home at least one win is better than none at all.

The Mutineers is a team that is filled to the brim with underrated talent, including former Halo world champ, Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom, who had just made the switch to Call of Duty last season. His performance with the MP5 was certainly one of the standouts of the weekend and a player that should be on the radar of everyone in the league.

Florida certainly have the ability and the potential to move up the league table as they can beat some of the superior teams in the CDL.

9) Toronto Ultra

Often scrappy at times, the Toronto Ultra still managed to secure a record of 1-1 at Launch Weekend, taking down Florida and falling to Minnesota respectively. There were some signs of exquisite team co-ordination from the Ultra but there were others where the team were heavily reliant on individual performances in certain maps.

Former Rise Nation star Anthony "Methodz" Zinni had several moments of brilliance throughout both matches, sometimes carrying his four teammates on his back.

Perhaps for the Ultra to see an improvement is to bring Carson "Brack" Newberry into the line-up for the London home series. There is definitely room for improvement for Toronto, making this mid-table battle so very competitive.

10) Seattle Surge

Filled with multiple world champions and seasoned veterans of competitive Call of Duty, expectations were high for the Seattle Surge. Those expectations were not lived up to by any means, losing to Toronto and Florida in two matches that could've been won by the Surge.

In the match against Florida, three-time world champion Damon "Karma" Barlow turned back the years, scoring several multi-kills in the opening Hardpoint against the Mutineers to grab a win in the face of defeat. Despite a solid showing from Karma, the real issues for Seattle lied in their Search & Destroy gameplay.

Sam "Octane" Larew looked incredibly strong in S&D, frequently carrying his teammates to round wins. The lack of performance from the other members of the team was the difference maker in both matches.

If Seattle are to reach the heights that many expected, big improvements are needed in Search & Destroy.

11) OpTic Gaming Los Angeles

A new-look Green Wall headed into the event as a team that was capable of being in the top six, but after Launch Weekend, there is some rebuilding to be done.

Despite having a team filled with North American veterans and explosive young stars, OGLA succumbed to the Paris Legion in a five-game series and were comfortably beaten by the Chicago Huntsmen. Losing their first two games of the league was not the way that the few remaining OpTic fans were looking to start the league.

Despite two losses, the sheer amount of talent on this team will certainly help them rise through the ranks and into the top half of the table in the next few weeks of competition.

12) New York Subliners

As one of the stronger teams that are competing in the CDL, the New York Subliners were heading into Launch Weekend confident of securing at least one victory over the weekend. What happened was quite the opposite.

The team was easily swept aside by London and it was a close series whatsoever, surprising considering the names that feature on the New York roster. The loss to Atlanta later in the weekend was expected but they were able to take a map off the league leaders.

So what is next for the Subliners? With little turnaround between Launch Weekend and the London home series, can any form of improvements be made in such a short space of time? They have a solid coaching team behind them so let's see if they are able to walk away from the Copper Box Arena with a handful of CDL points in their pocket.