The inaugural season of the Call of Duty League has begun. The CoD esports circuit descends on the Copper Box Arena in London once again for the first London home series of the season.
Unlike launch weekend, only eight teams will be in attendance and will be experiencing the first tournament using the new format that was recently announced.
Find the participating teams below:
- London Royal Ravens
- New York Subliners
- Paris Legion
- Chicago Huntsmen
- Dallas Empire
- Los Angeles Guerrillas
- Toronto Ultra
- Seattle Surge
In this article, we take a look at five players to keep an eye on throughout the weekend.
1) James "Clayster" Eubanks
Seasoned veteran Clayster and the Dallas Empire did not get their season off to the best of starts after falling to Chicago and Atlanta, arguably two of the strongest teams in the league.
Heading into the London home series, Clayster will be intent on producing an improved individual performance while guiding some of his relatively inexperienced teammates in their first Call of Duty competition outside of the United States.
It will be interesting to see whether the Empire can bounce back after its hardest weekend in the league.
2) Jordan "Jurd" Crowley
The king of European Call of Duty has rightfully taken his throne once again. Perhaps not the most flamboyant player on the London Royal Ravens, Jurd provides an integral role on the team as one of the two sub-machine gunners on the team.
In Minnesota, there were glimpses of what made the Irishman a household name back in the early stages of his career, scoring a tidy 1v2 clutch with a minimal amount of ammunition in the magazine.
Expect Jurd to do whatever he pleases in London. His ability to turn the game on its head alongside SMG partner Dylan "Dylan" Henderson makes the Ravens a formidable opponent that should not be written off.
3) Conrad "Shockz" Rymarek
As one third of the Australian trio representing the Paris Legion, it is great to see Shockz back at the highest level of CoD after his absence from last season's Pro League.
The ruthless aggression that Shockz possesses makes him a very difficult player to deal with. Often found using an SMG, Shockz can also use the M4A1 Assault Rifle, allowing him to alternate between an SMG role and the flex role with ease.
With the Legion taking on New York in their opening match of the London home series, there is certainly a chance for Shockz & co to make a very deep run in the tournament, maybe even a top four finish?
4) Sam "Octane" Larew
At launch weekend, Octane was doing his best to steer the sinking Seattle Surge ship away from inevitable doom. Despite his best efforts, the Surge lost both of their opening games, a surprise considering the vast amount of talent that is on this team.
The opening game for Seattle at London is against a strong Dallas Empire but with both teams coming off losses, there is a chance for this particular game to be extremely competitive.
As the main AR player for Seattle, Octane excelled during Search & Destroy, often putting the rest of team on his back. If Seattle can find some form of improvements in their S&D, there is a chance for them to topple the empire.
5) Alec "Arcitys" Sanderson
Last and by no means least is 2019 world champion, Arcitys. Transitioning from a main AR role to one of the two aggressive SMG roles in the team is no mean feat but Arcitys has managed to do that easily.
He dominated alongside Dylan "Envoy" Hannon for the Huntsmen, frequently taking out multiple opponents, opening up the map for the rest of his team.
A strong performance in London will give Chicago a prime opportunity to secure the outright lead at the top of the league considering Atlanta are not in attendance. Out of the eight teams, the Huntsmen will certainly be considered as the team to beat based off their performance at the opening weekend of the league.
Header image courtesy of MLG.
The Call of Duty League has begun. All 12 franchise teams have had their first taste of competitive Modern Warfare for the first time this season. Find out who's at the top of our post-Launch Weekend power rankings.
