The third event of the Call of Duty League calendar has concluded. The Atlanta Home Series was filled with world-class Call of Duty action across two days of intense competition. The Atlanta FaZe managed to defend their home turf, defeating the Florida Mutineers in the finals of the competition.
We take a look back at all the action and some of the movers and shakers in the CDL.
Atlanta Are The Real Deal
Although we didn't get to see the highly anticipated match between the FaZe and the Chicago Huntsmen, Atlanta still proved that they are one of, and if not, the very best team in the league. Their road to the final was not easy however, having to reverse sweep a very good Minnesota team to book their place in the finals.
McArthur "Cellium" Jovel was the star of the show for Atlanta. He was doing it all, everything from gathering objective time and captures to bolstering the already frightening pairing of Chris "Simp" Lehr and Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris on the frontline. Cellium earned the MVP trophy at the end of the event and it was certainly well deserved.
We still await the clash between Chicago and Atlanta and it looks like we may have to wait a little longer for that to take place. Regardless, it is going to take something very special to take down this Atlanta side in future events.
Florida & Minnesota Make A Statement
After their loss to the London Royal Ravens in the opening match, many had written off the Florida Mutineers and expected them to be eliminated by OpTic Gaming Los Angeles in the next game. Quite the opposite happened, the Mutineers bounced back, handily beating OpTic to set up a rematch with the Ravens, defeat London to secure a place in the bracket before defeating reverse sweeping the Chicago Huntsmen to play Atlanta in the finals. They would ultimately lose to the FaZe in the final but for a team that many considered to be consisting of the leftovers, the Mutineers have shown that no team in the league should ever be underestimated.
The same can be said for the Minnesota RØKKR too. Coming into the event with a flawless record from Launch Weekend, a lot of people had not put much stock into a team that contains multiple world champions and some of the most exciting, explosive talent in the world. Adam "GodRx" Brown excelled in S&D against Atlanta and was a dominant AR player in the respawn modes too. Throw in Alex "Alexx" Carpenter to further increase the slaying power of the RØKKR and before they knew it, they secured a 2-0 lead against the FaZe, a team that weren't used to coming back from such a deficit. Atlanta did complete the sweep but like the Mutineers, Minnesota have proved themselves to be an extremely talented team, making the mid-table battle an extremely exciting prospect as the season progresses.
Disappointment for OpTic Gaming Los Angeles
Something is not going to plan for OpTic LA. Filled to the brim with some of the best North American talent, OpTic LA should be fighting towards the top of the table but after Atlanta, they sit dead last, still without a win. The Green Wall was quickly knocked down by Atlanta, before the demolition job was finished by Florida to dump them out of the tournament.
As the only team in the league with no points to their name, is change afoot? WIth Martin "Chino" Chino and Jevon "Goonjar" Gooljar-Lim waiting on the substitutes bench, is a potential change on the horizon ahead of the LA Home Series? Or will they wait until after the LA Home Series before contemplating any change? If LA doesn't yield any points, then some serious thinking has to be done if the Green Wall doesn't want to be holding up the table for the entire season.
Up Next: Los Angeles!
The fourth stop on the calendar is the Los Angeles Home Series, taking place from March 7th-8th. Both LA teams, Dallas, Atlanta, Minnesota, New York, Seattle and Florida will be in action for what is set to be another very competitive weekend of action!
The regular season's top two teams, Atlanta FaZe and Dallas Empire, face off in the Call of Duty League Grand Final.
