OpTic Texas and the Los Angeles Thieves went the distance for quarterfinal wins in the Call of Duty League Championship Weekend, which began Thursday at Galen Center in Los Angeles.
OpTic defeated the Toronto Ultra 3-2, while the Thieves knocked off the Boston Breach. Those winners will meet Friday in one upper-bracket semifinal match.
The other upper-bracket semifinal will pit the Seattle Surge against the Atlanta FaZe. Those teams also needed five maps to advance, with the Surge subduing the London Royal Ravens and the FaZe defeating the New York Subliners.
Championship Weekend offers a prize pool of $2.55 million, with $1.2 million going to the winners. The tournament has a double-elimination format, and all matches are best-of-five until Sunday’s grand final, which is best-of-nine.
The Breach and Ultra will be back in action on Friday as well, playing an elimination match in the first round of the lower bracket. The Ravens will face the Subliners in another elimination match.
OpTic jumped to a quick lead in their match, winning 205-162 on Bocage Hardpoint and 6-3 on Bocage Search and Destroy. The Ultra rallied to tie the match with wins on Gavutu Control (3-2) and Tuscan Hardpoint (250-225), but OpTic eked out a clinching 6-5 win on Berlin Search and Destroy.
Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro of the United States led OpTic with 95 kills, while teammate Brandon “Dashy” Otell of Canada had the best kills/deaths ratio at plus-1.21.
The Breach and Thieves alternated wins and losses through the first four maps. The Breach won 250-181 on Tuscan Hardpoint, but fell 6-4 on Desert Siege Search and Destroy. Boston squeaked out a 3-2 victory on Berlin Control, but Los Angeles roared back to win 250-166 on Berlin Hardpoint to knot the match.
On the decisive fifth map, Tuscan Search and Destroy, the Thieves reigned 6-5. Sam “Octane” Larew of the U.S. led the Thieves with 104 kills and a plus-1.20 kills/deaths ratio.
The Surge won their first map Tuscan Hardpoint, 250-148, but the Ravens came back with victories on Desert Siege Search and Destroy (6-1) and Berlin Control (3-0). The Surge squeezed out a 250-217 win on Berlin Hardpoint to tie the match.
Seattle then won the clincher, Berlin Search and Destroy, 6-3. Daunte “Sib” Gray of the U.S. led the Surge with 93 kills and a plus-1.26 kills/deaths ratio.
In the day’s final match, the Subliners jumped out to a big lead with wins of 250-242 on Gavutu Hardpoint and 6-4 on Tuscan Search and Destroy. But the FaZe began the road back with a 3-0 victory on Tuscan Control, leveled the match with a 250-210 win on Tuscan Hardpoint and clinched with a 6-2 triumph on Berlin Search and Destroy.
Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris of the United States finished with a team-leading 115 kills for the FaZe, and McArthur “Cellium” Jovel of the U.S> posted a K/D ratio of plus-1.42.
Friday’s matches
(Upper-bracket semifinals)
Atlanta Faze vs. Seattle Surge
OpTic Texas vs. Los Angeles Thieves
(Lower-bracket first round)
New York Subliners vs. London Royal Ravens
Toronto Ultra vs. Boston Breach
Call of Duty League Championship Weekend prize pool
1st place: $1.2 million
2nd place: $650,000
3rd place: $320,000
4th place: $160,000
5th-6th place: $80,000
7th-8th place: $30,000
–Field Level Media