The Toronto Ultra and New York Subliners each entered Sunday 4-0 and with eyes on the top spot in the Call of Duty League’s Stage 2 Major standings.
Only one of them ended the day unbeaten.
The Subliners breezed past the last-place Miami Heretics 3-0 in the day’s first match. The Ultra, on the other hand, were swept 3-0 by the Atlanta FaZe.
All 12 CDL teams will play seven qualifying matches ahead of the Stage 2 Major, scheduled for March 21-24 in Miami. Every team will advance to the double-elimination tournament, with the qualifying matches determining seeding. The top eight teams in the qualifying standings will get a bye in the first round of the tournament.
Each qualifier win is worth 10 points. The prize pool for the tournament (money and CDL points) has yet to be announced.
New York won Sub Base Hardpoint 250-155, Invasion Search & Destroy 6-4 and 3-0 in Invasion Control to shut out the Heretics.
The Ultra, who won the Stage 1 Major in January, dropped Karachi Hardpoint 250-172 and Rio Search & Destroy 6-5. The FaZe completed the sweep with a 3-1 on Highrise Control to move within a half-game of the Ultra.
In the other match Sunday, the Los Angeles Thieves jumped all over the Minnesota Rokkr early before hanging on to win 3-2 and avoid a reverse sweep. Los Angeles won 250-205 on Invasion Hardpoint and took Invasion Search & Destroy 6-2. The Rokkr rebounded with a 3-1 win on Invasion Control and 250-231 on Skidrow Hardpoint. In the winner-take-all fifth map, the Thieves won 6-3 on Terminal Search & Destroy.
The results leave the Subliners atop group play with a 5-0 record, followed by OpTic Texas at 4-0. Those two play each other March 17, in the final match of group play. Action resumes next Friday with three matches, including OpTic trying for its fifth win.
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifying standings (points, match win-loss record, map win-loss differential):
1. New York Subliners, 50 points, 5-0, 15-4, plus-11
2. OpTic Texas, 40 points, 4-0, 12-4, plus-8
3. Toronto Ultra, 40 points, 4-1, 12-6, plus-6
4. Atlanta FaZe, 30 points, 3-1, 11-4, plus-7
5. Las Vegas Legion, 30 points, 3-1, 10-6, plus-4
6. Los Angeles Thieves, 20 points, 2-1, 6-7, minus-1
7. Boston Breach, 20 points, 2-2, 6-9, minus-3
8. Carolina Royal Ravens, 10 points, 1-3, 7-10, minus-3
9. Seattle Surge, 10 points, 1-3, 4-9, minus-5
T10. Los Angeles Guerrillas, 0 points, 0-3, 2-9, minus-7
T10. Minnesota Rokkr, 0 points, 0-5, 8-15, minus-7
12. Miami Heretics, 0 points, 0-5, 5-15, minus-10
–Field Level Media