One day after squeaking out five-map wins, the Toronto Ultra and New York Subliners each claimed victories on Friday in the second round of the Call of Duty League playoffs in Las Vegas.
The Ultra beat the Atlanta FaZe 3-1 while the Subliners earned a 3-1 win over OpTic Texas in the winners bracket. With the victories, Toronto and New York are set to meet on Saturday with a chance to reach Sunday’s grand final.
In the first round of elimination matches, the Seattle Surge ousted the Los Angeles Thieves 3-2 and the Boston Breach downed the Minnesota Rokkr 3-1.
The top eight teams from the CDL season opened the $2.38 million double-elimination event on Thursday. All matches are best-of-five except for the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-nine.
The championship winner will earn $1 million, while the runner-up will receive $660,000.
In on Friday, the Ultra took Mercado Las Almas Hardpoint 250-162 to open before the FaZe replied with a 6-2 victory on Embassy Search and Destroy. Toronto put away the match with successive wins on El Asilo Control (3-0) and Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint (250-221).
American Thomas “Scrappy” Ernst led the victors with 81 kills and a plus-1.13 kills-to-deaths ratio. American Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris tallied 71 kills for FaZe.
The Subliners stormed out of the gates with a 250-130 victory on Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint but dropped the next map 6-4 on Breenbergh Hotel Search and Destroy to even the match. New York closed out the win by taking Breenbergh Hotel Control 3-1 and Zarqwa Hydroelectric Hardpoint 250-246.
Matthew “KiSMET” Tinsley of the United States and Frenchman Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez each posted 81 kills for the Subliners. American Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe had 75 kills for OpTic.
In a back-and-forth battle, the Surge began with a 250-161 win on Embassy Hardpoint before the Thieves claimed El Asilo Search and Destroy 6-2. Seattle again took a one-map lead by winning El Asilo Control 3-2, but L.A. won 250-210 on Mercado Las Almas Hardpoint to tie it 2-2. The Surge took the decisive map on Al Bagra Fortress Search and Destroy, winning 6-4.
Makenzie “Mack” Kelley of the U.S. had a match-high 61 kills for Seattle. The United States’ Dylan “Envoy” Hannon led the Thieves with 60 kills.
In the final match, Boston started with a 250-87 rout on Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint, but Minnesota came right back, winning Mercado Las Almas Search and Destroy 6-2. The Breach then finished with two map conquests, 3-0 on El Asilo Control and 250-211 on Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint.
American Joseph “Owakening” Conley and British teammate Ben “Beans” McMellon each scored 71 kills for Boston, with Owakening adding a blistering 1.45 kill-death ratio. England’s Ben “Bance” Bance logged 61 kills for Minnesota.
Playoff action continues Saturday with five matches:
–Winners-bracket finals: Toronto Ultra vs. New York Subliners
–Losers-bracket second round: OpTic Texas vs. Seattle Surge
–Losers-bracket second round: Atlanta FaZe vs. Boston Breach
–Losers-bracket third round: OpTic/Surge winner vs. FaZe/Breach winner
–Losers-bracket final: Winner of losers-bracket third-round match and loser of winners-bracket final
Call of Duty League playoffs prize pool:
1. $1 million
2. $660,000
3. $320,000
4. $160,000
5-6. $80,000
7-8. $40,000 — Los Angeles Thieves, Minnesota Rokkr
–Field Level Media