Following a hectic weekend of action at the Los Angeles Home Series, the teams will have a short period to reset before heading to CDL Dallas. Week 5 of the Call of Duty League takes place at the Toyota Music Factory, in Irving Texas. As usual for the league this year, the action will take place solely on the weekend, long are the days of early matches on a Friday. The games will be played out on the 28th and 29th March.
The champs are coming home: @DallasEmpire host the next Home Series in the Call of Duty League!
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2020
đź“… March 28-29
📍 Toyota Music Factory
🎫 https://t.co/MzyFBQo7Fs pic.twitter.com/7gglxTNvMa
It has been an incredibly interesting start to the inaugural season of the franchised Call of Duty League. With multiple teams being deemed powerhouses, with others still trying to find their identity, there has been a real shift in momentum within the scene. It is also fair to say that the shift in format has created more intense league matches, with additional storylines being possible making for exciting COD Betting opportunities.
As the league now runs in a bi-weekly format, with the league matches being played out at one of the designated home series, it creates a unique opportunity for the fans. What is also unique, is the switch Call of Duty made to the popular double-elimination format (GSL) groups this year, with best of 5 series throughout.
One thing to note is that other than the opening weekend, only 8 of the 12 teams attend each of the Home Series events.
As mentioned above, this is the only event of regular season that had every team in attendance and each team played two matches to kick start the season.
Moving forward it would be the eight teams attending the Home Series events battling it out in the double-elimination battle. Find out who came out on top below:
The two powerhouses coming into franchising (Chicago and Dallas) were going to be facing off in the first proper tournament environment. Plenty of storylines were added to during this weekend.
After Chicago cemented themselves as top dogs following a successful trip to London, it was time to head to Atlanta and see if they could topple the young guns on their home soil.
They wear the crown in LA: Congratulations to @DallasEmpire, the WINNERS of the Los Angeles Home Series! #BuildAnEmpire@Clayster @shotzzy @crimsix @huke @illeyyy pic.twitter.com/vYpYad37nI
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2020
This most recent week of action seen Chicago have their first break of the season, giving the opportunity for others to poke their noses into the top spots. We also got to witness the long-awaited “Battle of LA”. The full results can be seen below:
Place | Team |
1st | Dallas Empire |
2nd | Minnesota ROKKR |
3rd – 4th | OpTic Gaming Los Angeles |
3rd – 4th | Atlanta FaZe |
5th – 6th | Seattle Surge |
5th – 6th | Florida Mutineers |
7th – 8th | Los Angeles Guerrillas |
7th – 8th | New York Subliners |
Now that the recent events have been covered, you should have a fair idea of how the teams are balancing out and the identities they are creating for themselves. There are still several weeks of action remaining in the regular season. However, those that are struggling will want to get things in gear as soon as possible, otherwise, their hopes of a playoff run may die early.
It is disappointing not to see Atlanta attending this series, as it would have elevated the stories once again, but we should still be in for an enticing weekend of Call of Duty.
As expected, heading into CDL Dallas Home Series Week 5 we have been able to gather fairly accurate opinions on each team thus far. The cream of the crop is starting to emerge whilst the off-season mistakes of some are starting to bubble. Below are the full standings of the Call of Duty League as it stands.
Place | Team | Total CDL Points |
1st | Atlanta FaZe | 90 |
2nd | Chicago Huntsmen | 90 |
3rd | Dallas Empire | 80 |
4th | Minnesota ROKKR | 70 |
5th | Paris Legion | 50 |
6th | Florida Mutineers | 50 |
7th | London Royal Ravens | 40 |
8th | OpTic Gaming LA | 20 |
9th | Seattle Surge | 20 |
10th | Toronto Ultra | 10 |
11th | LA Guerrillas | 10 |
12th | New York Subliners | 10 |
The CDL Point Standings following the LA Home Series!
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2020
(➡️ @GameFuel) pic.twitter.com/rEEm7QpRxw
Despite their victory recently in Los Angeles, there are still many doubts to be held over this roster. When you consider they fell to Atlanta 3-0 during the group stage and were pushed to the last map against Minnesota, it is clear they still aren’t ready to battle with those topping the league. However, they aren’t far away and if they take on the momentum well, this could change.
In regard to Dallas claiming the top spot in the league, they’re going to have to defeat Chicago, something they have failed to do this year after multiple attempts. Chicago are slightly ahead of Dallas in the rankings and tied in 1st with Atlanta. If Chicago defeat Minnesota comfortably in their opening game, expect them to do damage the entire weekend.
The Minnesota roster is a great example of not needing a “dream team” to be successful. They are all talented players that have tasted success in the past but many wrote them off before the season even begun. Now they find themselves sat in 4th place, only touching distance away from first place.
Considering they had a 2-0 run on their home soil during Launch Weekend, then followed that up with a 3rd-4th and 2nd place finishes, they seem primed to take home a Championship soon. This could very well happen at the CDL Dallas Home Series.
The late announcement of Prestinni taking a step back from the roster this past weekend caught many by surprise. However, this hopefully won’t be a long-term issue. Prestinni has stated that the break is for mental health and he hopes to be competing again soon.
These left some large shoes to fill, with Fero having the task it might not be such an issue for them. Considering both their losses came against Atlanta and Dallas, having a week or so to practice with Fero, might leave Florida in a position to cause an upset at the CDL Dallas Home Series.