Esports Events

CDL Minnesota Home Series Preview - Call of Duty League Week 9

As the action continues to heat up in the inaugural season of the franchised Call of Duty League, we take a look at what is coming up next in the league's schedule. Next weekend Minnesota will host their second event of the season, as they hosted the launch weekend, but this is their first Home Series. The CDL Minnesota Home Series event takes place from June 5^th – 7^th, once again online due to COVID-19.

Call of Duty League Format

Here's the usual reminder on how teams earn points in the Call of Duty League, just in case you're new to the league.

10 CDL Points per win + 10 bonus CDL Points for winning the bracket
50 CDL Points for 1^st Place
30 CDL Points for 2^nd Place
20 CDL Points for 3^rd/4^th Place
10 CDL Points for 5^th/6^th Place
0 CDL Points for 7^th/8^th Place

Each Home Series is played out as two double-elimination format (GSL) groups, with best of 5 series throughout.

Call of Duty League Seattle Home Series Recap

The CDL Seattle Home Series has just come to an end and we were left with some interesting results. Heading into the event, there were multiple roster changes that took place. Below you can find a breakdown of the roster changes that took place before the Seattle Home Series.

Chicago Huntsmen acquired Prestinni from the Florida Mutineers
Zer0 moved from New York Subliners to the London Royal Ravens
To replace Zer0, the New York Subliners picked up Mack
Seattle had a mess when it came to their starting line-up. They planned to acquire a new player which fell through, meaning Enable came back into the team

Although Chicago Huntsmen winning the event wasn't a surprise, there was a pleasant change in how the team performed and worked together with Prestinni joining the team. He seemed to add a level of composure to the team that they were previously lacking. It's because of this, Formal was able to break out to his full potential once again putting on a show and being argued as the MVP of the event.

There were some other pivotal points that needed to be mentioned. London Royal Ravens finished in 2^nd place, pulling them up the standings heading into the final few weeks. The addition of Zer0 seems to be a great move; let's just hope it isn't a honeymoon period.

To sum up other notable performances from the past weekend. OpTic Gaming LA once again finished in the top 4, after finally seeming to figure out how to click together. New York Subliners also finished in the top 4, something they've struggled to do this season and Mack seems to have added a unique dynamic to the team. Seattle Surge flopped at their own Home Series, with most the team seeming incredibly frustrated across the board.

After an action packed weekend: here's a final look at our Seattle Home Series bracket.

How did your predictions turn out?#CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/xkr08EpFkB
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) May 25, 2020

Post-Seattle Call of Duty League Standings

With both Dallas Empire & Atlanta FaZe not competing this past weekend, it created a great opportunity for Chicago to reinforce their position in 1^st place once again. With how results fell, there were some interesting jumps and changes in the standings. Overall, the end of the regular season is continuing to set up nicely for viewers and this should continue at the CDL Minnesota Home Series.

Place	Team	Total CDL Points
1^st	Chicago Huntsmen	180
2^nd	Atlanta FaZe	170
3^rd	Dallas Empire	150
4^th	Minnesota Rokkr	120
5^th	Florida Mutineers	100
6^th	London Royal Ravens	80
7^th	OpTic Gaming LA	70
8^th	Paris Legion	60
9^th	New York Subliners	60
10^th	Toronto Ultra	40
11^th	Seattle Surge	40
12^th	Los Angeles Guerrillas	30

What we can expect from the CDL Minnesota Home Series

This upcoming event has the potential to be one of the best Home Series events of the season, purely because of the eight teams attending. For quite some time now Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta have been passing the 1^st place torch back and forth.

The biggest question still hangs, which team is the best? Due to all 3 teams not attending the same Home Series event often, this will be a trust test. It wouldn't be surprising to see whoever comes out on top here, finish in 1^st place in the regular season

CDL Minnesota Attending Teams

Group A

Seattle Surge
Atlanta FaZe
Minnesota ROKKR
Dallas Empire

Group B

Los Angeles Guerrillas
Toronto Ultra
Chicago Huntsmen
Florida Mutineers

The clash between Dallas and Atlanta in Group A could have a major implication on how the rest of the bracket plays out. Unfortunately, an underdog story doesn't seem to be on the cards, however we should still have a fantastic story building weekend filled with exciting Call of Duty action.

Favourites to win the CDL Minnesota Home Series

This event is flat out a battle between three teams; Chicago Huntsmen, Atlanta FaZe, and Dallas Empire. These three teams have been battling it out for top spot all season long, and now finally have an opportunity to battle it out. Other than that, the remaining teams will be fighting to try and climb up the mid table standings.

Chicago chasing back to back victories

Chicago Huntsmen looked impressive following the addition of Prestinni this past weekend at the CDL Seattle Home Series, which we have already mentioned. It's important to take on board how the team were discussing their quality and practice routine in recent interviews. It appears that the previous roster had issues with enjoying playing together and were often slacking in preparation.

However, in Prestinni's interview last weekend he touched on the motivation and drive within the team now. Following a victory and heading into possibly their biggest Home Series event of the season, this is bound to be at an all-time high now. COD Bets on the Huntsmen are rather safe at the moment.

Atlanta FaZe young guns ready for redemption

As we have mentioned, these teams have been regularly leapfrogging one another in the standings, but I feel an argument can be made that Atlanta have been the best and most consistent team so far this season.

It's because of this consistency and success they will likely be coming into this event with a chip on their shoulder. This is the perfect opportunity for them to put that true stamp as Champions beside their name. They will have the joys of clashing with Dallas in groups if they both win, a win here could set them up to run the rest of the bracket at the CDL Minnesota Home Series.

Dallas Empire primed for a battle

Coming into this inaugural season of the Call of Duty League, majority believed Dallas and Chicago had the most powerful rosters. Dallas had a disappointing start to the season but have managed to get things rolling in the past couple of months, which is why they find themselves battling for 1^st place, as expected.

It seems like they need to win the Minnesota Home Series to cement their status as one of, if not the best team in the league. There has been constant questions and backlash from fans and viewers regarding their true peak performances, and whether or not they'll come out on top at the end of the season.