Heading into Stage 4 of the Call of Duty League season, the only thing we know for sure is that Atlanta Faze is the best team in the game. Six teams have made roster moves ahead of Stage 4, and while that may turn the season around for some, below I list where things currently stand in the power rankings heading into the latter half of the year.
1. Atlanta Faze – As has been the case for the entire season, Faze remains the team to beat. Avenging their Stage 2 Grand Finals defeat over Toronto Ultra not once, but twice during the Stage 3 major, Atlanta stands undisputed as the best team in the game after winning their second major of the year.
2. Toronto Ultra – Despite failing to accomplish their goal of back-to-back major wins, Ultra performed well during the Stage 3 tournament. Toronto beat Los Angeles Thieves and Chicago Optic after falling to the elimination bracket after their first-round loss to Atlanta. Ultra lost both of their matches to Faze in closely contested 3-2 series, still looking very much the challenger Atlanta has lacked most of the year.
Though the Subliners were able to beat Atlanta in the Winners Finals, Toronto remains the only team to take down the top team when it matters most. Their previous major win and the more significant amount of time they’ve had together as a full team put them slightly above New York in my eyes. They may have finished a disappointing 3rd place in the major, but they remain Faze’s closest competition.
3. New York Subliners – With the addition of Hydra, the Subliners have definitively planted themselves as a top 3 team in the CDL. While the 5-2 Grand Final scoreline at the last major looks like they were blown out by Faze, New York was a 1v1 away from evening the series up at 3-3 and changing the outlook of the match. This is still a new team that will likely only get better as they put in the practice together. Time will tell if Hydra can compete as well on LAN as he has online (his 1.13 K/D ratio is no. 3 overall in the CDL).
4. Optic Chicago – Many were asking what was wrong with Optic after they went 2-3 to start Stage 3. Their poor performance forced them to start in the Elimination bracket, where they proceeded to win three matches in a row before falling 3-2 to the defending champs in a round 11 heartbreak. Optic has hovered as a 3rd-6th place team all season. But if their display at the major is any indication of the things to come, they could be knocking at the door of the Finals come Stage 4; especially with LAN confirmed for the first time all year.
5. Dallas Empire – Empire is currently a mystery. After starting the year as the defending world champions and making it to the Grand Finals of the first major, things have gone from bad to worse for the Crimsix-led squad. At the Stage 3 major, Empire exited the competition swiftly after back-to-back sweeps by Faze and Optic. Following a 2-4 match performance with Felo, Dallas announced last week that he had been benched, and with Huke now in the rearview of the organization, Empire has brought in former Los Angeles Guerillas player Vivid to fill the void.
Though he’s been benched by LAG since late April, Vivid remains the top player in the CDL for Hardpoint damage per 10 minutes, albeit in only 22 games. Despite Empire’s bumpy road thus far, counting out arguably the greatest Call of Duty player ever in Crimsix, the defending MVP in Shotzzy and the young star in Illey would be premature at this point in the season. Look for Empire to grind the rest of the year and see if they can get back to true contender status.
6. Florida Mutineers – Owakening has been one of the CDL’s best players this season, a big reason for the Mutineer’s success when they clutch up matches down the stretch of games. However, they have been up and down all season, beating teams clearly inferior to them while getting swept by the top-tier squads in the league.
After starting their major off with a 3-1 victory over LA Thieves, Florida lost six straight matches to New York and Chicago to get bounced from the tournament. One could argue they should be a couple of spots up on this list, but until they establish more consistency, they remain a team that is questionable to rely on.
7. Los Angeles Thieves – With Huke on the roster, Thieves were able to sweep the Royal Ravens in their second match of the Stage 3 major after starting off on the wrong foot against Florida. However, any momentum they had was quickly squashed in a 250-14 game 1 loss to Toronto in their next series. While they recovered to take an SnD, Ultra destroyed them in both Control and the second Hardpoint to eliminate LA 3-1.
Los Angeles announced a few days prior to Stage 4 kicking off that Huke had been benched in favor of TJHaly, who makes his return to the starting lineup. Thieves had a 6-9 record across four matches with Huke on the team. Regardless of who LA puts out there, Thieves require some much-needed consistency sooner than later to shore up their respawns if they want to return to where they left off as an organization back in Black Ops 4.
8. London Royal Ravens – Despite starting in the Elimination bracket at the Stage 3 major, London was able to knock off two match victories before falling to LAT 3-0. Since their loss, London has dropped Zapitus in order for Alexx to resume his role in the starting lineup. The team has also brought back Dominate as their coach and added Afro to the roster. London will be able to test out their new-look squad Friday, May 28th against Empire.
9. Minnesota Rokkr – Rokkr has had their moments this season, most notably their performance during Stage 2. In more recent times, however, they have significantly disappointed. Losing to Florida, Dallas, and Toronto during pool play before falling 3-0 to London in their only series at the Stage 3 major has Minnesota scratching their heads going into Stage 4. Accuracy has since been replaced by MajorManiak, a questionable move by the organization as they enter the next phase of the season.
10. Los Angeles Guerillas – While LAG has put together a few surprise wins this season, they performed just about as expected at the Stage 3 major. They advanced past bottom of the barrel Seattle Surge before falling to Chicago 3-1 to end their tournament run. A team change is likely needed for the Guerillas if any significant progress is going to be made in the second half of the CDL calendar.
11. Paris Legion – Legion was first-rounded by London at the major after going 1-4 in pool play prior to the tournament kicking off. Their lone win was over Florida, but this was likely more of an outlier than anything to build on. Against the Royal Ravens, the squad performed well in Search and Destroy and Control game types, winning the former and only falling 3-2 in the latter. With young gun Zapitus coming over to the roster from London to replace Classic, Paris will need their new lineup to improve at Hardpoint if they want to climb the ladder into the top half of teams in the CDL.
12. Seattle Surge – Though Seattle has gotten some wins here and there during the season, nothing has really come together for the squad in year two of the Call of Duty League. Roughly halfway through the season, the Surge sit in last place in the standings, with the possibility of the organization finishing in the bottom two in back-to-back seasons if things stay on their current trajectory.
Octane remains the biggest positive for Seattle, boasting the highest kills per round in Search and Destroy in the CDL. With the new addition of former Legion player Classic to the starting lineup, we’ll see if this is the spark the Surge needs to turn their season around. Their roster debut will take place against the Los Angeles Thieves on Saturday, May 29th at 4:30 ET.
Do you agree with where things stand heading into Stage 4? Which new-look team do you think has the best chance for success? Let me know in the comments!
Stage 4 kicks off with the Chicago Home Series on Thursday, May 27th with Paris Legion taking on Atlanta Faze at 3 pm ET.