In one of the wildest tournaments in competitive Call of Duty history, the Minnesota Rokkr won the fifth and final Major of the season. Rookie of the year candidate Standy took home Player of the Stage honors while capturing the first event win of his career.
The field has suddenly become wide open as all eyes look toward the Call of Duty World Championship kicking off on August 19th.
Rokkr Make History
For the second Major in a row, the Finals went all the way to a Game 9 to determine the victor. The path to get there however was much different this time around. Ultra, carrying over their momentum from the Optic Chicago series, bullied Minnesota off the map to start the Grand Final. Rokkr were 200-point clubbed, losing 250-34 in Game 1 on Checkmate, before falling 6-1 in Search and Destroy on Moscow. Insight dropped a 3.2 K/D across the first two maps for Toronto. Things continue to spiral downward for Rokkr from there.
Minnesota began to show some signs of life in Games 3 and 4, but Toronto remained firmly in control of the series, racing out to a 4-0 lead. Insight continued to lead his team in K/D while Cammy and CleanX led the way in engagements and damage dealt.
Entering Game 5 on Miami SnD, Toronto was only six rounds away from taking home their second Major on the year. Rokkr, with their backs against the wall, finally showed up in the series. They ran out to a 4-0 lead in round count, before closing it out 6-3 thanks to a 12-4 performance by Standy. The young gun helped to turn the tide of the series due to his play inside of Lobby.
Minnesota was able to carry their momentum into Control on Garrison, winning 3-1 and putting the series at 4-2.
Still, there was a lot of work to do for the Minnesota side going into Game 7. But Rokkr kept rolling, notching another map in the series with a 6-2 victory on Standoff to bring the series within a game of being tied.
Game 8, Apocalypse Hardpoint was yet another chance for Toronto to close out the series. Their command of the Grand Final was slipping away map by map. Unfortunately for them, they could not find a way to slow Rokkr down. The game was neck and neck through the first rotations before Minnesota ran away with it late, winning all their clutch gunfights enroute to a 250-165 win. Rokkr outslayed them 84-57 as both Bance and CleanX went double negative.
Suddenly, only one map remained to determine the champions of Stage 5. And just as in Game 5 when Rokkr needed someone to step up, it was Standy. Minnesota’s SMG player led the lobby with 12 kills on only five deaths. He set the tone early with six kills across the first two rounds.
Rokkr raced out to a 4-1 lead before Ultra chipped away to make it a 4-3 match. In Round 8, with a chance to bring it to 4-4, Ultra got Standy into a 1v2. He quickly took care of Bance and then out-danced MVP finalist Cammy to win the round and put Minnesota on tournament point.
Round 9 came down to a 1v2 for CleanX to extend the game. He won a tough, long-distance gunfight against Priestahh but transitioned to water-stairs where he was cut down by Attach, capturing the Major for Minnesota.
Standy, for his efforts during the Major and all across Stage 5 won the best player award. He posted a 1.10 K/D throughout Stage 5, including a 1.35 in SnD and a 1.13 in Hardpoint.
Attach put up a 1.15 K/D for Rokkr during the Grand Finals, showing the CDL that the 2015 World Champion still has the skill to compete at the highest level of Call of Duty.
Insight finished with a 1.44 K/D for the series, far and away the best on either team. Cammy dropped the most damage among all eight players but was also a disappointing -6 during the Grand Finals. Bance on the other hand had the lowest K/D with a 0.77 while only putting down 16,825 damage across the series, the only player to not cross the 20,000 threshold.
Rokkr put on a dominating display throughout Stage 5. They finished 10-2 in Search and Destroy, only dropping matches on Moscow. At the Major, they defeated Faze, Empire, and Ultra in the Winners Bracket with a combined 9-2 map count before ultimately making the biggest comeback in Call of Duty history to win the event.
As the regular season comes to a close, there were a few other notable storylines from Stage 5.
Faze Stunned, Exit Top 8
The juggernaut that has been Atlanta Faze finally faltered at the Major. Stage 5 overall revealed chinks in the armor for Atlanta. At first, their uncharacteristic loss to Optic during pool play could be dismissed as a one-off. Perhaps there wasn’t anything to worry about after another surprise, a Winners Round 1 result in Rokkr’s favor. The match was their first loss on the year in less than five games. But then the upset of the year took place in the Elimination Bracket, where the 9th seeded Seattle Surge took down Atlanta to bounce them from the Major.
Faze lost three of their seven total losses on the season in Stage 5, including two on LAN to noticeably inferior opponents. If Rokkr, Optic, and Surge can take down the 3-time Major winners, what does that mean for Atlanta’s top challengers in Ultra and Empire?
All that being said, this might be exactly what Faze needed in order to win at Champs. Last year when they were the top seed going into Champs, they didn’t have a wake-up call like this to motivate them to finish the season strong. By being humbled like this in Stage 5, they might be at their best come Champs, a scary thought for the rest of the League.
This is still Atlanta’s Championship to lose. On the year they went to 4 of 5 Major finals, winning 3 of them. They’ve only lost seven matches this season, the next closest team sitting at 17. Three of the five MVP finalists are on the Faze roster, with the MVP surely going to one of them. They’ve also won 70% of their games, more than 10% higher than any other team. This has been Faze’s year and anyone other than them hoisting the trophy in a few weeks would be a surprise.
Optic Show Improvement
While still not the final placement Optic Chicago was looking for, the squad made their best strides in Stage 5. They went 4-1 in pool play, including a victory over Atlanta to give them the first seed at the Major. Though they lost to Ultra in the Winners Bracket in a closely-contested five-game series, they rattled off victories over Surge and Empire to make it to their first Elimination Finals of the season.
Unfortunately for Chicago, it was a rematch against Ultra. Since Toronto moved Insight into the starting lineup back in Stage 2, they are undefeated against Optic. Ultra remains the only top team Optic hasn’t taken down. Still, a third-place finish with wins over Faze and Empire throughout the Stage, in addition to playing two competitive series against Toronto at the Major, Optic is in their best form yet. Five teams have a legitimate shot at taking Champs this year, and OG is one of them. If their upward trend continues at Champs, who knows what could happen.
Final Regular Season Standings
1. Atlanta Faze
2. Toronto Ultra
3. Dallas Empire
4. Optic Chicago
5. New York Subliners
6. Minnesota Rokkr
7. Los Angeles Thieves
8. Florida Mutineers
Power Rankings Headed into Champs
1. Atlanta Faze
2. Toronto Ultra
3. Minnesota Rokkr
4. Dallas Empire
5. Optic Chicago
6. Los Angeles Thieves
7. Florida Mutineers
8. New York Subliners (but if Clayster returns, I’d put them 6th)
Champs Matchups
Winners Bracket:
Optic Chicago vs. New York Subliners
Atlanta Faze vs. Winner of CHI/NY
Dallas Empire vs. Minnesota Rokkr
Toronto Ultra vs. Winner of DAL/MIN
Elimination Bracket:
Florida Mutineers vs. Loser of CHI/NY
Los Angeles Thieves vs. Loser of DAL/MIN
Do you think Faze will still capture the Championship? Has Rokkr convinced you they are the real deal? Will the defending World Champions get their first event win of the year when it matters the most? Let me know in the comments!
The 2021 Call of Duty World Championship starts Thursday, August 19th at 3 pm ET.