In the first-ever Call of Duty Pro-Am Classic, amateur Call of Duty Challengers teams fought against battle-hardened pros. Sixteen teams, out of which four were amateur Challenger teams, battled for a first-place prize of $100,000.
Source: New York Subliners Twitter Account
The total prize pool was $250,000; second place secured $50,000, third and fourth places got $25,000 each, with spots five to eight getting $12,500. Because of the involvement of the Challengers teams, the results from the Pro-Am Classic do not count toward the Call of Duty League standings for the pros.
New York Subliners’ Road to Victory
The New York Subliners managed to snag the ultimate victory here. A testament to their great skill and teamwork is the fact that all of their matches ended either 3:0 or 3:1. No other team even managed to get to two points against them.
During the group stage, the Subliners dominated the Los Angeles Thieves with a score of 3:0. In the next match, they were up against Team WaR and they won 3:1 with ease. They then proceeded to wipe the floor with the London Royal Ravens, with a final score of 3:0.
Seeing as they had crept into the playoffs pretty easily, their next game was against the Paris Legion. It was a repeat performance for the Subliners, as they finished the game with a 3:0 victory. Toronto Ultra was the next team that got the short end of the stick, with the final score being 3:1. But hey, they at least managed to get one point against this scorching hot team.
When the New York Subliners finally managed to reach the finals, there was one team left. A team that they have already faced and beaten 3:0. All they had to do was repeat it, though that was easier said than done. Los Angeles Thieves were their opponents once more, but the New York Subliners were again too strong, and ultimately beat them with a decisive 3:1 victory.
The Finals
Things took a turn on the first map, Berlin Hardpoint. The Los Angeles Thieves succeeded and won by quite a margin, beating the New York Subliners 250-85.
At this point, it seemed like the finals could go either way. The Subliners may have won their first match-up at the beginning of the tournament without many problems, but then the Thieves shocked us and countered decisively.
Tuscan Search and Destroy followed, and this is where the Subliners started to feel like themselves again. They got a 6-3 win and were starting to leave the Thieves in the dust.
Up next was Gavutu Control, the closest match yet. The match ended in favor of the New York team with a tight score of 3-2. The deciding match was Tuscan Hardpoint, and it wasn’t really a blowout. New York Subliners won with a score of 250-237, squeezing out a 3:1, crowning themselves the Pro-Am Classic champions, and taking the $100k home.
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez received the coveted MVP award, achieving and holding a 1.07 K/D ratio.
The Top 8
While the victory by the New York Subliners was nothing short of definitive, the other seven teams in the Top 8 were nothing to scoff at. Even though the results didn’t count towards the overall Call of Duty League standings, the teams gave it their all regardless.
Los Angeles Thieves came in second place, while the joint third and fourth place ultimately belonged to Toronto Ultra and OpTic Texas. The remaining teams that placed were, in order, the Atlanta FaZe, the Boston Breach, the Florida Mutineers, and the Paris Legion.
Pro-Am Classic Viewership
Esports Charts have revealed the total viewership numbers for the Call of Duty League Pro-Am Classic tournament on Monday. The tournament had a peak of 53,000 viewers, and that happened during the New York Subliners VS Toronto Ultra match on Sunday.
Unfortunately, these numbers are substantially down from the previous events in 2022. Esports Charts revealed that average viewership for the tournament was around 26,000 people.
In comparison, the average for Major 2 was close to around 56,000, whilst the peak was about 30,000 more. All in all, the upcoming Major 3 tournament should see higher viewership than the Pro-Am Classic received.
This tournament might have not been one of the highest watched ones, but it was still a sight to behold for various reasons. We have seen how the Challengers stack up against pro players, and how the pros handled the newly added pressure.
A lot of the teams will have used this tournament as practice, alongside battling for the prizes, for the upcoming Major 3 qualifying matches starting May 13. Week 1 qualifiers start this Friday, and we can’t wait for the action to start all over again!
