Paris Gentle Mates Avoid Huge Scare as Carolina Royal Ravens and Vancouver Surge dumped from CDL Major II

After being crowned as the opening CDL 2026 Major I Champions just two months ago, Paris Gentle Mates avoided an early exit from Major II in a nailbiting Play-In showdown, as Carolina Royal Ravens and Vancouver Surge crashed out in rock bottom 9-10th place.

The Call of Duty League made a bold call in the format for Major II, choosing only to host the top ten teams at the first international event outside of the US in the last seven years. Of those, two teams would only play up to five maps of Call of Duty action on the other side of the world, being placed in a single-elimination bracket.

Straight off the bat, the format saw reigning champions Gentle Mates facing down the barrel of a Raven-shaped shotgun, but it was the Carolina and Vancouver camps that was sent home packing before the real event really started.

Gentle Mates Avoid Disaster as They Inch Past Lurqxx’s Royal Ravens

Despite being third in our Power Rankings, Paris Gentle Mates fans were on edge as they went head to head with a Carolina Royal Ravens roster that was oozing rookie confidence in a winner-takes-all final qualifier. The French org has faced a number of off-field speedbumps in the online series, only slipping out of the bottom two thanks to some dismal loss streaks from Boston Breach and Cloud9.

But, as the old trope goes, form is tempory and class is permanent. Back on LAN when the vibes are high and the squad can pull together through testing times, the Gentle Mates roster proved that they are more than capable of staying competitive at the highest level.

Withstanding the best efforts of rookie Logan “Lurqxx” Brown, it was one-to-watch lister Dylan “Envoy” Hannon that proved the doubters wrong by taking over in both map two and four. The Champions look to be on their way back to their title-challenging form after blowing away some cobwebs early on.

For Carolina, their LAN woes continue to be an issue, failing to win on the main stage in either of their three attempts so far.

Vancouver Surge Drowned out by Strong Swimmers

While Surge was hoping for a big splash on the opening day, it was the fish-named KOI who harnessed their namesake and swam through the treacherous waters to send the Canadian org home.

After Surge took the opening Hardpoint, a huge Round 11 win for KOI in map two saw them equal a tie that looked to be getting away from them, shifting the momentum in their favour. From there on, it was a comfortable ride for Joseph “JoeDecieves” Romero, who has posted up some outrageous figures already and showcased why he was one of the hottest players on the market in the offseason.

The brutality of the format has already been criticised on social media by Vancouver star Thomas “TJHaly” Haly, whose return to Europe ended as quickly as it began.

Both Paris and Toronto move on to the double-elimination bracket.