The London Royal Ravens Home Series has concluded, and the Toronto Ultra has continued to prove itself as one of the best teams in the Call of Duty League. The powerful roster went undefeated all weekend and has continued to climb the leaderboard. The home series also featured an impressive performance from the revamped New York Subliners roster. But some are also questioning if Dallas made the right call by benching one of its star players.
The Toronto Ultra can't be stopped. Image via Overactive Media Group
Ultra can’t be stopped
The Toronto Ultra established itself as one of the best teams in the league after winning the second Major of the season. This victory came as a surprise, especially after Toronto fought its way out of the losers bracket to beat Atlanta in the grand finals.
But this performance was not a fluke as Toronto went undefeated during the London Royal Ravens Home Series and did not drop a single map in both its games.
Toronto faced the Florida Mutinners in its first match of the weekend, which was a rather lackluster ordeal. The Ultra started the series with a Checkmate Hardpoint 250-161 blowout. Cameron “Cammy” Mckilligan and Tobias Juul “CleanX” Jonsson finished the map with 29 kills.
Florida almost won Express Search and Destroy and took the match to round 11. Joseph “Owakening” Conley performed exceptionally well and tied Cammy with 13 kills. Owakening also dropped 40 kills in Raid Control, but it was not enough for his team to take the series. This time Cammy and Jamie “Insight” Craven led their team to victory and were both two kills away from 40 bombs.
Toronto faced a much more difficult opponent in its second match of the home series: The Dallas Empire. Toronto previously beat Dallas in the losers bracket during the second Major, and Dallas’ new lineup was not enough to change the outcome.
The Ultra narrowly won Checkmate Hardpoint, and the majority of the lobby came close to dropping 30 kills each. The Toronto squad performed incredibly well and carried the momentum in Miami Search and Destroy. Ben Bance carried his team this time with nine kills.
Toronto’s final match of the weekend ended with another Raid Control win and three out of four players securing 30 kills. The Ultra’s successful weekend further cemented the team as a top contender and a team to watch going forward.
Did Dallas make a mistake?
After its first match in the London Royal Ravens Home Series, Dallas announced that Cuyler “Huke” Garland would be moving to the bench. Tyler “FeLo” Johnson, a talented player that spent the inaugural season in Challengers before joining Dallas, moved to the starting roster position.
This was a surprise to most fans as Huke is still considered a fantastic player and was a crucial member of the 2020 champion roster. But the organization felt that the team was not performing to its full potential, and a change was needed.
But is unclear if the roster change was the right move or if Dallas just needs more time to adapt to the change.
Dallas started the home series with a win against the Paris Legion. Paris started the series with a 250-111 Garrison Hardpoint victory, which was a substantial victory considering Paris has struggled all season and Dallas is in second place.
But Dallas bounced back and won the next three matches, including a 6-0 Express Search and Destroy win where Ian “C6” Porter went 10-0. C6 continued to lead his team to victory in the next three matches of the series and secured 30 kills in Hardpoint Checkmate. It is worth mentioning Huke performed relatively well during the series but did slightly stumble in Checkmate Control.
Despite the victory, Dallas decided to bench Huke and add FeLo to its starting roster just in time for the match against Toronto. But FeLo was not enough for the team to take on Toronto, who won the series 3-0.
FeLo held his own in the series and is still likely adjusting to the new roster. Fans will see if the roster change was the right move for Dallas or if it should have left Huke in his starting position.
HyDra baptized by fire
The New York Subliners struggled to perform during the Stage Two Major and failed to win a single map. But New York made a significant change before Stage Three by replacing Conor “Diamondcon” Johst with Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez.
HyDra was initially planned to start on the New York roster at the beginning of the season, but visa issues kept the talented player in France. The team’s recent performance prompted a roster change that allowed HyDra to finally get a shot on the main stage, and he did not disappoint.
New York faced the Atlanta FaZe in its only match of the weekend. Atlanta most recently came in second place in the second Major. But the new Subliners roster was able to redeem itself by defeating Atlanta.
The Subliners narrowly won Garrison Hardpoint by 39 points, and HyDra immediately proved his worth with 31 kills. But veteran James “Clayster” Eubanks did lend a helping hand with 33 kills. But Atlanta answered back by winning the following two maps and almost ended the game on map four.
New York barely survived with a 250-241 Apocalypse Hardpoint win. Asim Obaid led his team with 23 kills, and HyDra performed relatively well with 22 kills. Both teams went back and forth in Raid Search and Destroy, which ended in round 11 in favor of New York. This time Makenzie “Mack” Kelly led the way with ten kills, while HyDra contributed five kills to the victory.
HyDra is an excellent addition to the New York roster and might be enough for the team to maintain a top spot in the league.
CDL Standings
The first week of Stage Three has finished. Here are the current team standings:
Atlanta Faze – 225 CDL Points
Dallas Empire – 190 CDL Points
OpTic Chicago – 160 CDL Points
New York Subliners – 150 CDL Points
Toronto Ultra – 145 CDL Points
Los Angeles Thieves – 130 CDL Points
Minnesota ROKKR – 110 CDL Points
Los Angeles Guerrillas– 80 CDL Points
Florida Mutineers– 70 CDL Points
Seattle Surge – 50 CDL Points
Paris Legion – 50 CDL Points
London Royal Ravens – 30 CDL Points
