CDL Toronto was a tough weekend for the Huntsmen and its fans. Chicago were in search of a top-two seed and needed the biggest performance of the year. Unfortunately, it was just the opposite. The Huntsmen bowed out before Championship Sunday for just the second time this year. Chicago’s saving grace? Three weeks to improve ahead of Call of Duty Champs next month.
Opening Round: Seattle Surge
Chicago opened up the weekend against Seattle with very sloppy play. This round should have been a little more routine for Chicago. If it was not for a few round 11 heroics by Envoy, the Huntsmen could easily have been down 0-2. Chicago rallied in true Huntsmen form to beat Seattle 3-1.
Gun Runner Hardpoint (201-250)
Prestinni did the right thing early on and was rotating early. Unfortunately, the rest of the Huntsmen did not follow suit. Additionally, Chicago could not hold a solid setup. The Huntsmen held a solid setup on P5 for the first set of rotations. In the blink of an eye, Seattle broke the hill and disrupted Chicago’s progress. The theme for map one was the Huntsmen letting the Surge breakthrough every hill. This made it nearly impossible for the Huntsmen to get momentum going which led to their inevitable loss.
Gun Runner Search and Destroy (6-5)
The Huntsmen gained some momentum early in the Search and Destroy. However, Seattle began to counter Chicago and made the adjustments to bring the series back. Seattle played with a ton of pace. The Surge pushed up on the map and got in Chicago’s face. This gave the Huntsmen trouble throughout the duration of the map. In round 11, the Huntsmen were saved by Envoy. Envoy has been clutch all season for Chicago in map two and five. Envoy’s three kills propelled the Huntsmen to a round 11 win.
Hackney Yard Domination (170-139)
This was one of the Huntsmen’s best Domination showings of the season. The Huntsmen had the better spawns and gave up B early. After, Chicago captured C to create complete chaos. They accumulated a 40 point lead doing this. The Huntsmen also managed to flip spawns very early in the second half which held their steady lead. The Huntsmen created too much distance for Seattle be a threat.
St. Petrograd Hardpoint (250-203)
Another slow start for the Huntsmen. Chicago had nice setups and let Seattle come right into the hills. Another example is on the second set of rotations to P2. Scump did the dirty work to get behind Seattle and flip spawns. Then, Seattle burst right into the hill and took the majority of the time. The difference-maker for the Huntsmen was P3. Chicago setup an impenetrable fortress around the hill. This earned them a majority of the time and created a gap too large to bridge.
Qualifying Round: Toronto Ultra
This was an extremely disappointing series for the Huntsmen. This series was surely theirs for the taking. After a tragic disconnect by Prestinni on map four, Chicago simply could not recover and were reverse swept.
Ramazza Hardpoint (250-228)
Chicago’s sloppy play continued into the Ultra match. The Huntsmen had the better spawns and gave them up for P2 rotations. The Huntsmen were down for the first half of the map. A nearly flawless second rotation and hold on P2 really helped Chicago break away. Heading into the final hill Chicago trailed 220-225. The Huntsmen pushed up far enough on the map to keep Toronto contained and earn early time. Chicago’s gun-skill was too much for the Ultra and Chicago walked away victorious.
Gun Runner Search and Destroy (6-5)
Similar to the last match, Toronto played very fast. The Ultra’s played fast and got up in the Huntsmen’s face. This often led to a first pick or two in the rounds. Chicago and Toronto continued to trade round-for-round. Each team countered the other which led to the ultimate round 11. The Ultra sent three on the flank to gain a man advantage early. Chicago got the bomb down early and found themselves up 2v1 late. Cammy picked off Envoy and hopped on the defuse. Scump left sprinting as fast as he could got to Cammy with no more than a second left on the defuse to put the Huntsmen up 2-0.
Hackney Yard Domination (157-161)
The Huntsmen were so close to a clean 3-0 sweep. Their marginal Domination errors caught up with them once again on the third map. Chicago even did the dirty work early. Despite the bad spawns, Chicago managed to find a triple cap to end the first half and enjoy an 18 point lead. Chicago’s downfall was their map positioning. They simply could not get enough map control in the second half to hold two flags. Toronto did just enough to contain the Huntsmen and steal the second half and third map from Chicago.
St. Petrograd Hardpoint (58-250)
Unfortunately, Prestinni lagged out on this map. Not much more can be said as Chicago was down 4v5 and this is a feat even the best teams cannot come back from.
Piccadilly Search and Destroy (4-6)
Cammy, Cammy, Cammy. The Huntsmen have struggled all season when their is a solid sniper in Search and Destroy. The Huntsmen and Ultra traded rounds back and forth but the sniper battle was the ultimate difference. It is not to say FormaL had a bad map with the sniper. FormaL missed a few round changing shots by millimetres whereas Cammy hit nearly all his key shots. In the end, Cammy went 11-5 and FormaL went 4-8.
Elimination Round: OpTic Gaming Los Angeles
The match against OGLA was extremely close. The Huntsmen were plagued by small errors which led to their ultimate defeat. Overall, this was a very tough tournament for the Huntsmen and they simply could not gain the necessary momentum to carry them to Championship Sunday.
Azhir Cave Hardpoint (250-233)
The Huntmsen started incredibly strong. A fantastic hold on P4 and superior gun-skill on P5 earned them a near 85 point lead after one set of rotations. Chicago were cruising until OGLA pieced together the majority of time on P1 and P2. In the blink of an eye the score was 244-233. Through kills in the smoke and Arcitys’ 44 kills, Chicago were back to their normal map one ways.
Rammaza Search and Destroy (5-6)
This map was gutting for Chicago. The Huntsmen’s typical slow start in Search and Destroy plagued them. Chicago were getting picked left and right. Constantly fighting a man down gave up a lot of positioning to OpTic Gaming. Chicago earned their way back to a round 11. Chicago quickly got picked behind a huge double kill by TJHaly. The multiple man deficit was too much to overcome and OGLA took map two.
Hackney Yard Domination (141-168)
The first half was the dagger for Chicago. The Huntsmen could not get enough team pushes going to build momentum. They spread themselves pretty thin on the map and when they got picked it derailed all progress. OGLA ended the first half with a whopping 46 point lead. Chicago had a much better second half, which unfortunately was not enough. They held two flags for most of the round but needed three flags if they were to win the map. The first-half deficit was too much for the Huntsmen to overcome.
Hackney Yard Hardpoint (218-250)
This map was a seesaw early. The Huntsmen started by out-slaying which led to a small lead. OpTic Gaming then crept back in with a few solid hills of their own. OGLA had a strong P4 hold and to make matters worse, Chicago held P5 rotations, but with a few seconds left on P4, Chicago began to spawn out. They lost key gunfights and positioning on the map. These two factors were too heavy for Chicago to overcome which ultimately led to their defeat.
Featured image courtesy of MLG
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