Call of Duty League Stage Five ended today with the Toronto Ultra falling to the Dallas Empire 3-1. OpTic Chicago claims the top seed in Group A as the New York Subliners continue to struggle. The Dallas Empire and Toronto Ultra are neck and neck in the race for second place, both ending with 4-1 records.
New York Subliners Continue to Struggle
Call of Duty League Stage Five took a toll on the New York Subliners. Heading into this final week, the team was 0-3 and still looking for their first win. The Subliners first match was a back-and-forth affair against the Paris Legion. A 250-244 Hardpoint in favor of the Subliners and a 6-5 Search and Destroy for the Legion had the series tied 1-1. The New York Subliners would take the lead with a 3-1 win in Control. However, the Paris Legion would come storming back wih a dominating win in Hardpoint. Fortunately for the New York Subliners, they pulled out the win 6-1 in Search and Destroy to win the match 3-2.
This stage has not been easy for the New York Subliners, especially as James “Clayster” Eubanks stepped away from the team to reset. There are some sparks of the team being one of the best, but they are still making simple mistakes says Obaid “Asim” Asim.
“I feel like we have sparks of being that top team again. We were making a lot of simple mistakes in that series,” he says. “We’ve only had two days with [Conor “Diamondcon” Johst], like we still got to touch up on a lot of our plays.”
However, the New York Subliners could not repeat their success against the Atlanta FaZe as the Atlanta FaZe dominated. The New York Subliners were swept as they lost 250-107 in Hardpoint, 6-1 in Search and Destroy, and 3-0 in Control. Heading into the Stage Five Major, they are in the Elimination bracket. They face the Los Angeles Guerrillas on Thursday, July 29 at 4:30 PM ET.
OpTic Chicago Take Top Seed Heading into Major
OpTic Chicago secured the top seed heading into the Stage Five Major. They edged out the Atlanta FaZe and secured it with a win against the London Royal Ravens. OpTic Chicago and the London Royal Ravens played close games in their match, but OpTic Chicago were able to win. OpTic won in Hardpoint 250-207, Search and Destroy 6-4 and Control 3-2 to pull off the sweep. After defeating Atlanta FaZe the previous week, the goal hadn’t changed for OpTic says Seth “Scump” Abner.
“The only thing we were thinking about is that we wanted the first seed and that has been our goal obviously since the group stages have started,” he says. “I wouldn’t say it’s added pressure on us because at this point, we really have nothing to lose with the way our season went.”
Looking to complete the perfect stage, OpTic Chicago went up against the Los Angeles Thieves. OpTic dominated at the start by winning 250-72 in Hardpoint and 6-1 on Search and Destroy. However, the Los Angeles Thieves fought back and won three in a row to pull off the reverse sweep. This is the second reverse sweep OpTic has given up this season. Although they lost the match, OpTic got top seed in the Stage Five Major. They will face the winner of the Toronto Ultra and Los Angeles Thieves on Friday, July 30 at 7:30 PM ET.
Dallas Empire and Toronto Ultra Fight for Second Place
Two teams that have been in constant battle is the Dallas Empire and the Toronto Ultra. Since the beginning of Stage Four, they have been fighting for the second place with Dallas barely being on top. There are only five points separating these two teams in the standings, and their placement will be finalized in the Stage Five Major.
The Toronto Ultra had an opportunity to overtake the Dallas Empire in the final match of Stage Five. With the Ultra being 4-0 heading into the match, they could have gotten 10 more points to take second place heading into the major. However, the Dallas Empire beat the Toronto Ultra in four close games. The Dallas Empire won in Hardpoint 250-231 and followed it up with a Search and Destroy win 6-4. The Toronto Ultra tried to mount a comeback and won 3-2 in Control on Raid. They tried to comeback in Hardpoint, but the Dallas Empire put a stop to that and won the match 3-1.
These two teams continue their battling in the Stage Five Major as the Toronto Ultra face the Los Angeles Thieves on Thursday, Jul 29 at 7:30 PM ET. The Dallas Empire face the winner of the Atlanta FaZe and Minnesota Rokkr on Friday, July 30 at 6:00 PM ET.
Feature Image Courtesy of Call of Duty League
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with James!
“From Our Haus to Yours“