The Call of Duty League Stage Four Major begins today with a match in the loser’s bracket between the Seattle Surge and the London Royal Ravens. This major is the first Call of Duty League event to be on LAN since March of last year. The Atlanta FaZe look to win back-to-back majors and their third of the season after a flawless Stage Four. The Toronto Ultra also have a chance to meet the Atlanta FaZe in a rematch of Stage Three’s semi-final match.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the Call of Duty League will be having an in-person LAN event in Arlington, Texas. The Stage Four Major is the first event since the Dallas Empire won the Los Angeles Home Series back in March 2020 to be played offline. The event “will adhere to strict League health and safety protocols” according to the league. There will be rapid COVID-19 testing done during the event to ensure the safety of the attendees. Only players and a limited number of Call of Duty League staff will be able to attend the event.
Teams are excited to come back to LAN, however the impact on teams varies. For OpTic Chicago, they have the worst connection in the league according to Dylan “Envoy” Hannon.
“I think we’ll benefit a lot. We talk about it every day and we think we have the worst net in the league,” Envoy says. “The fact that we only lost once last year on LAN when we got reverse swept, its promising.”
On the other hand, the Toronto Ultra feel it won’t impact their playstyle as much says Benjamin “Bance” Bance.
“I feel like we’re just going to be the exact same on LAN. I don’t really say our playstyle is pure gunfights, I feel like our playstyle is work together as a unit,” Bance says. “Regardless if you are on LAN or online, if I’m with someone else and we’re in a 2v1 against you, we’re probably going to win it.”
The Atlanta FaZe are the favorites to win the Stage Four Major in Arlington, Texas after going 5-0. They are also looking to win their second major in a row and third major this season. With placing first in Group A, the Atlanta FaZe are facing the winner of the match between the New York Subliners and the Minnesota Rokkr.
Looking at the regular season, the Atlanta Faze have lost only four matches of 31 total. In all majors, the earliest they have lost is the third round, with the other loss coming in the Stage Two Major Final. Two of the teams that have beat Atlanta FaZe have a chance to face them. The New York Subliners can play the Atlanta FaZe if they win their match against the Minnesota Rokkr. On the other hand, the Toronto Ultra can play them if they advance to round three of the winner’s bracket.
After losing the Stage Two Major, the Atlanta FaZe have put in the work to make sure they can repeat, according to Tyler “Abezy” Pharris.
“We’re putting in the same amount of work that we have been throughout the whole season. We put in the work and watched VODs,” Abezy says. “We see what we can to do get better. This team is very hard working, it’s a good thing.”
The Atlanta FaZe will play on Friday, June 18 at 4:30 ET.
The Toronto Ultra have a chance to win their second major at the Stage Four Major this weekend. They went 4-1 to secure the second-round winners bracket slot. The Toronto Ultra will face the winners of the match between the Dallas Empire and OpTic Chicago.
The Toronto Ultra won the Stage Two Major against the Atlanta FaZe 5-3, and fell to them 3-2 twice in the Stage Three Major. After a slow start to Stage Four, they see themselves in a position to face the Atlanta FaZe in the third round of the winner’s bracket. The Toronto Ultra have improved, and are feeling good if they have to face the Atlanta FaZe says Bance.
“When we lost to them, we lost 3-2 both times, and it was kind of our [Search and Destroys] that weren’t that very good, so I feel we’ve been working on that,” Bance says. “We’ve also been trying to expand our map pool. I feel like we’re very comfortable on most hardpoints now.”
With a chance to win the Stage Four Major, the Toronto Ultra can sit comfortably in second place heading into Stage Five.
The Toronto Ultra play their first match on Friday, June 18 at 3:00PM ET.
Feature Image Courtesy of Call of Duty League
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