Boston Breach are by far the worst-performing team in the Call of Duty League (CDL). They’re on a streak of 10 consecutive losses and have not won a match since March. Over that stretch, Boston Breach have managed to force their opponents to five maps in seven series but that doesn’t mean they were ever close to winning a game.

Seattle Surge are doing quite well and on a opposite trajectory to the Breach. Surge have won four of their last five series, which includes two against Toronto Ultra and Minnesota R?KKR in the first week of the qualifiers.
There’s not much to analyse here. Even though Seattle Surge are not one of the top title contenders, they’re significantly stronger than Boston Breach, who don’t seem capable of beating anyone.

New York Subliners had a weird run through the first week of CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers. They barely made it past Carolina Royal Ravens and then had a shaky showing against Atlanta FaZe on Sunday.

Las Vegas Legion ended last week with a 0-3 loss to Toronto Ultra and a surprise 3-2 victory against OpTic Texas. The Legion are now 2-2 with their newest addition, Giancarlos “oJohnny” Carrasco, and have shown some improvement – but still have a long way to go.

New York Subliners are the better team with a much higher ceiling than the Legion. But they’ve not looked as polished and unless they step up, we could be in for a competitive game on Saturday.

Los Angeles Thieves had to grind out a game-five victory against Los Angeles Guerrillas in their opening CDL 2024 Major 4 Week 1 match. But then found more success against Boston Breach, who they swept aside without any issues.

Carolina Royal Ravens lost both of their matches last week against Los Angeles Guerrillas and New York Subliners, which isn’t too inspiring. They looked terrible against the Guerrillas and didn’t show much more against the New York Subliners – putting them in a questionable spot ahead of a very tough schedule.

Los Angeles Thieves already beat Carolina Royal Ravens twice this season, both times on map five. This time, it should be no different, but considering how shaky the Royal Ravens looked last week, the Los Angeles Thieves should be able to win with a bit more to spare.

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Seattle Surge had an excellent run at the last Call of Duty League Major. They lost to Toronto Ultra in the first round but then picked up two commanding victories against Minnesota R?KKR and Carolina Royal Ravens before getting eliminated by the New York Subliners.

In their series against Toronto Ultra, the Surge showed some good things. Their performances on Control and Hardpoint were solid, whereas Search & Destroy still needs some work.

Toronto Ultra finished runners-up at CDL 2024 Major 3, which is a nice improvement on their fourth-place finish in Major 2. Still, the Ultra should have shown more in the grand final, where they lost to OpTic Texas 0-4 after beating them 3-1 two days prior.

This might suggest that Toronto Ultra lack some consistency, which could prevent them from winning the championship. But online, they’ve looked good — and especially against weaker teams, Toronto Ultra rarely blunder.

Boston Breach crashed out of CDL 2024 Major 3 in the first round in a classic Boston Breach fashion. They faced Los Angeles Thieves and played a competitive series but lost game five, which is something we’ve come to expect of this team.

Shortly after their early exit from the Major, the Breach added Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak to the lineup as a replacement for Nathaniel “Pentagrxm” Thomas, but this change might’ve come a bit too late.

Minnesota R?KKR, like the Breach, didn’t manage to make it past the first round at the recent Major, with a 1-3 loss to Seattle Surge. They have looked serviceable on Search & Destroy, but they’ve been abysmal on respawns, where they’re 4-17 — which isn’t enough to achieve any solid placement, either online or on LAN.

These are both very flawed teams, and while Boston Breach might look better with MajorManiak, this isn’t a good enough reason to believe they’ll have an easy time on Friday. Expect a scrappy affair.

Los Angeles Guerrillas placed dead last at CDL 2024 Major 3 with a first-round defeat against Carolina Royal Ravens. On top of that, they’re also notoriously bad online.

It’s a tough spot to be in for the Guerrillas, who have looked in the mix at points in this season. But it was only a matter of time before their online form was reflected on LAN, and without any roster changes, their situation likely won’t improve anytime soon.

Carolina Royal Ravens have shown some improvement over the last month, with a sixth-place finish in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers and a top-eight on LAN. They’ve still yet to show anything great against top contenders, but the Royal Ravens have consistently beat lesser CoD esports teams and regularly take maps off top squads.

It’s difficult to feel overly optimistic about Los Angeles Guerrillas, and while they might muster up one map, anything more seems highly unlikely.

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Las Vegas Legion have won one series this Call of Duty League split, but even that was against Los Angeles Guerrillas in the opening week. Since then, the Legion haven’t shown much, with five back-to-back losses against Los Angeles Thieves, OpTic Texas, Seattle Surge, Atlanta FaZe, and New York Subliners.

Boston Breach have accumulated five defeats, losing to Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR, Los Angeles Guerrillas, OpTic Texas, and Los Angeles Thieves. Results-wise, the Breach look as bad as the Legion, and the eye test confirms it.

Eric “Snoopy” Pérez has been playing better recently and is a big reason Boston Breach are decent on Control. Still, they are 0-9 in Search & Destroy, and their Hardpoint is hardly better than the Legion’s.

This should be a scrappy game, and it might just go the distance.

Minnesota R?KKR have to win on Saturday to end the stage in the top eight. The same applies to Carolina Royal Ravens, who also have a 2-4 record, albeit with a better map differential (-2) compared to R?KKR (-9).

Both sides belong in this stage’s bottom tier, and there aren’t many reasons to feel optimistic about the Royal Ravens. Yet there are even fewer reasons to back Minnesota R?KKR in this contest.

The Royal Ravens have had a few decent showings over the first four weeks. They took Search & Destroy from FaZe and nearly won on Hardpoint last week, having done the exact same thing against Toronto Ultra earlier in the stage.

Even though the Royal Ravens have many things to work on, they’ve shown some glimpses of greatness. The same can’t be said for Minnesota R?KKR, who have so far played only one decent game — a reverse sweep against LA Thieves in Week 3.

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Despite placing third in CDL Major 2, New York Subliners haven’t looked great in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers due to some teamwork issues. They won against Minnesota R?KKR in the first round but then lost to Carolina Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge, and Atlanta FaZe.

Las Vegas Legion’s only highlight of the split was a five-map series against Los Angeles Thieves, but even that should’ve ended in a 3-0 sweep for the Thieves. Since then, the Legion have lost to OpTic Texas and Seattle Surge, both 0-3.

It’s hard to trust New York Subliners in the state they’re in. But it’s even more difficult to believe in the Las Vegas Legion and their ability to win the series.

Atlanta FaZe are in cruise control heading into the fourth week of CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers. After claiming the second Major of the season, they are already guaranteed a top-eight finish having won all four games of the split.

Last week, Atlanta FaZe crushed the struggling New York Subliners in four maps. That followed wins over two other two contenders, Toronto Ultra and OpTic Texas, in the opening two weeks. FaZe still have some work to do, namely on Highrise – Control, but that may be their only weakness.

Carolina Royal Ravens showed some improvement early in the qualifiers but then crumbled in Week 3 with defeats against Los Angeles Thieves and Toronto Ultra. While results like that don’t make the Royal Ravens one of the bottom CDL teams, they prove that James “Clayster” Eubanks and his crew aren’t ready for FaZe.

Los Angeles Guerrillas are priced as huge underdogs for their series against OpTic Texas, and this is not an overreaction. OpTic are clearly one of the top two teams in the CDL, whereas the Guerrillas are tipped to end this stage outside the top eight.

Los Angeles Guerrillas have won two series over the three weeks, but they’ve only beaten two struggling teams in Boston Breach and Minnesota R?KKR. OpTic Texas, on the other side, have lost only to Atlanta FaZe.

As the CoD esports betting odds suggest, this should be a one-horse race.

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Los Angeles Guerrillas are on a four-game losing streak. They won their final game of the end of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers and two series on LAN, but if we zoom out, the Guerrillas are 3-11 since the end of Major 1.

Despite occasional promising showings, the Los Angeles Guerrillas are not performing well, which explains why they’re priced as underdogs for this match. However, it’s not like Boston Breach have looked much better recently.

The Breach have played just two series so far and lost both against Miami Heretics and Minnesota R?KKR. They forced map five in both games, but the main issue with Boston and the main reason for their defeats is a lack of discipline and a tendency to throw away maps.

Even though Los Angeles Guerrillas are far from good, there is no reason to have them priced as $3.22 outsiders against Boston Breach. This is a 50-50 match at best, making it hard to pass on the underdogs.

Toronto Ultra are 2-1, with wins against Los Angeles Guerrillas and Miami Heretics and a 0-3 defeat against Atlanta FaZe. This isn’t too bad, but Toronto Ultra aren’t playing as well as they did in the previous splits.

Their Control is solid, but Toronto Ultra look very weak on Search & Destroy and Hardpoint. Teams go through rough patches on game modes, so Ultra’s slump doesn’t mean they’re out of the elite four teams in CDL. But they have a lot of work to do to regain the respect they earned in Major 1.

Toronto Ultra are at their lowest point of the 2024 CDL esports season and they’re set to play Carolina Royal Ravens, who have shown immense improvement. The underdogs can easily take the Search & Destroy map, and if we see Rio – Hardpoint, things can quickly get out of hand for Ultra.

Los Angeles Thieves navigated through a tough schedule in the previous split well, but their strong run came to a stop in the second round of the Major when LA Thieves lost to Los Angeles Guerrillas. That small slip-up on LAN doesn’t mean much as Thieves have been performing well online.

So far in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers, Los Angeles Thieves have won two five-map series against Las Vegas Legion and Miami Heretics. This might not seem too good, but the Thieves played better than what the final scores suggest, and have been slowly improving over the last couple of months.

Minnesota R?KKR are 1-2 in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers, with defeats against Atlanta FaZe and New York Subliners and one victory against the shaky Boston Breach. Those results don’t prove much, but there are a few things we can take from the three series.

Minnesota R?KKR’s Search & Destroy is decent, Control is lacking, and Hardpoint is not too bad. The eye test proves that Minnesota R?KKR have some potential, and they already accomplished plenty in the second split. But we have to see more from Minnesota R?KKR before trusting them to defeat the surging Los Angeles Thieves.

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Los Angeles Thieves are 2-0 after two weeks of action, with two five-map victories against the Las Vegas Legion and Miami Heretics. The latter was a very close series that could’ve easily ended the other way, mainly due to Los Angeles Thieves’ poor map pool.

This is something the Royal Ravens could look to exploit. But like Los Angeles Thieves, the Royal Ravens have their weaknesses. They have a worse win percentage on Search & Destroy (36.7% – 52%), while they’re better on Hardpoint (44.4% – 30.3%) and about as effective on Control as Thieves.

Both teams are playing well for their standards, and while the Los Angeles Thieves have slightly better performance figures, they’re not consistent enough to be priced at such big favourites.

Minnesota R?KKR are 2-3 across their last five outings, which includes a 1-3 loss against the Los Angeles Guerrillas, who bested them during CDL 2024 Major 2.

Since that defeat, the R?KKR have managed just one victory. But they had a rough schedule and exceeded expectations by beating Boston Breach on Sunday thanks to clutch performances from Eli “Standy” Bentz and Thomas “Lynz” Gregorio on Search & Destroy.

Los Angeles Guerrillas did well at the recent Major. But they’re 0-3 ahead of this match with defeats against Toronto Ultra, Las Vegas Legion, and the Carolina Royal Ravens, once again proving they don’t do well online.

Minnesota R?KKR have recently started playing better and should be able to take down LA Guerrillas. Still, their Search & Destroy and Hardpoint aren’t great, so we shouldn’t expect a sweep.

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With their 2-3 loss against Seattle Surge last week, Carolina Royal Ravens once again disappointed after showing some life. Even though they have picked up a few wins recently, the Royal Ravens have only beaten Los Angeles Guerrillas, Miami Heretics, and Las Vegas Legion.

A big issue with the Carolina Royal Ravens is a lack of synergy, which could be fixed with one or two roster changes. However, there are no indications those will happen anytime soon.

New York Subliners placed third in the Call of Duty League 2024 Stage 2 Major at the end of March, proving they can perform on LAN following a humiliating 9th-12th finish in CDL 2024 Major 1. Online, however, the Subliners have looked great throughout this season.

With just two online losses against Toronto Ultra and OpTic Texas, New York Subliners are not to be doubted as favourites. And while we’ve seen them drop maps before, Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez and co. have become far more consistent in closing out games against lesser opponents since the start of the second stage.

Seattle Surge defeated Carolina Royal Ravens last week, ending their four-game losing streak. Still, it wasn’t a persuasive showing, and it marked the Surge’s second victory over a 10-game stretch, so it’s hard to feel overly optimistic about their chances to do much online.

OpTic Texas lost against Atlanta FaZe 1-3 on Sunday, but the score doesn’t tell the whole story. It was a very close series, which OpTic should’ve probably won, but they failed to convert a couple of 3v4s on Search & Destroy.

OpTic Texas played much better than their CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers Week 1 record suggests, and they’ve already proven to be an elite team, with just seven defeats this season — five of which came against Atlanta FaZe.

Betting on Seattle Surge at the offered CoD esports odds is inviting, but it’s doubtful they’ll manage to win a map, let alone the whole series.

Miami Heretics picked up a big victory against Boston Breach on Saturday, showing sings of life after suffering two bad losses against OpTic Texas and Carolina Royal Ravens. Adding José “ReeaL” Fernández back to the starting roster seemed to be the right call, but the Heretics still have a lot more to show.

Toronto Ultra defeated Los Angeles Guerrillas last week in three maps, continuing their streak of crushing weaker teams. However, while Ultra have looked exceptional against lesser opponents, they have recently slipped against both OpTic Texas and New York Subliners.

Toronto Ultra have some catching up to do in order to reclaim their title as the CDL’s top dogs. However, while they’re not playing as well as they should, Ultra are very efficient in running over lesser opponents.

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This decision, confirmed by the Call of Duty League (CDL), has left fans disappointed and clamouring for change.

An update on #CDL2024 Major IV pic.twitter.com/eskzw0WzZA

— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 11, 2024

While the Carolina Royal Ravens cited “a range of factors” for the change, speculation about financial constraints has fuelled much of the discussion.

This move echoes a similar decision in April 2023, when Major IV took place in Columbus, Ohio, devoid of a live audience, following the LA Thieves’ victory.

The CDL, in a bid to appease fans, assured that Major IV would maintain LAN status but without spectators.

However, this decision has drawn criticism as CDL Majors are traditionally celebrated with live audiences.

This latest development has reignited calls for reform within the Call of Duty League.

Some advocate for a return to the structure of the COD World League, abandoning the franchised model in favour of a more inclusive qualification system, allowing teams from across the globe to compete on a grand stage.

The CDL’s reputation has faced growing strain as viewership concerns mount, lawsuits against Activision arise, and sentiment towards the league fluctuates.

Layoffs within Activision Blizzard’s esports divisions and financial struggles among some organizations have only compounded these issues.

Notably, this isn’t the first time a Major has been held without an audience, exacerbating concerns among long-time fans.

The disappointment is palpable, especially considering the anticipation surrounding events like Major IV.

Carolina Royal Ravens, in their inaugural season in the CDL after relocating from London, find themselves at the centre of this controversy.

Currently sitting in eighth place in the standings, the team’s decision not to host Major IV adds another layer of complexity to an already tumultuous season.

Despite efforts to maintain the integrity of the competition, the decision to hold Major IV behind closed doors has left many CDL fans disillusioned, reigniting the debate over the future direction of the league.

pic.twitter.com/zsqeBoKL04

— Carolina Royal Ravens (@RoyalRavens) April 11, 2024

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Carolina Royal Ravens enter the final week of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers with a bag of mixed results. They have so far lost against Boston Breach, OpTic Texas, New York Subliners, and Miami Heretics, while their only two victories came against Los Angeles Guerrillas and Seattle Surge.

With a 2-4 record, Carolina Royal Ravens need just one win to secure a top-eight finish, and while they should be able to accomplish that, Royal Ravens have only looked good when facing bottom teams.

Las Vegas Legion are 3-2 and in a good spot before the second CDL Major, but they have had a fairly easy schedule so far, so their record might be a bit misleading. Las Vegas Legion have some clear weaknesses and have only looked somewhat decent on Hardpoint.

Las Vegas Legion’s price on this match is very close to what we’re getting on their match against the Seattle Surge, which doesn’t sound right. Carolina Royal Ravens are stronger than Surge and are a solid value bet at $2.38.

Minnesota R?KKR and Miami Heretics picked up their first wins of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers last week against Seattle Surge and Carolina Royal Ravens, respectively.

Miami Heretics haven’t looked good across the last four weeks, but we must respect what they showed against the Royal Ravens on Search & Destroy and on Control. Whether that was a sign of improvement is unclear, but Miami Heretics have the talent to do well.

Minnesota R?KKR defeated Seattle Surge on Saturday, but that’s hardly worth celebrating. More impressive were their three map-five losses against Los Angeles Thieves, Boston Breach, and Toronto Ultra across the first three weeks of the stage.

Miami Heretics and Minnesota R?KKR look fairly even. Heretics have a better map record on Hardpoint (12-11) than R?KKR (12-17) and have performed better on Search & Destroy with 8-11 compared to 10-14. R?KKR have a better record on Control with 10-7 to 7-8.

This could be a close game, but Miami Heretics shouldn’t be priced as underdogs.

Los Angeles Thieves have found some traction recently and are 3-2 ahead of the final week of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers. However, they’ve only beaten Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR and Las Vegas Legion, so they might not be ready to face Toronto Ultra head-on.

Toronto Ultra lost to OpTic Texas on Sunday, when they won Hardpoints but got humiliated on Control and both Search & Destroy maps with a combined record of 1-15. That loss highlighted Toronto Ultra’s map pool problem with Search & Destroy, which Los Angeles Thieves could take advantage of.

The two Search & Destroy maps Toronto Ultra lost against OpTic were Karachi and Terminal, which happen to be two maps the Thieves are good on. So, there is a reason to believe the Thieves can do some damage.

Even on Control, Toronto Ultra aren’t great, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Thieves do some serious damage on Saturday.

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Boston Breach had only one match last week against Las Vegas Legion and lost 0-3. It was a much closer game than the scoreline suggests, and considering Boston Breach’s previous performances, it’s fair to say that they didn’t perform as well as they could’ve on the day.

OpTic Texas have yet to lose a series this stage, but they’ve played mostly bottom teams in Los Angeles Thieves, Minnesota R?KKR, Los Angeles Guerrillas, and Carolina Royal Ravens. Even in those series, OpTic looked a bit shaky on Search & Destroy.

This is a must-win match for OpTic Texas, and they’ll likely come out as victors without major issues. But their Search & Destroy isn’t where it should be, so we can’t expect a clean sweep.

Los Angeles Thieves are 2-1 after three weeks of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers. Last week they defeated Minnesota R?KKR 3-2, which is a huge accomplishment even though the R?KKR are not in good form.

It marked their second consecutive victory of the qualifiers, after the LA team edged past Miami Heretics at the end of February. However, even though the Thieves have shown some improvement, they’ll need a miracle to make it past Atlanta FaZe.

FaZe are 3-1 ahead of this match, with just one defeat against the in-form New York Subliners. So even though Atlanta have some more work to do to reclaim the throne as CDL’s top dogs, they’re still significantly stronger than mid-table teams such as Los Angeles Thieves.

Los Angeles Guerrillas have yet to win a series in CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers, and it doesn’t seem like that will change on Friday. Last week they lost against Seattle Surge, which effectively makes them the weakest CDL team. And that isn’t surprising, knowing that the Guerrillas aren’t good on respawns, nor have they shown much on Search & Destroy.

Carolina Royal Ravens had a tough match on Saturday when they lost against OpTic Texas in four maps. Despite the defeat, the Royal Ravens showed some good qualities and performed well on the two Hardpoint maps. Search & Destroy and Control weren’t close.

This is a clash between two weak teams, but based on what Los Angeles Guerrillas have shown so far, it’s tough to believe they can defeat Carolina Royal Ravens.

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