CDL Paris Day 1 recap & highlights: FaZe survive, Subliners keep rolling

[jwplayer fKo7sjsG] An exciting first day of Call of Duty League action has wrapped up at the Paris Home Series, and the eight competing teams now know where they stand going into the weekend portion of the tournament.

While getting knocked out wasn’t a risk on Day 1 of the Paris Home Series, the eight teams came in knowing that their performances would play a major role in shaping the rest of their weekend.

Florida Mutineers, Dallas Empire, New York Subliners and Atlanta FaZe all won their matches, advancing to play for a semifinal spot on Saturday. Meanwhile, Paris Legion, London Royal Ravens, OpTic Gaming Los Angeles and Toronto Ultra lost, so they’ll be facing elimination straightaway on Day 2.

Group A

Florida Mutineers 3-0 Paris Legion

These two teams couldn’t be heading in more opposite directions; the hosts went in having lost six matches in a row, while Mutineers are defending champions from CDL Minnesota and winners of five in a row.

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Just as you’d expect, it was a quick and easy series for Florida, who won 250-148 on Rammaza Hardpoint, 6-4 on Rammaza Search & Destroy and 160-139 on Hackney Yard Domination.

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Dallas Empire 3-2 London Royal Ravens

We know Empire have been elite most of the season and Royal Ravens have been putting in strong performances of late, so this was a series most predicted would be a tight match.

It was the definition of a back-and-forth affair; Dallas won the Gun Runner HP 250-84 and Dom 181-130, while London took Gun Runner S&D 6-2 and St. Petrograd HP 250-229.

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One final S&D on Piccadilly decided the series — a 6-2 win for Empire — advancing them to the Group A final, while Royal Ravens, despite their strong effort, will face elimination next.

New York Subliners 3-1 OpTic Gaming Los Angeles

This match featured another pair of resurgent teams, as Subliners and OpTic Gaming have both turned their poor seasons around in a big way these past few Home Series events.

OGLA came out hot, taking the lead with a convincing 250-167 win on Rammaza HP. However, it was all New York the rest of the way; three maps in a row (6-1 on Arklov Peak S&D, 154-152 on Gun Runner Dom, 250-193 on Hackney Yard HP) saw them take the series and win their fifth match out of the last eight.

As the scoreline suggests, things were very tight in the game three Domination, especially towards the end, which caster Maven aptly described as “flip, flip, flippity-flip!”

Atlanta FaZe 3-2 Toronto Ultra

The most entertaining series of Day 1 was saved for last, as FaZe and Ultra put on a thriller that not many predicted, considering it was a matchup between the top and bottom teams of the 2020 standings.

Atlanta’s 250-172 opening win on Gun Runner HP seemingly foreshadowed a blowout, but Toronto roared back with victories on Arklov Peak S&D (6-4) and Hackney Yard Dom (165-156) to put themselves on the brink of a massive upset.

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FaZe, as they’ve been wont to do all year, tied things up with a 250-182 win on St. Petrograd HP, setting up a game five Gun Runner S&D that went all the way to round 11 — which the boys in red won to maintain their perfect group-play record this season.

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A monstrous 16-kill performance from Cellium led the way for the two-time champions. On the flip side, it was another tough loss for Ultra, but they’ll at least take solace in knowing that their recently-promoted rookie, CleanX, can go toe-to-toe with the league’s top teams, as he dropped 12 kills to pace his squad.

Looking ahead to Day 2 of CDL Paris

Now that the initial four matches have been played out, we have a good idea as to how the Saturday slate will look as the eight teams will be cut down to four after the second day of action.

A highly-anticipated series between Mutineers and Empire awaits in the Group A final — a rematch of the CDL Minnesota semifinal that Florida won in game 5, round 11. In the lower bracket, the hosts Paris Legion will face London Royal Ravens, an all-European affair that’ll result in one of them getting knocked out early.

In Group B, it’ll be New York Subliners taking on Atlanta FaZe for a semifinal spot, while OpTic Gaming LA will look to keep their recent momentum alive as they will battle Toronto Ultra in an elimination match.

Group A Bracket

Group B Bracket

Remember, you can watch these matches live and keep up with all of the Call of Duty League action via our CDL Paris hub, which includes streams, updated scores, brackets and more.