CDL Playoffs Day 5 recap: Huntsmen survive, Champs Weekend bracket set

[jwplayer WPff8eAf]

The fifth and final day of the Call of Duty League postseason’s ‘Playoff’ portion has wrapped up, which means that the Championship Weekend bracket is now finalized for the $4.6 million tournament.

12 teams entered the CDL Playoffs looking for eternal glory but that field was cut down to just four following the matches that took place on August 23, the final day of the postseason’s first portion.

London Royal Ravens and Chicago Huntsmen survived the gauntlet that is the Losers Bracket to join Atlanta FaZe and Dallas Empire in next weekend’s finale, which will see one of those four crowned first-ever champions of the CoD League.

• Read More: CDL Playoffs and Champs final placements so far

On the flip side, it was despair for the likes of New York Subliners, Florida Mutineers, Toronto Ultra, and OpTic Gaming LA, all of whom failed to make it out of the lower bracket and will be limited to just watching Champs Weekend.

London Royal Ravens 3-2 New York Subliners

Day 5 started with an upset in the third round of the Losers Bracket, as London Royal Ravens took down the New York Subliners in a series that went the distance.

The final Search and Destroy on Rammaza was really what broke the back of the Subliners players; the Royal Ravens executed their strategy to perfection and never let their NA counterparts a chance to breathe.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1297602119227318272

It was a much-earlier exit than most expected for New York, who came into the Playoffs as one of the league’s better-performing teams over the past few months. While their 7/8 placement is much lower than they’d hoped for, at least the Subliners players will enjoy a healthy $175,000 share of the prize pool.

OpTic Gaming LA 3-0 Florida Mutineers

Speaking of upsets, none may have been bigger this weekend than OpTic Gaming Los Angeles ripping apart the three-time champion Florida Mutineers in a stunningly one-sided series.

It was all OGLA over the first two maps before Mutineers looked as though they might get back into the match in the map three Domination on Hackney Yard. Well, that was never meant to be, as a huge comeback led to a frantic finish and the Green Wall came out on top in the final moments.

It’s a shock exit for Florida, who came into the playoffs as the third seed and one of the tournament favorites. While their $175,000 in winnings is definitely a substantial amount, this result will sting during a long offseason.

London Royal Ravens 3-1 Toronto Ultra

When Royal Ravens faced Ultra in the first round of the Winners Bracket on Thursday, emotions ran high after Zer0 was seemingly booted offline, which allowed Toronto to nab that series 3-1.

That scoreline was flipped in their August 23 rematch, arguably a more important result since it guaranteed London a spot in the Championship Weekend bracket, at least a top-four placement, and a minimum of $450,000.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1297643879152390144

Just as in the series vs Subliners, Seany played a pivotal role in this victory, putting up double-digit kills in the S&D and an overall 92-71 kill-death ratio in the two Hardpoints. If the Royal Ravens go all the way, the Scotsman could have a serious case for postseason MVP.

• Read More: Dallas Empire’s Shotzzy wins 2020 CDL MVP

As for Ultra, it was pure heartbreak after they’d come into the playoffs on the back of their Toronto Home Series victory, riding a four-match winning streak that turned to six after they beat London then Florida before losing to Dallas. They finished tied for fifth place and earned a $300,000 share of the prize pool for their efforts.

Chicago Huntsmen vs OpTic Gaming LA

When an unstoppable force like the current OpTic Gaming LA meets the immovable object that is Chicago Huntsmen, that match is almost destined to go the distance, and it did.

A contender for series of the year, it seemed like almost every second of every map was dripping with intensity, none more so than the final 1v1 between Huntsmen’s Envoy and OpTic’s TJHaLy in the game five, round 11 on Arklov Peak.

It almost felt like the perfect revenge for Envoy and co, who were victimized by a similarly clutch play from TJ in the first S&D on Gun Runner, one that the Green Wall won to even up the series.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1297658054473920512

But in the end, it was the Huntsmen who finished on top, albeit barely, but they will be heading to the Championship Weekend bracket while OGLA, despite their impressively-improved performances, will have to settle for a 5th/6th placement and $300,000.

Looking ahead to Championship Weekend

Things will only get even more intense next weekend when the Champs bracket kicks into another gear for the finale of this $4.6 million postseason. The top two seeds, Atlanta FaZe and Dallas Empire, will battle in the Winners Bracket final with a Grand Final berth on the line.

The loser will get another chance in the Losers Bracket final, where they’ll face either London Royal Ravens or Chicago Huntsmen, depending on who wins that round five series.

That said, of course, getting to the Grand Final straightaway will be the highest priority for both FaZe and Empire since the team that makes it out of the Winners Bracket will start the best-of-nine championship match up 1-0.

CDL Playoffs Winners Bracket

CDL Playoffs Losers Bracket

You can watch all of the Call of Duty action live via our CDL Playoffs & Championship Weekend hub, which includes live streams, the full schedule, updated scores, brackets, and more.

Keep track of which teams have been eliminated so far and their share of the $4.6 million prize pool by checking out the CDL Playoffs Final Placements.