The Call of Duty League is back and the teams are shaping up to take part in Major II, backed by the Miami Heretics. It’s the organisation’s first branded Major in the CDL, but it hasn’t been a flying start for the Spanish squad. In the opening weekend of the Major II Qualifiers, the Miami Heretics collapsed against both Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra, securing just one map win out of seven. It’s understandable as those are the toughest teams in the League right now, but it’s a rocky start for the Heretics that might have set the tone for the Major.

Elsewhere, the opening weekend proved to be a return to form for the New York Subliners, who were roughly ejected from Major I by the Carolina Royal Ravens recently. The Subliners narrowly avoided another embarrassment at the hands of Carolina – currently second-from-bottom in the table – in a close 3 – 2 finish after previously laying waste to Seattle Surge.

Major Business

It was a business-as-usual weekend in the Call of Duty League, but it came amid ongoing disruption caused by Activision Blizzard. The League is still reeling from the layoffs that impacted the CDL in recent weeks, and just days ago, OpTic Gaming revealed a lawsuit aimed at Activision Blizzard that could effectively cripple the ecosystem. It has been alleged by OpTic’s H3CZ and Scump that AB has held an unlawful monopoly over the COD esports scene since the foundation of the CDL, with the pair seeking $680 million in damages for the organisations in the League.

However, the qualifying stage for Major II played out as expected, drawing in less-than-usual viewership on YouTube, which was another cause for concern. Typically, the qualifying stages don’t secure much traction, and the big numbers are reserved exclusively for the Major and Championship stages of the League.

This weekend, we saw the New York Subliners and Toronto Ultra dominate, and the Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens flounder. It was a tough time for the middle-of-the-road teams, with Rokkr, LAG, and Thieves securing miserable records that saw them barely win a single map between them. There were minor changes made to rosters in the short off-season between Major I and the Major II Qualifiers, so there’s nothing to write home about in that regard.

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The Road Ahead

There are painfully few ‘important’ matches this coming weekend, unfortunately. It seems that the schedule for this qualifying stage isn’t giving up anything too juicy, with the most highly anticipated match being a Sunday night showdown between Atlanta FaZe and the New York Subliners. There’s a chance for the Miami Heretics to redeem themselves, but it’s against the LA Thieves and Vegas Legion, and even OpTic Texas will only face LAG and Rokkr this coming weekend.

Except for the NYSL vs. ATL fixture, no titans are clashing this coming weekend, so we can expect a quiet period for the CDL unless major drama kicks off again.

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