Atlanta FaZe Secure First Seed For CDL Major 1

The reigning Call of Duty League (CDL) champions, Atlanta FaZe, locked in the first seed for the CDL 2022 Major 1 on Sunday, February 20, with a convincing win against the New York Subliners. With that, FaZe secured a favorable position ahead of the first CDL Major of 2022, slated to kick off next month.

Atlanta FaZe entered the 2022 CDL season as the team to watch, billed by many as the strongest CoD esports team in the league. As the reigning champions, FaZe had to prove to everyone that they could be just as dominant in the newest CoD title, and they did not fail to do so.

Admittedly, FaZe had a shaky start to the 2022 season and nearly lost to Paris Legion in the opening week of the group stage. Still, FaZe edged out a 3-2 victory to kick off the new season with a W.

From there, it was smooth sailing for the reigning champs, who looked dominant in each bout they appeared in. FaZe won all of the remaining four fixtures, without dropping more than a map, with wins against Los Angeles Thieves (3-1), Boston Breach (3-1), Minnesota RØKKR (3-0), and the New York Subliners (3-1), tho FaZe beat on Sunday.

With a perfect 5-0 series record and equally impressive 15-5 map differential, Atlanta FaZe concluded the CDL 2022 Major 1 group stage as the only unbeaten team. And with that, locked in the top seed for the 2022 CDL Major 1 and 50 CDL points.

In their last group stage match, Atlanta FaZe stomped New York Sublibners, who stood no chance of beating the reigning champions. The two sides met on Sunday, February 20, in what was a crucial match to win for the Subliners.

Holding a 1-3 record at the time, the Subliners needed a win to end the group stage inside the top-eight. However, things did not go as planned, as they had to admit defeat to a much stronger squad.

The series kicked off with Hardpoint on Berlin, which FaZe won 250-189, adding a dominant 6-1 S&D victory on Tuscan to go 2-0 up in the series. New York Subliners struck back on Control-Gavutu and reduced the gap with a narrow 3-2 victory, but it was too late, too little.

Returning back to Hardpoint, Atlanta FaZe once again showed their prowess on respawns and locked in another dominant victory. They beat the New York Subliners 260-190 to seal the deal at 3-1.

Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris was the top-performing player on the day, ending the series with a 1.18 K/D, which included a 30-24 performance on Berlin. Chris “Simp” Lehr and McArthur “Cellium” Jovel were just as impactful for FaZe, posting 1.04 and 1.13 K/D, respectively.

The first Call of Duty League Major of 2022 is slated to take place on March 3-6. It will feature all 12 CoD teams who got seeded into a double-elimination bracket based on their performances in the group stage.

The top eight teams got placed into the Winners Round, whereas the bottom four got seeded into the Losers Round. All games will be played as best-of-five (Bo5), except for the grand finals, which will be Bo9.

As the winners of the 2022 CDL Major 1 group stage, Atlanta FaZe got paired with Boston breach, who they will meet on Thursday, March 3. It will mark their second meeting with the league newcomers after FaZe’s 3-1 victory on February 12.

The winning team of that match will clash with the winner of OpTic Texas vs Seattle Surge bout for a spot in the Winner’s Finals, where a ticket for the grand finals will be on the line.

As the group stage winners, FaZe are also the bookie’s favorites to win the season’s first Major at even money. They’re followed by OpTic, London Royal Ravens, Toronto Ultra, and Los Angeles Thieves, as five of the leading contenders for the title.

• Atlanta FaZe +100
• OpTic Texas +350
• London Royal Ravens +450
• Toronto Ultra +700
• Los Angeles Thieves +700
• Seattle Surge +1100
• Los Angeles Guerrillas +2500
• Boston Breach +3300
• Minnesota RØKKR +4000
• Florida Mutineers +5000
• New York Subliners +6600
• Paris Legion +50000