2023 Call of Duty Season: Major IV & V Recap, Predictions For Final Tournament In Las Vegas
Kenny & Octane Powered Los Angeles Thieves To Victory At Major IV
The 2023 Call of Duty League season is wrapping up, with just one tournament remaining.
This popular esports league kicked off its fourth annual season back in December. Fast forward half a year later, and we are now just a couple of weeks away from crowning the league’s fourth champion.
There were five majors held throughout the 2023 season ahead of the playoffs, most recently the Major IV (played in Columbus, Ohio) and the Toronto Ultra Major 5 tournament (in Toronto, Ontario).
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Led by Kenneth Williams (username “Kenny”) and Dylan Hannon (username “Octane”), the Los Angeles Thieves defeated OpTic Texas 4-2 in the finals of the Major IV tournament to claim first place.
Los Angeles won that first matchup, a hardpoint showdown on the Zarqwa Hydroelectric map, by a final score of 250-200. OpTic Texas rebounded with a 6-3 win in search & destroy, only for LA to regain the lead with a 3-1 win in control.
Dallas evened the series with a 250-138 hardpoint win, but the Thieves went up with a 6-4 win in search and destroy in the El Asilo map. They then clinched the major tournament with a 3-2 win in control mode at El Asilo.
It was a much-needed win for a Thieves’ team that sits in fifth place in the regular season standings with 285 points. The loss didn’t harm OpTic Texas too much, as they sit in second place (320 points) behind only the Atlanta FaZe (385 points).
Sublime Performance By Subliners Leads To Triumph At Toronto Ultra Major V
The fifth and final major tournament before the postseason, the Toronto Ultra Major V, was won by the New York Subliners.
The Subliners also have 320 points, but OpTic Texas narrowly holds the tiebreaker. Still, New York’s 4-3 win over Atlanta in the finals was a much-needed momentum setter with the postseason around the corner.
To say that it was a nailbiter between the Subliners and the FaZe in the Toronto Ultra Major V finals would be a massive understatement. Atlanta jumped out to series leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the Subliners responded with a 6-2 win in search & destroy (game two) and a 250-187 hardpoint victory on the Breenbergh Hotel map.
The Subliners took the lead in the series with a 6-5 win at search and destroy in the El Asilo map, but Atlanta’s 3-2 victory in control mode on the same map evened the series.
Matthew Tinsley (“Kismet”) and Paco Rusiewiez (“Hydra”) each tallied eight kills for the Subliners in the decisive seventh game — a search & destroy contest on the Mercado Las Almas Map. With a 6-3 win, the Subliners claimed the Toronto Ultra Major V title.
The Postseason Tournament In Las Vegas: What To Know & Prediction
The Dallas Empire won the inaugural championship in 2020, defeating the Atlanta FaZe in the finals. The FaZe redeemed themselves by defeating the Toronto Ultra in the 2021 championship showdown, but Atlanta’s bid at a repeat last year ended at the hands of the Los Angeles Thieves.
All eyes are now on the 2023 postseason/League Championship, which will run in Las Vegas, Nevada from June 15 to June 18.
The first round of the postseason will be held on June 15. In round one, we’ll see the top-seeded FaZe against the eighth-seeded Seattle Surge. The winner of that game will face the victor of Toronto vs. Los Angeles. The second-seeded OpTic will play the seventh-seeded Boston Breach on the other side of the bracket. The winner there will play the victor of the Subliners vs. the Minnesota RØKKR.
The next round will be played on June 16, with the Winners Finals and the Final being held on the 17th and 18th, respectively.
So, who’s going to win? Absolutely anything can happen in the esports world, but the FaZe feel like the team to beat. They have the regular season success, experience and championship pedigree to claim the franchise’s second title.
Prediction: Atlanta FaZe Win 2023 Championship