The Miami Heretics, who failed to win a map in the playoffs at the Call of Duty League’s Stage 2 Major last month, came back from down a map twice on Saturday to win their opener of Stage 3 Major qualifying, beating the Boston Breach 3-2.
The day’s other two matches weren’t as close, with the New York Subliners topping the Minnesota Rokkr 3-1 and the host Toronto Ultra sweeping the Los Angeles Guerrillas 3-0.
All 12 CDL teams will play seven qualifying matches ahead of the Stage 3 Major, scheduled for May 16-19 in Toronto. Every team will advance to the double-elimination tournament, with the qualifying matches determining seeding.
Each qualifier win is worth 10 points. The prize pool for the tournament (money and CDL points) has yet to be announced.
The Toronto Ultra won the Stage 1 Major in January. The Atlanta FaZe won the Stage 2 Major.
On Saturday, the Breach won 250-170 on Rio Hardpoint to open the match, only to see the Heretics even the match with a 6-5 win on Karachi Search & Destroy. The Breach took Karachi Control 3-0 but the Heretics answered with a 250-185 victory on Vista Hardpoint. Miami won the deciding map, 6-3 on Highrise Search & Destroy.
The Ultra opened by hammering the Guerrillas 250-170 on Karachi Hardpoint, 6-3 on Invasion Search & Destroy and 3-0 on Karachi Control.
In the day’s final match, the Subliners edged the Rokkr 250-242 on Karachi Hardpoint before Minnesota evened it up with a 6-3 win on Highrise Search & Destroy.
After New York won 3-1 on Invasion Control, the club ended things with a 250-225 win on Rio Hardpoint.
Play continues with three matches Sunday:
–Seattle Surge vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
–Vegas Legion vs. Los Angeles Thieves
–OpTic Texas vs. Atlanta FaZe
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying standings (points, match win-loss record, map win-loss differential):
T1. Atlanta FaZe, 10 points, 1-0, plus-3
T1. Vegas Legion, 10 points, 1-0, plus-3
T1. Toronto Ultra, 10 points, 1-0, plus-3
4. New York Subliners, 10 points, 1-0, plus-2
5. Miami Heretics, 10 points, 1-0, plus-1
T6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0 points, 0-0, even
T6. Los Angeles Thieves, 0 points, 0-0, even
T6. OpTic Texas, 0 points, 0-0, even
T6. Seattle Surge, 0 points, 0-0, even
10. Boston Breach, 0 points, 0-1, minus-1
T11. Minnesota Rokkr, 0 points, 0-2, minus-5
T11. Los Angeles Guerrillas, 0 points, 0-2, minus-6
–Field Level Media