The Vegas Legion held off a ferocious rally by the Seattle Surge to pick up a 3-2 victory on Saturday in qualifying action for the Call of Duty League’s Stage 4 Major.
It looked like Vegas was going to cruise to a sweep, opening the match with wins on 6 Star Hardpoint (250-232) and Rio Search & Destroy (6-3). But Seattle responded emphatically, taking Karachi Control 3-0 and Karachi Hardpoint 250-84.
On the decisive fifth map, 6 Star, the Legion prevailed 6-4 while playing Search & Destroy to snuff the comeback bid.
American Dillon “Attach” Price led the winners with 81 kills and a plus-1.17 kill-death ratio. Jordan “Abuzah” Francois of Belgium finished with 85 kills to go along with a plus-1.21 K-D for the Surge, with both figures serving as match highs.
All 12 teams taking part in qualifying will make the Major 4 bracket, to be held June 27-30 in Burbank, Calif. Seeding will be determined by the qualifying matches, which run through June 23.
The tournament will have a double-elimination format, with all matches best-of-five until the grand final, which is best-of-seven. The winner will get 100 CDL points and $150,000 of the $375,000 prize pool, while the runner-up will come away with 75 CDL points and $90,000.
In other action Saturday, the Miami Heretics and Toronto Ultra picked up 3-1 wins, while the Los Angeles Guerrillas blanked the Boston Breach 3-0.
Miami cruised past the Carolina Royal Ravens, prevailing 250-135 on Vista Hardpoint to wrap the match up. Toronto also put the finishing touches on its victory on Vista Hardpoint, beating the Los Angeles Thieves 250-199.
Boston fell to 0-5 in qualifying action after getting blown out on Karachi Hardpoint (250-136), 6 Star Seach & Destroy (6-2) and Invasion Control (3-0).
Week 3 of qualifying concludes on Sunday with four matches:
–Toronto Ultra vs. Minnesota Rokkr
–Los Angeles Thieves vs. Atlanta FaZe
–New York Subliners vs. OpTic Texas
–Los Angeles Guerrillas vs. Vegas Legion
Stage 4 Major qualifying standings (point total, match record, game win-loss differential):
1. Atlanta FaZe, 40 points, 4-0, plus-8
2. Toronto Ultra, 30 points, 3-1, plus-6
3. Vegas Legion, 30 points, 3-1, plus-2
4. Seattle Surge, 30 points, 3-2, plus-4
5. Miami Heretics, 30 points, 3-2, plus-2
6. New York Subliners, 30 points, 3-2, even
7. Los Angeles Thieves, 20 points, 2-2, plus-1
8. Los Angeles Guerrillas, 20 points, 2-3, minus-3
9. Minnesota Rokkr, 20 points, 2-3, minus-4
10. Carolina Royal Ravens, 20 points, 2-4, minus-3
11. OpTic Texas, 10 points, 1-3, even
12. Boston Breach, 0 points, 0-5, minus-13
–Field Level Media