Atlanta FaZe win $500K CDL Stage 1 Major: final placements, highlights, recap

The Call of Duty League’s first Major of the 2021 season has wrapped up with the Atlanta FaZe dominating their way to a massive victory of Dallas Empire in the Grand Final. Everything you need to catch up on all of the action can be found below.

• FaZe finish in first place after defeating Empire 5-2 in best-of-9 Grand Final.
• FaZe win $200K and 75 CDL Points; Empire take home $120K & 60 CDL Points.
• Subliners ($80K) & OpTic ($40K) round off top-four placements.

JUMP TO SECTION:

• How Atlanta FaZe won the CDL Stage 1 Major
• Final placements
• Grand Final recap & highlights
• Event scores, event recap & highlights
  • Final bracket
  • Day 1
  • Day 2
  • Day 3
  • Day 4
  • Day 5
• Format & info
• Teams & rosters

How Atlanta FaZe won the CDL Stage 1 Major

Atlanta FaZe demonstrated just how dominant they can be in what was nearly a flawless run at the Stage 1 Major.

Sweeps in the first two matches — including against the vaunted Dallas Empire — landed them spot in the Grand Final. There, they met the Empire again and exacted revenge for the 2020 Champs Grand Final, in which Dallas ripped Atlanta apart to win the inaugural championship.

The series wasn’t close, as FaZe won the first three maps before Empire got on the board and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way, finishing the best-of-nine final 5-2 to secure the season’s first Major victory.

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CDL Stage 1 Major: Final Placements

The $500,000 prize pool was split between the top-eight teams at the Stage 1 Major, with $200K and 75 CDL Points going to the champions. Make sure to check out the updated CDL 2021 standings to see how these results affected the playoff picture.

Grand Final highlights & recap

It was all FaZe over the first three maps, which started with a dominant victory on Moscow Hardpoint before, followed by a pair of wins on S&D and Control. The Garrison Control win was especially impressive, considering how hard it is for teams to win on offense, but Atlanta broke through with a perfect synchronized attack.

Empire finally got on the board with a dominant Hardpoint of their own – 250-104 on Checkmate – but they were unable to replicate that level of play in the following S&D, which FaZe cleaned up with a 6-1 demolishing.

Dallas survived to see another map after taking Raid Control 3-0, looking as though they might creep back into the series. Unfortunately, the following map was another S&D, a mode that Atlanta has only lost once so far this season.

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As expected, the boys in red took care of business in one-sided fashion, taking the Raid Search 6-2 to close out the Grand Final and secure themselves a Major victory.

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CDL Stage 1 Major: Results, recaps, bracket & highlights

Here is the finalized bracket for the Major; where each team started in the bracket depended on where they finished in their Stage 1 group.

Day 1 — Wednesday, March 3

Match 1: Ultra eliminate Royal Ravens in five-match thriller

Despite facing the odds after a family emergency to Alexx forced them to sign veteran player Zed literally last minute, the Royal Ravens somehow pushed the Ultra to a game five, where they ultimately fell short. The loss eliminated London in last-place, as their losing streak ballooned to six while Toronto snapped their own skid at four losses.

Match 2: Mutineers end strong to knock out Surge

The second of two elimination matches saw Florida Mutineers book their ticket to the next round after taking care of business against the Seattle Surge. After splitting the first two maps, Florida began asserting their dominance in the Control, thanks to some big plays from Owakening.

What followed was a masterclass performance from 2020 MVP finalist Skyz, who mowed down the Seattle players left and right to help Mutineers dominate the final Hardpoint and knock the Surge out of the Major.

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Day 2 —Thursday, March 4

Match 1: Guerrillas sweep first ‘Battle of LA’

The first Battle of LA of the 2021 season went the way of Guerrillas, who pulled off a stunning upset sweep of Thieves that not many could have seen coming. A crucial point in the match came during Round 11 of the game two S&D, which LAG clutched up to win and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.

Match 2: OpTic look flawless in domination of Subliners

In a battle between two of the hottest teams from Super Week, it was OpTic who put in a virtually flawless performance to sweep Subliners and knock them down to the lower bracket. After two one-sided maps, Chicago secured the 3-0 thanks to a spectacular streak from their star-man Dashy.

Match 3: Mutineers knock out Legion to keep rolling

The Florida Mutineers underachieved at CDL Super Week but they’ve looked a lot better in this Major after a strong 3-1 win eliminated Paris Legion from the tournament. After getting dominated in the initial Hardpoint, Florida reeled off three straight maps to secure a trip to the next round.

Match 4: Ultra edge out RØKKR in tight five-map series

Toronto Ultra survived elimination for a second straight day after defeating Minnesota RØKKR in an intense five-game series. Ultra had to make a comeback to secure survival, winning the final two maps, including a convincing 6-1 game five S&D to send the RØKKR packing.

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Day 3 – Friday, March 5

Match 1: FaZe secure T3 after dismantling Guerrillas

The only unbeaten team in the league maintained their perfect record as Atlanta FaZe swept the LA Guerrillas to advance to the Winners Bracket final and secure a top-three placement. FaZe snuffed out any hope of a LAG comeback in the Control thanks to some nifty work from Arcitys in the final round.

Match 2: Empire win first eClasico in thrilling fashion

The first OpTic Chicago vs Dallas Empire meeting of the season lived up to the hype and then some. Insane plays from both teams extended the series all the way to a game five, round 11 before the defending champions clutched up for the win and a trip to the Winners Final. OpTic dropped to the lower bracket, where they will face the winner of Thieves vs Ultra.

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Match 3: Subliners reverse-sweep to eliminate Mutineers

After having been swept by OpTic on Thursday, Subliners looked like they might suffer a similar fate after going down 0-2 against the Mutineers. But NYSL showed resiliency and turned things around midway through the Control, not looking back on their way to just the second reverse sweep of 2021. The loss eliminated Florida at 7/8th place.

Match 4: Thieves end recent struggles with relentless sweep of Ultra

Thieves came into their match vs Ultra on a six-map losing streak, having been swept by Guerrillas in the first round of the Winners Bracket. This time, however, they asserted their dominance, and were able to secure the sweep after a last-gasp win in the Control. Toronto got eliminated with the defeat, finishing in 7/8th place.

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Day 4 – Saturday, March 6

Match 1: Subliners eliminate Guerrillas in textbook style

The Subliners keep rolling as they took down Guerrillas 3-1 to advance in the lower bracket and secure at least a top-four placement. It was a clinical series from New York, who recovered from the S&D loss to take care of business and secure the victory. LAG finish the Major in 5th/6th place with $20,000 and 30 CDL Points.

Match 2: OpTic knock out Thieves in teams’ first-ever meeting

Turns out both Los Angeles teams would end up getting knocked out on Day 4 as OpTic Chicago got a huge 3-1 win over LA Thieves in the teams’ first-ever matchup in the CDL. The Green Wall put on a masterful display over the final two maps to secure a top-four placement. With the loss, Thieves finished the Major in 5th/6th place with $20,000 and 30 CDL Points.

Match 3: Subliners advance to Losers Final after stunning OpTic

In a rematch of the Winners Bracket R1 meeting between these two teams, it was Subliners who got the 3-0 sweep this time, stunning OpTic to secure a top-three placement and a spot in the Losers Final. An incredible 4v12 comeback on the Control sealed the victory and eliminated Chicago, who finished in 4th place with $30,000 and 40 CDL Points.

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Day 5 – Sunday, March 7

Match 1: FaZe demolish Empire in teams’ first meeting of season

A rematch of the 2020 CDL Championship Grand Final, it was FaZe who put Empire through the blender this time, stunning them with a one-sided sweep. ABeZy was the star of the show for Atlanta as per usual, securing his team a spot in the Grand Final with the victory.

Match 2: Empire sweep to end Subliners’ magical run

The Subliners were undoubtedly the Cinderalla story of the Stage 1 Major but their fantastic run ended abruptly at the hands of the defending champions, who swept New York and eliminated them from the tournament. NYSL finished in third place with $80,000 and 50 CDL Points, while Dallas advanced to face FaZe again in the Grand Final.

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Format & info

• Location: Online
• Prize pool: $500,000 (see prize pool section below for breakdown)
• Format: Double-elimination bracket
• Seeding determined by Stage 1 standings:
  • 1st place teams start in Winners Round 2
  • 2nd & 3rd place teams start in Winners Round 1
  • 4th place teams start in Losers R2
  • 5th & 6th place teams start in Losers R1
• CDL Points: Based on placement (see prize pool section below for breakdown)
• Maps & Modes:
  • Hardpoint: Checkmate, Crossroads, Garrison, Moscow, Raid
  • Search & Destroy: Checkmate, Garrison, Miami, Moscow, Raid
  • Control: Checkmate, Garrison, Raid
• Series are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)

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Teams & rosters

All 12 teams are competing in the Stage 1 Major, but rosters are not finalized until right before the tournament begins.

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For more information about the current Call of Duty League season, make sure to visit our CDL 2021 hub, where you’ll find a full schedule of all events, a breakdown of the season format, and more.