The Call of Duty League has left Seattle’s (online) stop, granting another trophy for Chicago Huntsmen’s cabinet as they beat London Royal Ravens 3-1 in an exciting grand final matchup. But how does this affect our power rankings?
Chicago Huntsmen became the third team to win two Home Series tournaments this season, following in the footsteps of Atlanta FaZe and bitter rivals Dallas Empire, staking their claim for being named the best team in the game.
It’s not quite as simple as that, though, and despite topping the overall CDL standings, we assess whether they really are the best team in the game right now.
12. Los Angeles Guerrillas (-)
Despite their win over Surge at CDL Seattle, it’s tough to move them ahead of their rivals due simply to their underwhelming performances across the entire season.
Seattle have consistently beaten them all year, and unfortunately this victory wasn’t quite enough to propel LAG upwards in our power rankings.
11. Seattle Surge (-)
Seattle are struggling, to put it lightly. 11th in our rankings matches their 11th place in the overall standings, and aren’t showing much hope of improving any time soon. Their back-and-forth roster moves make it look even more difficult from the outside.
Octane has revealed that he and Karma will be swapping roles going forward, and this could spark a resurgence from the Seattle side – but they need something to help them, and they need it fast.
10. Paris Legion (-)
Paris have slowly fallen into mediocrity as the season progresses, despite kicking it off with a bang. They’re clearly still capable of getting wins against mid-table sides, but haven’t managed to leave much of an imprint on those at the top.
Their last win came in early April, a 3-2 victory over Seattle Surge, and since then have strung together seven consecutive losses.
9. Toronto Ultra (-1)
Toronto Ultra haven’t had the best of seasons, but they look to be on the way up, despite not being in attendance at CDL Seattle. A 3-4th placement at CDL Florida showed a lot more promise from the Canadian side, and wins against the likes of Minnesota RØKKR and New York Subliners show there’s a lot of potential going forward.
They’ll be at the next event, though, and to have any hopes of moving up in our power rankings, they’ll need to record a solid placement and some convincing results.
8. OpTic Gaming Los Angeles (+1)
OpTic Gaming are finally finding their form, proving with a top 4 performance at CDL Seattle that their runner-up medal was not just a fluke.
They were ousted from Seattle by London Royal Ravens, who look much-improved with the addition of Zer0 to the roster, but are finally playing how everyone expected them to before the season started. Better late than never, and they’re inevitably going to be climbing these power rankings in the coming weeks.
7. Minnesota RØKKR (-2)
Minnesota looked like a top 4 team for most of the year but, throughout recent events, aren’t showing the same level of play above the competition.
While other teams have caught up, Minnesota have failed to capitalize on their opportunities and, while at one point looking like championship contenders, it’s hard to see them even getting to a grand final at this point. Expect them to try to prove their detractors wrong at their June Home Series.
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6. London Royal Ravens (+1)
London Royal Ravens have consistently been a mid-table side, but one that looks like they could really finish in any position. The ability to match the best was there, while they regularly exhibited consistency issues with losses to teams they arguably should have been beating.
They came second at CDL Seattle, with one point in Domination potentially being the difference between a Huntsmen win or a London win, and the team looked a completely different one. Only time will tell whether they’re really a top side.
5. New York Subliners (+1)
New York Subliners are showing marked improvements week-on-week, the addition of Mack clearly being a huge influence on the side’s overall abilities.
With two consecutive solid placements, we at least know now that New York are serious competitors – but the question remains over how serious they really are.
4. Florida Mutineers (-)
Florida are at great risk of dropping down these power rankings, with other sides making huge advances on them.
Without their event win at CDL Dallas in April, they would be much further down our rankings, and they might see themselves drop if they don’t put in a solid performance during their next outing.
3. Chicago Huntsmen (-)
In the last few events, the top teams have managed to avoid each other, and Chicago Huntsmen’s win at CDL Seattle was without the threat of Atlanta and Dallas in attendance.
Obviously, while the new-look Chicago roster with Prestinni in place of Gunless looked much better than they have done in recent months, they weren’t facing their fellow two-time event winners. Only when they do can we truly judge how they weigh up against the other top teams.
2. Atlanta FaZe (-)
Atlanta FaZe are, to most, the best team in the game, and it’s hard to argue with that. However, with Dallas beating them at CDL Chicago, they have been relegated to second place.
That said, they hold second with Chicago not having outperformed them at a tournament, so we’ll have to wait and see in the coming weeks what happened.
1. Dallas Empire (-)
With Dallas Empire overtaking Atlanta FaZe after their CDL Chicago performance, neither of the top two teams have had the opportunity to take down Dallas, leaving them unchallenged at the top.
That said, the next event – CDL Minnesota – sees all three teams in attendance, and the answer to which team is the best of all can finally be answered.
Minnesota’s Home Series event takes place from June 5-7, with Minnesota and Seattle joining Dallas and Atlanta in Group A, while Group B sees Chicago pitted against Florida, Toronto and LA Guerrillas.
Don’t forget that you can now earn in-game rewards for watching Call of Duty League broadcasts, and you can find out how with our handy guide.
