Atlanta FaZe win $500K CDL 2021 Stage 4 Major: highlights, results, recap

The Atlanta FaZe have gone back to back and won the Call of Duty League’s 2021 Stage 4 Major. It was LAN and the penultimate CDL tournament ahead of Champs, so here are all the recaps, highlights, and results from a wild event.

• FaZe go back-to-back, winning Stage 4’s $200K.
• Impressive Empire run jumped them to No. 2 in the standings.
• OpTic made Loser’s Bracket push, but fell short.

The Stage 4 Major had $500,000 up for grabs as well as a ton of valuable CDL Points. While all 12 teams qualify for each Major, only eight will be invited to the $2.5 million CDL Champs — making those CDL Points more valuable than ever.

Last week, the LA Thieves Home Series, saw new rosters struggle in debuts while others bounced back. The Stage 4 Major saw even newer rosters struggle, while the dominant FaZe maintained their form.

CDL Stage 4 Major: results, recaps, and highlights

DAY 1 – THURSDAY, JUNE 17

Match 1: Surge ruin London’s LAN debuts

The Royal Ravens came in with two highly touted rookies making their LAN debuts. Unfortunately, the Surge has some vets who have been dying to get back on LAN and one of those, Octane, was way too much for London to handle.

Match 2: Guerrillas upset new-new-look Thieves

Just before the Battle for LA, the Thieves revealed that Huke would be missing the contest and replaced by Drazah due to some… miscellaneous difficulties. While Drazah had some big plays, the Guerrillas cohesion ultimately earned them a win.

Match 3: Dallas dismantle OpTic

After a week of anticipation, this premium grudge match ended in the blink of an eye. Thanks to a nasty 1.32 K/D from Vivid, the Empire absolutely demolished an OpTic club, sending many’s tourney favorite to the loser’s bracket.

Match 4: ROKKR sweep undermanned Subliners

High expectations dimmed for New York when it was revealed that Asim wouldn’t be playing in the Stage 4 Major due to visa issues. Then the ROKKR quickly snuffed out remaining hopes, with Standy excelling in his LAN debut.

DAY 2 – FRIDAY, JUNE 18

Match 1: Surge continue their LAN dominance

Was Seattle’s LAN dominance on Day 1 a fluke? If this game was any indication, then nope. LAN ‘Octane’ Larew continued to feast as he and the Surge earned a trip to loser’s Round 3.

Match 2: Mutineers prove they’re no “onliners”

Many wondered if Florida’s Owakening and Neptune could maintain momentum in their CDL LAN debuts — and they most certainly did. The Mutineers quickly eliminated an upsurging Guerrillas roster.

Match 3: Ultra clutch up vs Empire

What a series this was, back and forth with multiple comebacks. Eventually, it all came down to the last second, as Cammy went under a bus to spot Vivid’s defuse attempt and give Ultra the win.

Match 4: FaZe dominate ROKKR

The ROKKR looked great against a suddenly changed Subliners lineup, but Atlanta simply look like an All-Star team. The S&D was close, but FaZe absolutely crushed Minnesota and sent them down to the loser’s bracket.

DAY 3 – SATURDAY, JUNE 19

Match 1: Subliners outduel Mutineers

Quickly meshing, New York proved they may be a pick-up team — but they’re still a team to be reckoned with. As Decemate popped off on S&D, Subliners eliminated Florida and moved into the next round.

Match 2: OpTic survive Surge

Seattle looked fantastic on LAN, but OpTic regained and made sure the Surge would have to work for a W. With huge plays from Envoy, the Green Wall eked out the win and drowned the Surge.

Match 3: Empire ruin New York’s Cinderella run

The Clayster grudge match, the pick-up team vs the home team — whatever narrative you chose, this matchup was spicy. Unfortunately for New York, Dallas was too cohesive to slip up (again) in their home arena.

Match 4: OpTic regain and knock out ROKKR

There needed to be a proper regain for OpTic to make a loser’s bracket run and regain they did. With huge numbers from a rejuvenated FormaL, OpTic earned their spot on Championship Sunday.

Match 5: FaZe punish Ultra

FaZe are a Call of Duty team that is good at Call of Duty. First, Simp almost put up a 3.0 K/D in the first Hardpoint. Then, Cell was squad wiping by his lonesome on the last Hardpoint. FaZe were filthy here.

DAY 4 – SUNDAY, JUNE 20

Match 1: Empire dismantle OpTic

A wild start to Championship Sunday, OpTic’s form was put to the test by a rejuvenated Empire squad and that form failed under pressure.

Match 2: Empire reverse sweep Ultra

Toronto immediately put a red-hot Empire in the blender to start this match before Dallas regained, stormed back, and flew toward a reverse sweep.

Match 3: FaZe survive scare, beat Empire in Map 9

It wasn’t going to be easy, but FaZe got it done. Coming in cold against a warmed-up Empire, FaZe needed hero plays from everywhere to get the win in the CDL’s first-ever Map 9.

Watch now: Top 10 CDL Plays | LA Thieves Home Series

CDL Stage 4 Major placement & prizing

CDL Stage 4 Major format & details

• Location: Dallas
• Prize pool: $500,000
• Format: Double-elimination bracket
• Seeding determined by Stage 3 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 placements section above for breakdown)
• Series are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)
• Grand finals is best-of-nine (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D, Control, S&D, Hardpoint, S&D)
• Maps & Modes:
  • Hardpoint: Apocalypse, Checkmate, Garrison, Moscow, Raid
  • Search & Destroy: Express, Miami, Moscow, Raid, Standoff
  • Control: Checkmate, Garrison, Raid

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CDL Stage 4 Major teams & lineups

A bunch of lineups were different from Stage 3’s Major, and multiple changed just ahead of Stage 4 — as visa issues forced the Subliners to sub in Decemate for Asim and a name misspell forced the Thieves to sub in Drazah for Huke.

Check out our CDL 2021 Season hub for everything you need to know about this season, including a full event schedule, the latest standings, and more.