OpTic & Thieves start Stage 3 hot – CDL London Home Series highlights, results, recap

Week 1 of the Call of Duty League season’s third Stage has now wrapped up at the London Royal Ravens Home Series! Catch up on all of the week’s action below, including full scores, highlights, daily recaps and more.

• OpTic & Thieves off to perfect 2-0 starts in Group B.
• FaZe suffer opening match loss to Subliners in HyDra’s CDL debut.
• Empire get swept by Ultra after midweek benching of Huke.

Stage 3 got rolling in the CDL with an action-packed Royal Ravens Home Series, further highlighted by the whopping six players who their league and/or team debuts. In Group A, the big result was Ultra staying red-hot as they edged past Empire, who were playing their first match with FeLo in place of Huke in the lineup.

Over in Group B, OpTic and Thieves have already made their marks after both won a pair of opening-week matches. The same cannot be said for FaZe, however; the league’s best team fell short after going the distance vs Subliners, who were sparked with the debut of their prized rookie HyDra.

Dexerto

The first CDL Stage 3 Group standings following Week 1.

CDL London Home Series: Results, highlights, recap

DAY 4 – SUNDAY, APRIL 25

Match 1: Thieves keep rolling after taking down hosts

Whatever adjustments Thieves made when replacing SlasheR with Drazah have been working to perfection thus far as the team is now 2-0 in Group B after taking down the Home Series hosts. London looked on their way with a big win in the first Hardpoint, but LA dominated the next three maps to close out the series in convincing fashion.

Match 2: Subliners stun FaZe in HyDra’s debut

The highly anticipated debut of top rookie prospect HyDra was enough to push Subliners past Thieves in both teams’ first match of Stage 3. The series went all the way to a game five, and NYSL even trailed 3-0 to start the Raid S&D before a furious comeback saw them win it in round 11.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1386442900100325382

Match 3: Red-hot Ultra sweep Empire in first match without Huke

FeLo’s CDL debut didn’t quite go as he and the Empire would have liked after he was stunningly inserted into the starting lineup in place of Huke. Facing the hottest team in the league didn’t help of course, and while the series was very tight compared to the final scoreline, Ultra made the winning plays in the crucial moments that made the difference.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1386463692506738690

DAY 3 – SATURDAY, APRIL 24

Match 1: Guerrillas sweep Legion in Cheen’s debut

Call of Duty veteran Cheen made his return to the CDL in style, putting in a monstrous performance to help Guerrillas sweep Legion in an important Group A matchup. Cheen led the lobby with 72 kills and over 14,000 damage, which included a 39-bomb to help LAG come back from 0-2 down in the Control.

Match 2: Mutineers stun ROKKR for first win with Havok

After falling short to Ultra in his 2021 debut on Thursday, Havok helped Mutineers get their first win since promoting him to the starting lineup in place of Slacked. The result was surprising, to say the least, as many expected ROKKR to take care of business after being one of the best teams in the CDL over the past month.

Match 3: OpTic now 2-0 in Group B after Surge sweep

OpTic look like the side to beat so far in the early moments of Stage 2 as they swept Surge to improve to 2-0 in Group B. The Green Wall appears to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, especially with star playmakers Envoy and Dashy playing at their imperious best right now.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1386090357075628034

DAY 2 – FRIDAY, APRIL 23

Match 1: Thieves stun Surge with big reverse sweep

It looked like Thieves’ magic from the Stage 2 Major may have run out here in Stage 3 after they went down 2-0 against Surge, but a relentless comeback that started with a big 3-0 Control win saw Los Angeles complete the reverse sweep.

Match 2: OpTic spoil Zaptius’ Royal Ravens debut

In their first match since being on the wrong end of Accuracy’s historic 1v3 clutch at the S2 Major, OpTic showed that they’ve regained after taking down the Home Series hosts 3-1. Zaptius’ debut with the Royal Ravens didn’t go fully as the team would have liked after he went 65-76 with a 0.86 K/D.

DAY 1 – THURSDAY, APRIL 22

Match 1: Empire spoil Temp’s Legion debut

A one-sided loss in the opening Hardpoint was the wake-up call that Empire needed in this match, as they went on to dominate the next three maps on their way to a 3-1 victory. It wasn’t the debut that Temp was looking for in his first match with Legion, as he finished 62-68 in the series for a 0.91 K/D.

Match 2: Red-hot Ultra take care of new-look Mutineers

Havok’s promotion back into the Mutineers’ starting lineup was not enough for them to overcome the defending Major champion Toronto Ultra. While the series was definitely closer than the final scoreline might suggest, Ultra looked as though they were never in serious risk of losing this match.

Watch now: LA Thieves are back?! CDL Power Rankings

CDL London Home Series: Format & info

• Location: Online
• Prize Pool: N/A
• CDL Points: 10 per win
• Maps & Modes:
  • Hardpoint: Apocalypse, Checkmate, Garrison, Moscow, Raid
  • Search & Destroy: Checkmate, Express, Miami, Moscow, Raid
  • Control: Checkmate, Garrison, Raid
• Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)

CDL London Home Series essentials

• Reverse Sweep recaps exciting CDL Stage 2 Major
• The stats behind OpTic Chicago’s downfall in CDL respawn modes
• The top 10 moments from CDL Stage 2 Major
• CDL Power Rankings heading into London Home Series
• All CDL roster changes going into London Home Series

Watch now: This change puts OpTic in Losers!

CDL London Home Series: Teams & lineups

As expected, there were plenty of high-profile roster changes between the Stage 2 Major and the start of Stage 3. Mutineers, Subliners, Legion, Royal Ravens, and Guerrillas all made moves ahead of this week’s matches, leading to plenty of CDL debuts across the weekend.

GROUP A

GROUP B

*Starting lineups are not confirmed until the start of each match

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.