The Call of Duty competitive season is finally reaching its peak, with the CDL Championship taking place from August 19-22.
After a lengthy regular season, featuring five key stages, eight teams have secured their spots at the Championship and will battle to once and for all decide who’s the best team of 2021.
Let’s take a look at which teams made it this far, as well as the key details behind the final major Call of Duty League event of the year.
Who’s Playing in The CDL Championship?
The eight best CoD teams will be battling it out at the Championship. All of these teams qualified for the event based on their results throughout the regular season, gathering CDL points at each event.
Teams are seeded based on total points gathered, with Atlanta FaZe coming in as the heavy favorites and the number one seed. Meanwhile, we’ll see Toronto Ultra, Dallas Empire, Chicago Optic, New York Subliners, Minnesota ROKKR, Los Angeles Thieves, and Florida Mutineers make up the remainder of the team list.
The event is a short one, with teams heading straight into a double-elimination playoff. There is a slight twist, however, as teams are seeded into different stages based on regular-season results. Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra start straight in Winner’s Round 2, while Florida Mutineers and Los Angeles Thieves, as the lowest two seeds, start straight in the losers bracket. The other teams enter in Winner’s Round 1.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Atlanta FaZe | -106 |
| Toronto Ultra | +255 |
| Optic Chicago | +600 |
| Minnesota ROKKR | +700 |
| Dallas Empire | +800 |
| New York Subliners | +2500 |
| LA Thieves | +5000 |
| Florida Mutineers | +6600 |
Odds as of August 16 at Sportsbook
Atlanta FaZe Look to Cap Out Dominant Season
No matter which team you’re a fan of, you can’t deny the dominance of Atlanta FaZe this season. They’ve been at the top every step of the way, winning three of the stages and coming second in another.
Oftentimes they looked completely unstoppable and it’s difficult to see them losing out, especially with so much on the line. They did stumble at stage 5, but this was only due to them already having guaranteed the number one seed and throwing out a lot of experimentation.
The favorites will no doubt be primed and ready to go for the Championship and should be the ones taking home the trophy.
Can Toronto Ultra Upset Again?
Despite FaZe’s dominant run, they did suffer one key loss in the middle of the season. Toronto Ultra were able to upset them in Stage 2 with a spectacular victory in the grand finals.
They’ve definitely been the second-best team so far and have shown they have what it takes to take down the favorites. However, they’ve also been bested for three stages in a row.
The Championship might very well come down to an Atlanta FaZe vs Toronto Ultra matchup and it will be up to the latter to repeat their earlier form and pull off something spectacular.
Could We See Another Minnesota ROKKR Miracle?
Minnesota ROKKR were definitely one of the weaker teams this season. They had some flair, but didn't really give the top teams too much trouble.
However, this all changed at the final stage, where ROKKR pulled off a miracle run, bulldozing their way through the upper bracket while taking down Atlanta FaZe, Dallas Empire, and Toronto Ultra - twice.
Granted, these teams had already secured top seeding spots, so the results were not that important. Still, there was money on the line and they are the best of the best, even if they’re not 100% focused. This means Minnesota ROKKR have some fight left in them and could very well be a dark horse for the Championship.
