Call of Duty League Opening Weekend & Kickoff Classic announced
The Call of Duty League has officially confirmed the start date for the competition’s second season, announcing the Kickoff Classic in late January, and the Opening Weekend Home Series in February.
A new year means a new competitive season in Call of Duty, and after weeks of speculation, Activision Blizzard have finally confirmed details for Black Ops Cold War’s first two competitive events.
Coming off the back of a successful first season for the franchised competition, the Call of Duty League will host a celebratory pre-season event to mark the one year anniversary of 2020’s Minnesota event, before heading into proper league action two weeks later.
Call of Duty League Kickoff Classic
The CDL’s 2021 season gets underway on January 23-24, with a special pre-season event titled the Kickoff Classic. The special broadcast will celebrate the one year anniversary of the competition’s Launch Weekend in Minnesota.
Fans will have a major say in the match-ups we see at the Kickoff Classic, as avid CDL viewers can vote and choose the opponents of the top-three regular season teams to determine who they’ll square off against.
There are some tasty possible match-ups, with Clayster given the chance to face his former team Dallas Empire, while OpTic Chicago’s first match could be against the L.A Thieves. You can view all the options below.
- 2020 CDL Champions Dallas Empire: New York Subliners, Paris Legion, London Royal Ravens
- Atlanta FaZe: Florida Mutineers, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Seattle Surge
- OpTic Chicago (formerly Chicago Huntsmen): LA Thieves, Minnesota RØKKR, Toronto Ultra
Teams who don’t win their poll will still compete at the Kickoff Classic, so even if your favorite team doesn’t finish first in their poll, you’ll still see them in action.
CDL Atlanta FaZe Home Series Opening Weekend
Just three weeks later, the 2021 Call of Duty League will officially kick-off, with Atlanta FaZe set to host the Opening Weekend Home Series from February 11-14. Like most Home Series in 2020, the first event of the 2021 season will take place online.
During the Kickoff Classic, the CDL will feature a “unique Group Selection Draw Show,” which see a “special snake draft format [that] will allow teams to select the team that will be placed in its next-ranked opponents group.”
This means Dallas Empire will be able to select Atlanta FaZe’s first Group B opponent and will continue down the order of teams based on their 2020 CDL positions.
More details about the draw format and the Atlanta FaZe Home Series will be made available in the near future, along with additional season format details, the full 2021 schedule, and information about prizing.