Call of Duty League
Scump explains why CDL “bubble” in Texas will help OpTic Chicago dominate
Seth ‘Scump’ Abner believes that moving to Texas has given OpTic Chicago an advantage over their Call of Duty League rivals.
Many pro teams like OpTic Chicago have shifted to Texas for the Call of Duty League 2021 season, and Seth ‘Scump’ Abner stated that he loves how this has improved the team’s chances against their rivals.
Due to the ongoing global crisis, professional Call of Duty teams have been restricted to participating in online tournaments. While that has made things a bit difficult for players with network problems, it has also brought many of them closer together.
Several CDL pros have formed a “bubble” in Texas, which helps keep all players on a team in one location. Seth ‘Scump’ Abner believes that this will give OpTic Chicago a huge advantage over their rivals in the year ahead.
OpTic Chicago is benefitting from the new CDL “bubble” in Texas
All of Scump’s teammates are training out of the H3CZQUARTERS facility, so they’re serious about doing well in 2021. The OpTic Chicago player expressed how fond he is of playing at a single location with his friends since it grants opportunities for team bonding.
“I absolutely love it,” he said on January 27. “I think it has tremendously improved our team chemistry. Every single night [the team] is always hanging out after scrims.”
Scump believes that having the entire team together helps coordination since the players trust each other. “You can just tell,” he explained. “It feels like we trust each other a lot more inside of the game. We trust each other to make good decisions and do the right things on the map.”
- Read more: Warzone to join Call of Duty League
Aside from team bonding and trust-building, this method of playing games at the same location has also proven to be beneficial in other ways. The player noted that it provides his team with “the sheer connection advantage.”
“I believe 31 of 48 players are in Texas right now and it might even be more than that. Clearly, Texas has some sort of connection advantage for people to want to pick up their lives and move down here to compete.”
OpTic recently annihilated the LA Thieves 3-0 in the Kickoff Classic, so their training has definitely paid off. “We’ve been playing super good. I can’t even remember the last time we lost a scrim set.”
Scump stated that having the whole team in the same location is definitely something that will benefit them moving forward. Many other teams have also moved to Texas, so we have a lot of great competition to look forward to in the year ahead.
Image Credit: Activision Blizzard
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
OpTic Scump & FormaL explain how to fix Black Ops Cold War League Play
Call of Duty League pro players Scump and FormaL have explained how Treyarch could improve its divisive League Play system.
Members of OpTic Gaming including Seth ‘Scump’ Abner and Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper have explained how Black Ops Cold War’s League Play system could be improved.
Fans have been divided over Black Ops Cold War’s League Play system since its launch on February 8. On one hand, it offers a competitive 4v4 experience with a much more balanced weapon and equipment pool. On the other, many find the ranking system confusing and unrewarding.
During an OpTic Gaming round table discussion alongside OpTic Hitch and H3CZ, CDL pro players Scump and FormaL discussed how Treyarch could fix Black Ops Cold War’s League Play.
Offer League Play rewards as incentives to play
Hitch and FormaL discussed how there’s no incentive for a casual player to play League Play. Currently, League Play offers calling cards and emblems to players who consistently finish at the top of their ladders, but Hitch, FormaL, and Scump don’t feel this is enough.
- Read more: How to watch CDL Super Week stream
Scump said that Cold War’s League Play won’t “bring any outsiders in,” and FormaL and Hitch continued this train of thought. Hitch brought up that there should be gear and “cool ranks” to grind for, and FormaL feels that even offering Double XP weekends in League Play would bring in more players.
FormaL elaborated on offering ranks, making reference to Valorant and how players are grinding to reach the top tier of its ranked system, but there’s nothing to grind for in Cold War. If the game launched with a “dope-a**” ranking system for players to grind, “that’s how you bring in new people,” explained FormaL.
A standardized League Play Elo system
Although admitting they don’t know the inner workings of Activision and its companies, the OpTic boys also felt that Call of Duty’s League Play would benefit from a standardized Elo system across all titles. Scump and FormaL brought up Halo and CoD: WWII as examples of a strong Elo system and Black Ops 4 and Cold War felt like a step back.
FormaL admits that developing a brand new system in a pandemic may be tough, but he doesn’t see why they can’t ask Sledgehammer Games for the code to their popular system so it can be added to Cold War. H3CZ chimed in, saying he doesn’t know why “whoever has the best League Play doesn’t say: ‘yo, use this algorithm or use this structure’.”
Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar has responded to players’ frustration with League Play, so it’s possible that the system will be revamped in the future.
Image Credit: Treyarch / Zippo
Call of Duty League
CDL Stage 1 Super Week: Stream, schedule, format
The Call of Duty League’s Stage 1 continues with a Super Week of matches, and we have the stream, schedule, rosters, and format.
The Call of Duty League 2021 season continues with a Super Week of Stage 1 matches, with the action kicking off again on February 22. Here’s everything you need to catch all of the Black Ops Cold War action.
- Super Week of CDL Stage 1 action takes place February 22-28.
- All 12 teams in action again, OpTic vs Ultra & Empire vs LA Thieves as stand-out matches.
- CDL points earned during Stage 1 used to seed teams for first Major.
Due to adverse weather conditions in Texas causing power outages for players, CDL Stage 1 Week 2 was postponed. Not to worry though, Week 2 and Week 3 have been combined into a Super Week beginning on Monday, February 22.
The Opening Weekend saw LA Thieves and Atlanta FaZe leave with perfect 2-0 records, while teams like OpTic Chicago and Dallas Empire will be hoping to avenge their Week 1 defeats when the matches begin again for the Super Week.
Every match is vital, with the 10 CDL points awarded to the winners used to determine seeding for the first Call of Duty League Major, which boats a huge $500,000 prize pool.
CDL Stage 1 Super Week stream
As always, the Call of Duty League streams all it’s matches exclusively on YouTube, where you can also find replays of any match that has been completed.
You can also earn in-game rewards by linking your Activision and YouTube accounts and watching the games live.
CDL Stage 1 Super Week Schedule
For the Super Week, CDL matches will be played every day of the week. Monday will feature two games, while Tuesday to Sunday have three. You can view the full schedule below.
Day One – Monday, February 22
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 23) |
| LA Guerrillas vs Florida Mutineers | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| Toronto Ultra vs Atlanta FaZe | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
Day Two – Tuesday, February 23
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 24 ) |
| Florida Mutineers vs Paris Legion | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| New York Subliners vs London Royal Ravens | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 PM |
| Seattle Surge vs Minnesota ROKKR | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
Day Three – Wednesday, February 24
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 25) |
| London Royal Ravens vs Dallas Empire | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| LA Thieves vs Seattle Surge | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
| Toronto Ultra vs OpTic Chicago | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
Day Four – Thursday, February 25
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 26) |
| New York Subliners vs Minnesota ROKKR | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| Seattle Surge vs LA Thieves | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
| OpTic Chicago vs Toronto Ultra | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
Day Five – Friday, February 26
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 27) |
| LA Thieves vs London Royale Ravens | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| Toronto Ultra vs Paris Legion | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
| Dallas vs New York Subliners | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
Day Six – Saturday, February 27
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (Feb 28) |
| Atlanta FaZe vs Paris Legion | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| Minnesota ROKKR vs London Royale Ravens | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
| Toronto Ultra vs LA Guerrillas | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
Day Seven – Sunday, February 28
| Match | PST | EST | GMT | AEDT (March 1) |
| New York Subliners vs Seattle Surge | 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM |
| OpTic Chicago vs Florida Mutineers | 1:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 AM |
| Dallas Empire vs LA Thieves | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 11:00 PM | 10:00 AM |
CDL Stage 1 Super Week: Format & CDL Points
- Location: Online
- Prize Pool: N/A
- CDL Points: 10 per win
- Maps & Modes:
- Hardpoint: Checkmate, Crossroads, Garrison, Moscow, Raid
- Search & Destroy: Checkmate, Garrison, Miami, Moscow, Raid
- Control: Checkmate, Garrison, Raid
- Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)
Call of Duty League Stage 1 standings
Group A
| Rank | Team | W-L | Map Record | CDL Points |
| 1 | LA Thieves | 2-0 | 6-1 | 20 |
| 2 | Dallas Empire | 1-1 | 5-3 | 10 |
| 3 | Minnesota ROKKR | 1-1 | 4-5 | 10 |
| 4 | Seattle Surge | 1-1 | 3-5 | 10 |
| 5 | London Royal Ravens | 0-1 | 2-3 | 0 |
| 6 | New York Subliners | 0-1 | 0-3 | 0 |
Group B
| Rank | Team | W-L | Map Record | CDL Points |
| 1 | Atlanta FaZe | 2-0 | 6-2 | 20 |
| 2 | Toronto Ultra | 1-0 | 3-1 | 10 |
| 3 | OpTic Chicago | 1-1 | 5-3 | 10 |
| 4 | LA Guerrillas | 1-1 | 3-5 | 10 |
| 5 | Florida Mutineers | 0-1 | 1-3 | 0 |
| 6 | Paris Legion | 0-2 | 2-6 | 0 |
CDL Super Week Team Rosters
All 12 teams will be taking part in the CDL Stage 1’s Super Week, with Parasite making his second appearance for the London Royal Ravens after an impressive showing in their defeat to Paris Legion at Opening Weekend.
| Team | Roster |
| Dallas Empire | Crimsix, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY |
| Atlanta FaZe | Simp, Cellium, aBeZy, Arcitys |
| Florida Mutineers | Skyz, Owakening, Slacked, Neptune |
| London Royal Ravens | Alexx, Dylan. Seany, Zer0 |
| LA Thieves | Kenny, SlasheR, TJHaly, Temp |
| OpTic Chicago | Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Dashy |
| Minesotta ROKKR | Accuracy, Attach, Priestahh, MajorManiak |
| LA Guerrillas | SiLLY, Assault, Apathy, Vivid |
| New York Subliners | Clayster, Asim, Diamondcon, Mack |
| Paris Legion | AquA, Classic, Fire, Skrapz |
| Seattle Surge | Octane, Gunless, Prestinni, Loony |
| Toronto Ultra | Methodz, Bance, Cammy, CleanX |
Image Credit: Activision
Call of Duty League
David Vonderhaar potentially leaks CDL Champs 2021 dates
After receiving a note from Atlanta FaZe, David Vonderhaar has potentially leaked the date for the Call of Duty League Champs 2021.
The Call of Duty League officially kicks off on February 8, but an image posted by David Vonderhaar appears to reveal the date for CDL Champs 2021.
At the end of a long season of Call of Duty League, the top-performing teams will advance to the Championship Event to crown a winner. Last year, Dallas Empire took home the win after beating Atlanta FaZe in the finals, so they will be looking to make it two in a row.
The 2021 Season Schedule has already been revealed, but it doesn’t include the most important event: CDL Champs.
Ahead of their Home Series Opening Weekend, Atlanta FaZe sent David Vonderhaar, Treyarch’s Studio Design Director, an “exclusive military crate.”
After Vonderhaar showed off his special package, some eagle-eyed Twitter users spotted a note on the bottom of one of the sheets of paper which could prove to be a major clue about the CDL Champs 2021 dates.
Written on the note is the phrase “August 9-15 – CDL,” which immediately sent CoD esports fans into a frenzy, with many guessing that this is the date for the season-ending event, and Vonderhaar had accidentally leaked it.
While this could certainly be a plausible story, it is worth noting that the page also shows dates for some of the other Home Series events which are different from the official 2021 schedule.
January’s news revealed that Seattle Surge was set to host their Home Series at the beginning of July, but FaZe’s note has it on the slate for the end of June. Therefore, it’s possible that Atlanta FaZe’s information is old and no longer correct.
For now, it’s highly possible that CDL Champs 2021 will take place in the week beginning August 9.
The Call of Duty League officially kicks off on February 8, so keep an eye on Charlie Intel for all the latest CDL news.
Image Credit: Activision / David Vonderhaar
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