Article:CDL Toronto 2020 Day One

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The final home series of the year and, undoubtedly, one of the most highly anticipated. With the big four all in action one last time before Champs it really is anyone's guess who will come out on top and take those crucial CDL points. There's also some serious ramifications down the standings, too. With OpTic and Ultra looking to edge out Paris Legion in the standings.


 * Results
 * Bracket
 * Day One Stream
 * Day One Stream
 * Day One Stream

Minnesota RØKKR 0 : 3 Atlanta FaZe

 * Game One: Rammaza, Hardpoint: 237-250
 * Game Two: Gun Runner, S&D: 1-6
 * Game Three: Gun Runner, Domination: 158-173

Seven defeats in a row now for RØKKR and any hope of a return to early season form is all but over. Don't let the 3-0 scoreline fool you, though. This was one was closer than it looked. Well... aside from the 6-1 S&D demolition.

FaZe were forced to make a sizable late comeback on Rammaza Hardpoint, but when you have the slaying power of the Tiny Terrors at your disposal these comebacks become child's play. Simp and ABeZy finished with 34 (1.70 K/D) and 28 (1.33 K/D) kills respectively to help FaZe clinch the first game by a mere 13 points.

Now we move onto S&D... what a bloodbath. Simp was at his devastating best again, racking up 11 kills, which was the same as Alexx, Assault, GodRx and SiLLY put together. Absolutely staggering stuff. Oh, and let's not forget about MajorManiak. Not only did he clutch up in a stunning 1v2, he also ended the game with 7 kills and just the one death to his name. Outrageous.

To give RØKKR a shred of credit, the Gun Runner Domination was a much closer affair than the Gun Runner S&D. FaZe were just too smart to let anything slip, though. They never let their slim slip and won almost every crucial gunfight when they needed to. On an off day FaZe may have dropped game three, but they seem to have tightened up those minor mistakes that have been costing them big of late.

All in all it was a welcome return to form for FaZe.

Dallas Empire 3 : 2 Florida Mutineers

 * Game One: Gun Runner, Hardpoint: 127-250
 * Game Two: Arklov Peak, S&D: 1-6
 * Game Three: Hackney Yard, Domination: 159-154
 * Game Four: Rammaza, Hardpoint: 250-215
 * Game Five: St Petrograd, S&D: 6-4

You would be hard pushed to find two more dominating games than the opening two for the Mutineers. A 123 point smashing on Gun Runner Hardpoint followed by a 6-1 routing on Arlov Peak S&D. It looked like the Mutineers were well on course to exact instant revenge on Empire for their 3-0 drubbing at the London Home Series. But, Empire had other ideas.

Game one was routine. There's no other way of describing it really. The Mutineers were untouchable. SO much so that Havok and Skyz had more hill time than all of Empire put together. Game two was more of the same. The Mutineers absolutely blitzed Empire at every step. Owakening was the star of the show (as he so often is) with 14 kills and a K/D of 7.00. It looked like the Mutineers were well on their way to a return to winning ways again after a minor barren spell.

The 3-0 was just five points away for the Mutineers but, no nautical pun intended, Empire were able to weather the storm. It was a real back and forth affair, with neither team being able to land the knockout blow. Fero certainly tried his damnedest with 30 kills and more caps than any other player. In the end, though, it was the resilience and composure of Empire that prevailed to extend the series.

In game four Empire executed their game plan perfectly. The rotations were flawless and they had more than enough slaying power to go toe-to-toe with the Mutineers and clear them out at crucial times. C6 in particular was like a one man army at times just holding all of the Mutineers at bay. Game on. 2-2.

Owakening is good. In fact, he's exceptional. However, he can't carry an entire team on his back. He stood alone in game five as the only member of the Mutineers with a positive K/D (2.33) and a stunning 14 kills to his name. It takes more than one guy to take down the Empire, though. With Crim, Clayster and Huke all going off for Empire they were able to clinch the game, and the reverse sweep to win another opening match to take their record to a staggering 8-0.

Seattle Surge 1 : 3 Chicago Huntsmen

 * Game One: Gun Runner, Hardpoint: 201-250
 * Game Two: Gun Runner, S&D: 6-5
 * Game Three: Hackney Yard, Domination: 170-139
 * Game Four: St Petrograd, Hardpoint: 250-203

This one has 3-0 written all over it. So it was a bit of a shock when Surge kicked of the match with a sizable Gun Runner Hardpoint victory. Octane was absolutely disgusting throughout. He racked up 35 kills, with a 1.85 K/D and totaled 105 seconds of hill time; all of which were game-leading. Were the consistently inconsistent Huntsmen about to drop another clanger?

Well... they almost did. This one went down to a round 11, but the Huntsmen were able to stand firm and close out the game. FormaL and Prestinni were the standout performers, with 11 kills apiece. Octane was a beast again, though as were Slacked and Apathy who all notched up 10 kills each. Had they been able to pick off a few more of the Huntsmen they could have been going into game three with a 2-0 lead.

The thing with the Huntsmen is - you need to kick them when they're down. If you don't, and they gain momentum, there's no stopping them. Alas, game three was well controlled by the boys in green. It wasn't dominant by any means, but they held crucial caps when they needed to and kept Surge at bay to prevent them from getting a foothold in the game.

Despite standing up to the Huntsmen's clear slaying power, Surge just didn't have enough in the tank to take the match to a game five. They were well outplayed and outsmarted in game four. The Huntsmen were as slick as you'd expect on their rotations and they had no real trouble defending their hills. Prestinni and Envoy were their usual disruptive selves and Scump dominated hill time.

This one could have been a very different story had Surge clinched game two. But, as is often the case with Surge, they fall into the loser's bracket.

OpTic Gaming Los Angeles 2 : 3 Toronto Ultra

 * Game One: Rammaza, Hardpoint: 182-250
 * Game Two: Piccadilly, S&D: 4-6
 * Game Three: Hackney Yard, Domination: 158-148
 * Game Four: Hackney Yard, Hardpoint: 250-208
 * Game Five: St Petrograd, S&D: 4-6

I know why it was, but the fact this was named as the 'marquee match' did make me chuckle considering the Mutineers and Empire were facing off. The smile was quickly wiped off my face, though. This was an absolute cracker.

Game one was dominated by Ultra. They lit up the kill feed - Classic led the way with 32 - they were well drilled on rotations and were subsequently able to keep OpTic at bay on their hills.

Game two was a real edge of your seat affair. Not only was it a punch/counter-punch kind of game, it was also the scene of an Avengers style battle between Cammy and OpTic rookie, Drazah. The pair ended the game with 17 kills apiece and identical K/Ds (2.83). At times, you'd be forgiven for remembering that anyone else was actually playing. I could have watched them two go at it for hours. But, there was an actual game of S&D going on (apparently) which ended in Ultra's favour.

Game three and OpTic finally get themselves in the game. It was another slugfest that could have gone either way, as you would expect of two teams so similarly matched. Three guesses who the standout performer of the game for OpTic was? Yup, it was Drazah. The 'rookie', which I've put in inverted commas because you'd think he'd been leading the line for years, was absolutely unplayable once more. Fresh off his 17 kills in S&D, he led the way again with 26 kills and a 1.37 K/D.

The stats for game four look so similar that you'd think this one was won by a point or two - but OpTic were on point with their rotations and remained composed throughout. Everyone chipped in with crucial hill time and all bar one dropped 30+ kills. On the flip-side, Ultra didn't quite work as a cohesive unit. Bance clocked 128 seconds of hill time, while Methodz had zero, zilch, nothing. It's all well and good slaying but if that doesn't turn into good rotations and strong holds it's kind of pointless.

This game five was always going to be a tight one. It wasn't quite the round 11 I think many would have been expecting, but it still delivered. There was no 17 kill clash of the titans this time out - this was a significantly more cagey affair. Bance dropped 11 kills and Hollow notched 10. Crucially though, all of Ultra finished up with positive K/Ds as opposed to OpTic who all ended the game negative (aside from Hollow). The clutch factor OpTic have shown glimpses throughout the year eluded them this time out and they weren't able to complete a reverse sweep. They can take some solace from Drazah's performance, though. He could be the spark they've been craving.


 * CreditsLine1 = 'Written by Aaron Rook / Twitter - @AaronRook91'
 * ArticleTextShort=CDL Toronto 2020 Day One

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 * PublishDate=25th July, 2020
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