The Miami Heretics were down 2-1 before rallying to defeat the Los Angeles Thieves in five maps on Saturday in their opening match in the Call of Duty League’s Stage 4 Major qualifying.
Other second-day winners on Saturday were OpTic Texas, the Carolina Royal Ravens and the Vegas Falcons.
The Stage 4 Major qualifying round has the league’s 12 teams playing five qualifying matches apiece through May 18 to determine seeding for the Stage 4 Major playoffs, slated for May 23-25 in Dallas.
The Heretics outlasted the Thieves, who took the first map, 250-125 on Red Card Hardpoint. The Heretics drew even with a 6-4 victory on Hacienda Search & Destroy, then dropped a 3-1 outcome on Vault Control. Needing to win out, Miami captured Hacienda Hardpoint 250-137 and Rewind Search & Destroy 6-5.
Also Saturday, the Falcons needed to go the distance to down the Minnesota Rokker, who opened with a 250-81 win on Red Card Hardpoint. The Falcons responded by winning Red Card Search & Destroy 6-4 and Hacienda Control 3-1. Minnesota evened the match with a 250-198 win on Vault Hardpoint, before Vegas had the final edge 6-5 on Rewind Search & Destroy.
The Royal Ravens swept the Boston Breach 3-0, winning 250-240 on Skyline Hardpoint, 6-3 on Red Card Search & Destroy and 3-1 on Hacienda Control.
Texas overwhelmed the Vancouver Surge 3-0, winning 250-159 on Skyline Hardpoint, 6-3 on Hacienda Search & Destroy and 3-1 on Protocol Control.
Sunday’s matches:
–Los Angeles Guerrillas M8 vs. Miami Heretics
–Cloud9 New York vs. Toronto Ultra
–Atlanta FaZe vs. Los Angeles Thieves
Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying standings (with match record and map differential):
T1. Cloud9 New York, 1-0, plus-3
T1. OpTic Texas, 1-0, plus-3
3. Toronto Ultra, 1-0, plus-2
T4. Atlanta FaZe, 1-0, plus-1
T4. Miami Heretics, 1-0, plus-1
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 1-1, plus-1
7. Vegas Falcons, 1-1, minus-2
8. Los Angeles Guerrillas M8, 0-0, even
T9. Los Angeles Thieves, 0-1, minus-1
T9. Minnesota Rokkr, 0-1, minus-1
11. Boston Breach, 0-1, minus-3
12. Vancouver Surge, 0-2, minus-4
–Field Level Media