The Atlanta FaZe, fresh off winning the Call of Duty League Stage 1 Major, dropped their opening qualifying match for the Stage 2 Major on Friday.
The Vancouver Surge posted a 3-1 win over Atlanta as Stage 2 Major qualifying got underway.
In the other opening-day matches, the Stage 1 Major finalist Los Angeles Thieves swept the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-0, and the Boston Breach downed the Vegas Falcons 3-1.
Each of the 12 CDL teams will play seven qualifying matches through March 16, setting up seeding for the Stage 2 Major, slated for March 20-23 in Dallas.
On Friday, the FaZe opened with a 250-229 win on Vault Hardpoint before the Surge took the next three maps: 6-4 on Red Card Search and Destroy, 3-0 on Protocol Control and 250-142 on Protocol Hardpoint.
The United Kingdom’s Byron “Nastie” Plumridge paced Vancouver with 98 kills and a plus-29 kill-death differential. Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris led FaZe’s all-U.S. roster with 82 kills and a plus-1 K-D differential.
The Thieves handled the Royal Ravens 250-153 on Vault Hardpoint, 6-2 on Hacienda Search and Destroy and 3-1 on Protocol Control.
The United States’ Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe logged 59 kills and a plus-6 K-D differential for Los Angeles. Isaiah “Gwinn” Gwinn finished with 71 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for the all-U.S. Carolina squad.
The Breach started with a 250-199 victory on Vault Hardpoint and a 6-2 triumph on Hacienda Search and Destroy. After the Falcons claimed Vault Control 3-2, Boston sealed the series with a 250-180 win on Hacienda Hardpoint.
Scotland’s Cameron “Cammy” McKilligan recorded 108 kills and a plus-31 K-D differential for the Breach. Khalid “KiinG” Kaabi wound up with 94 kills and a plus-six K-D differential for the all-Saudi Arabian Vegas club.
Eight more matches are scheduled in the opening week of qualifying:
Saturday
–Los Angeles Guerrillas M8 vs. Boston Breach
–Miami Heretics vs. Minnesota Rokkr
–Atlanta FaZe vs. OpTic Texas
–Cloud9 New York vs. Toronto Ultra
Sunday
–Vegas Falcons vs. Los Angeles Thieves
–Carolina Royal Ravens vs. Toronto Ultra
–Vancouver Surge vs. Cloud9 New York
–OpTic Texas vs. Minnesota Rokkr
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifying standings (with match record and map differential)
1. Los Angeles Thieves, 1-0, +3
T2. Boston Breach, 1-0, +2
T2. Vancouver Surge, 1-0, +2
T4. Cloud9 New York, 0-0, even
T4. Los Angeles Guerrillas M8, 0-0, even
T4. Miami Heretics, 0-0, even
T4. Minnesota Rokkr, 0-0, even
T4. OpTic Texas, 0-0, even
T4. Toronto Ultra, 0-0, even
T10. Atlanta FaZe, 0-1, -2
T10. Vegas Falcons, 0-1, -2
12. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0-1, -3
–Field Level Media
