After a year and a half of second place finishes and heartbreaks, Atlanta FaZe have ended their championship drought with a dominant win at CDL Major II.
It might have taken some snaking to get there, but the evil empire of the Call of Duty League is back, winning Major II with a dominant tournament run and grand finals win over the LA Thieves. Atlanta last won an event at CDL Champs in Black Ops Cold War, finishing second place four times during the Vanguard season.
They bowed out on Sunday at Major I, but Major II was a different story. Atlanta was the most consistent roster in Boston, not losing a single series the entire way. Chris “Simp” Lehr was awarded the Major II MVP, but it was a true team effort all weekend.
Atlanta FaZe trounce LA in the Major II grand finals
Opps got comfortable, but we’re back.
Feels good to be your Major II Champions.#EZAF | #WeTheA pic.twitter.com/2KeHeOQqm6
— Atlanta FaZe (@ATLFaZe) February 6, 2023
The story of the event for FaZe was their Search and Destroy. The roster did not drop a single S&D all tournament long, which is an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish. Not only that, but they put an end to the LA Thieves’ run of eight straight Control wins in the grand finals. Atlanta might have faltered in the Hardpoints, but they won two S&D maps and two Control maps to take the Major II win from the Thieves.
The grand finals was capped off by an El Asilo S&D and Control. In the S&D, Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris pulled off a clutch 1v2 in round 10 to send the map to a round 11, where FaZe got the bomb down quickly and sealed the round win. In the Control, Atlanta was utterly dominant, winning in 3-0 fashion and hardly dying in any of the three rounds. Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat was especially key in the final Control, constantly putting himself in the right position to secure kills. Some fans have criticized SlasheR’s presence on the roster after FaZe traded for him in the offseason. However, the move has clearly worked out in their favor.
With this win, Atlanta secures 65 CDL Points and a large cash prize. The CDL will take a short break before Major III and during that time, Modern Warfare 2 Season 2 will launch on Feb. 15. Perhaps a meta change or new competitive maps come out of that content update. For now, though, FaZe can rest comfortably at the top of the league.
Published: Feb 6, 2023 10:42 am