Before the action began on day number two at Call of Duty League Champs, the league announced its two end-of-season awards.
The awards are for the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player. Previously, there was only an MVP award, but the league recognized the need for a Rookie of the Year award as well. Both awards really only came down to a couple of players each, as there wasn’t much discrepancy in either category. However, the MVP did feature some controversy and marked the first time that the award was given to a player who didn’t win an event all season long.
The MVP award was given to Atlanta FaZe’s star assault rifle player McArthur “Cellium” Jovel. Cellium was many fans’ pick to win the MVP award since he led the CDL in pretty much every statistical category. He leads the league in overall kill/death ratio (1.23), Hardpoint KD (1.26), and Search and Destroy KD (1.20). Cellium was also second in the CDL in Control KD (1.20). He only trailed the runner-up in the MVP voting, OpTic Texas’ Brandon “Dashy” Otell.
https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1555628322461188103
Despite Dashy being voted as the best AR player by both players and coaches this season, he didn’t win the MVP award. Many players felt that even though Dashy trailed Cellium in most stats, his event win at Major I would make up for that. However, the voters didn’t see it that way and Cellium was awarded his first MVP award instead. LA Thieves’ Kenny “Kenny” Williams finished third in the MVP voting. Atlanta FaZe also had last season’s MVP in Chris “Simp” Lehr.
The Rookie of the Year award was far less competitive. Seattle Surge’s Amer “Pred” Zulbeari won in a landslide, with only his teammate Daunte “Sib” Gray trailing him. Pred very well could have also been considered for MVP, as he dominated most SMG players this season. The rookie finished with a 1.09 overall KD (4th) and the best Hardpoint/Control kills per minute. At the start of 2022, Pred came over from the APAC region and became the only Australian-born player to win a Call of Duty championship (Major III).
His first year in the League, and he's already surging to the 🔝
Presenting your #CDL2022 Rookie of the Year: @Pred_RNG pic.twitter.com/fEsSQ5c0Wt
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 5, 2022
Pred, and Seattle for that matter, have definitely put the Call of Duty League on notice for years to come. Boston Breach’s Dylan “Nero” Koch finished third in the ROTY voting.
