Everyone is making a run for the Call of Duty League Champs bracket, especially the Florida Mutineers. Heading into the final weekend of qualifiers, the Mutineers were sitting at 9th in the standings with 130 CDL Points; after the Minnesota ROKKR defeated the Paris Legion, Florida dropped to 10th. In order to keep up with their competitors, they needed to defeat the LA Thieves, who also stood in their way of sneaking into the top eight of the standings. While things got shaky at times, the Florida Mutineers were able to come through in the clutch and took down LA.
LA can’t withstand the Florida Mutineers’ strangeness
This was Florida’s last chance to earn CDL Points before Major IV next weekend. Entering today, the Mutineers were 2-2 and needed to beat LA to keep pace in the standings. In order to make the Champs bracket, teams need to be in the top eight of the standings after Major IV concludes. While teams could still make a deep run at the major to earn points, every qualifier win helps tremendously.
With their Champs hopes potentially on the line, Florida put together a solid series against the Thieves. They won by a score of 3-1, only losing the Search and Destroy on Desert Siege. The Mutineers squeaked by in the first Hardpoint, they managed to hang on in the Control on Gavutu, and took the match in the game five S&D. The series might not have been so close if Florida didn’t throw away map four, Berlin Hardpoint, though. Thankfully, Mike “MajorManiak” Szymaniak was the hero in the map five S&D on Berlin and led Florida to the much-needed win.
What an ending to this hardpoint. It looked like Florida wanted to lose this game. pic.twitter.com/kwjwT9Aum1
— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) July 10, 2022
As usual, Cesar “Skyz” Bueno showed out, leading the Mutineers in kills and K/D in every map they won. Skyz was especially spectacular in the Control, as he carried Florida with 34 kills and a 1.31 KD while the rest of the team failed to finish above a 1.00. On the Thieves’ side, Dylan “Envoy” Hannon had a rough series while Sam “Octane” Larew looked much improved from prior weeks.
Despite their win, Florida still looks inconsistent at best. In maps where they seemingly should win by a substantial amount, they often lose — or at the very least, make things far too close. That Hardpoint on Berlin is a prime example of their inconsistency during the Vanguard season; they were up big early and blew the lead. The Mutineers had several chances to put the game away down the stretch, but just couldn’t.
It will be interesting to see if the Mutineers can put together a strategy for Major IV; if they can’t, their Champs hopes could be dashed. Luckily, this match ensured that Florida will begin in the winner’s bracket at the major. As for the LA Thieves, they’ll have a chance to redeem themselves tomorrow against the 4-0 New York Subliners.
However, regardless of the outcome, they will start in the loser’s bracket at Major IV.
