The New York Subliners were stuck in a desperate race to sneak their way into the Call of Duty League Champs bracket entering Sunday’s Major IV qualifiers matchup against the LA Thieves, while the Thieves barely held onto their Champs spot as well. Entering Sunday, LA was actually out of the top eight after the LA Guerrillas defeated London Royal Ravens. NYSL, on the other hand, were still 30 points behind the top eight in the standings.
It was clear to see how badly both teams wanted to win this final Major IV qualifier match. However, only the LA Thieves can take home the spoils.
Even with this loss, the Subliners are in a great spot heading into Major IV. They are the second seed in the tournament, but they’ll need to make a deep run to qualify for Champs. The Thieves aren’t in as ideal of a spot, as they finish the qualifiers at 3-2. With their win, they will face off against Atlanta FaZe in the first run of Major IV.
The LA Thieves didn’t come out hot in the series against NYSL. They trailed for the majority of the Map 1 Hardpoint on Tuscan. Ian “Crimsix” Porter led the way for New York with a 1.50 KD (kills/deaths) while Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez also had a great slaying performance with the MP40. The victory was short-lived, though, as the Thieves came out strong in the following Search and Destroy on Tuscan. Sam “Octane” Larew continued his solid performance in Major IV thus far with nine kills.
The next map, Control on Berlin, is where things got dicey in the series. The Control went back and forth, with both squads making questionable decisions. It ended with the Subliners choking a seemingly easy Round 5 on defense. They had a life count advantage with minimal time left and just let LA get into the point and secure kills. Octane once again led the Thieves and finished with 34 kills and a 1.70 KD.
New York bounced back on the Map 4 Berlin Hardpoint, however. Like in the Control, the map was back and forth the entire way. The Subliners started to pull away at the end, but LA made a fierce comeback on P5 to set up a final hill on P1. NYSL held strong in the point and took the series to Map 5 on Desert Siege Search and Destroy.
Like the S&D on Tuscan, LA ended up running away with things on Desert Siege. Dylan “Envoy” Hannon had several first-bloods to give LA control most of the rounds. The win thrust the LA Thieves back into the top eight of the standings entering Major IV. However, they’ll need to beat Atlanta FaZe for the first time ever (including last year) if they want to avoid the losers bracket early.
NYSL remain a top seed for Major IV after finishing the qualifiers at 4-1. They’ll face off against the Minnesota RØKKR in the first round of the winners bracket. If the Subliners want to make Champs, they need to finish in the top three at Major IV.
