As all the Call of Duty League teams shuffled out of the Mystic Lake Center in Minnesota following Major II, only the LA Guerrillas did so with a championship trophy in hand. After dominating Atlanta FaZe in miraculous fashion, all with Kris “Spart” Cervantez subbing in for the team, LAG’s miraculous victory created arguably the best CDL event in the league’s three-year history.
Any historic moment creates lots to discuss, too, so let’s dive into the lessons learned from Major II
Challenger players need a chance in the CDL
The main takeaway from this major is that top Challenger players need to find their way into the CDL. Spart is the perfect example; he was competing in Challengers until one week ago.
An illness sidelined LAG’s Pierce “Gunless” Hillman leading Spart to step in for him. Yet with only one week of practice, Spart singlehandedly changed the meta in the CDL (using the Volk), led LAG to their first championship and took home the Major II MVP.
Challenger players such as Colt “Havok” McLendon have been dominating the scene this entire year, and somehow, someway need a chance to compete in the league this season. Beyond this season, it’s clear the CDL needs to expand so more teams and more players have the opportunity to compete.
Vanguard proves any team can win at any time
This weekend had more upsets than any other event in recent memory. From Seattle and Florida beating OpTic Texas, to LAG’s win, to London placing top 12, the results busted everyone’s bracket at one point or another. This simply further proves that in Call of Duty: Vanguard, anything can happen.
With the way the game plays, it truly is a day-to-day experience. One day, a team like OpTic can dominate the entire field. However, the next day, a plucky upstart team with a sub like LAG can come in and run the table at a major. It’s safe to say no one knows what will happen the rest of the year, which is a new phenomenon in the CDL.
Major III will play completely different than Major II
The first two majors of the 2022 season took place one month apart. This didn’t give teams much time to really change strategies for each map and mode. However, teams now have a one-month break before the Major III qualifiers begin. This month’s break can give teams ample time to devise new strats, find new lines of sight on maps and test out different guns.
After all, Spart brought in the Volk on day one of CDL Major II and changed the meta instantly. Imagine what teams will be able to do with one month to see if anything else is worthy of being used. Major III will likely see some brand new gameplay from teams who are looking to catch their opponents off-guard.
