After two and a half years, the Seattle Surge have overcome their organizational demons and won a championship during the Call of Duty League’s Major III on Sunday.
The Surge performed flawlessly at the event, not dropping a single series the whole way. They concluded their perfect tournament with a win over Atlanta FaZe, who they also beat in the winner’s final. This was Atlanta’s third straight grand final appearance, but they have still not taken home a championship during the 2022 season.
This is Seattle’s first major tournament win in the CDL after two years of turmoil. It’s also the first championship win for Seattle’s two rookie players, Daunte “Sib” Gray and Amer “Pred” Zulbeari. This also was the first grand final in Call of Duty esports history to feature two rookies on one team.
Pred received MVP honors for the event thanks to his stellar performance all tournament long. He was continually on the top of the leaderboard for the Surge and made clutch plays time and time again. Pred is also the first Australian-born player to win a major championship in Call of Duty esports.
The WAVE of emotions are Surging through the @SeattleSurge in the winning moment 👑#DrownThemOut | #CDL2022 pic.twitter.com/j0Rx4WbBVn
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) June 6, 2022
Seattle had to go through a gauntlet in order to even get to the grand final. They had to beat an upstart New York Subliners team, a red-hot Florida Mutineers squad and then defeat Atlanta FaZe in a miraculous series. This got them to the grand final, where they then had to face Atlanta again. FaZe seems to struggle against the Surge, even dating back to last year, so it wasn’t too surprising to see Seattle go toe-to-toe with arguably the CDL’s best squad.
In the end, Seattle took home a $200,000 grand prize and the lion’s share of the CDL Points. This almost definitely cements Seattle as a contender for Champs following Major IV, but they’ll need to fight for a top seeding during the next stage. As for Atlanta, they’re still sitting pretty atop the CDL standings and tookhome $120,000 for the third straight major.
The CDL Major IV qualifiers start on June 24, with the New York Major slated to begin on July 17.
[Disclosure: The Seattle Surge are owned by Enthusiast Gaming, which owns and operates Upcomer.]
