The CDL Major II qualifiers are complete and the stage is set for the second major event of the 2022 season, which begins on Thursday. The Minnesota ROKKR are hosting and the official bracket (including the day one schedule) is already setting up some enticing match ups.
The qualifiers for this major were exceedingly competitive, with some high-profile teams finding themselves in the losers bracket. However, one team in particular dominated from start to finish. Add in some new rosters and some enticing possible matchups and you have the potential for a fantastic event. With that in mind, here is what to watch for during the tournament Major II.
1. OpTic Texas and their win streaks
As we not-so-cleverly alluded to, the OpTic Texas are the team that dominated the Major II qualifiers. They went a perfect 5-0, and while facing two teams with temporary subs helped, OpTic are the clear favorite heading into Major II.
In addition to the $200,000 grand prize, the Texas are also fighting for a spot in CDL history. As it stands, OpTic have a 12-game win streak. That’s one less than the Atlanta FaZe’s CDL record win streak of 13.
If the Texas beat the Seattle Surge in round one of the winners bracket, they will tie that record. To make matters juicier, if Atlanta beat New York in their first-round matchup, they’ll face OpTic in round two for a chance to stop them from beating their record win streak.
Something else to watch is OpTic’s current Control map win streak. The roster has won 14 straight maps of Control, a record in the CDL. We’ll see if they can extend that record at Major II.
2. The new-look Subliners
New York have undergone more roster changes through the first two stages of the season than most teams will undergo the entire year. Heading into Major II, they have Paul “PaulEhx” Avila in place of James “Clayster” Eubanks and Travis “Neptune” McCloud back on the roster.
With this new roster, New York went 3-0 in the qualifiers. While all of these wins came against loser bracket teams, NYSL looked impressive nonetheless. They’ll face a monstrous test against the Atlanta FaZe in round one of the winners bracket, though. We’ll truly see if this new roster has what it takes to compete in the CDL with this match.
3. A possible losers bracket run
The losers bracket for CDL Major II is quite stacked from a talent standpoint. The LA Thieves, Toronto Ultra and Minnesota ROKKR are all starting down there. And while each team had a dreadful round of qualifiers, with LA even going 0-5, there could be a huge losers bracket run if any one of these teams plays up to their skill level at Major II.
It’s unlikely given the amount of talent in the winners bracket, but Vanguard has proven unpredictable. Perhaps Minnesota prove themselves at their own venue, or maybe LA and Toronto could recapture some of their magic from the last stage.
