CDL 2021 - Week 1 - Game To Watch - Atlanta Faze vs OpTic Chicago
The second season of the Call of Duty League is getting underway this upcoming weekend at the Atlanta FaZe home series. The final game of the weekend is between the two juggernauts of Call of Duty, Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Chicago. For a decade now, the names FaZe and OpTic have been prolific staples of the Call of Duty scene, and representing either is held in high esteem.
Both had a fairly successful year during the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League (CDL). However, they both fell short to Dallas Empire, who they’ll both have targets on this season. As the biggest game in the opening week, this is the perfect time to put down a stamp of authority and dominance for the season to come. It’s fair to say that OpTic Chicago will be playing with that extra bit of spark, now that Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez owns the brand again.
How The Teams Stack Up
Last season both Chicago and Atlanta were consistently in a top three battle alongside Dallas Empire. At the event where it matters most is the annual Call of Duty Championship, and in the 2020 season, Chicago finished 3rd, with Atalanta finishing in 2nd place.
Atlanta FaZe got the better of Chicago twice in that tournament, firstly with a 3-2 victory in the winners bracket, and then in the losers brackets final with a 3-1 win, which pushed them through to the grand final to face Dallas Empire. Both Atlanta and Chicago finished the season with two Home Series wins. They’ll both be eager to create some separation and put their name forward as the best team in the game this season.
It’s important to note that there has been a considerable amount of change to the league's format this year. Whilst there are still Home Series events, they are no longer being held in eight team tournament formats. Instead, all twelve teams will be in attendance, and split into two groups of six to battle it out to rack out league points and seeding for future stages of the league.
OpTic Chicago
If you’re wondering why the Chicago franchise went through a rebrand and now have the OpTic branding that OpTic Gaming Los Angeles had last season, then here’s a perfect video for you to explain everything.
Hector Regains Ownership
Essentially, Hector lost the branding to OpTic heading into the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League, and the new ownership started a franchise in LA. Hector then joined NRG Esports and helped launch the Chicago Huntsmen. At the end of the inaugural season, Hector bought back the OpTic branding, meaning he now had ownership shares in both the Chicago franchise and the Los Angeles franchise. He kept the OpTic name and branding, and sold the Los Angeles franchise to 100 Thieves, who became the LA Thieves. As a result of this, Hector was then able to rebrand the Chicago franchise to OpTic Chicago.
This means we have the return of Nadeshot and his 100 Thieves franchise to Call of Duty this season, as well as the OpTic name being back in the ownership of Hector, which it’s fair to say the majority of the community were ecstatic about. Having FaZe, OpTIc and 100 Thieves in the league this year, it’s a nostalgia trip and a perfect combination for the future of Call of Duty esports. If you need a video to help explain the impact this has on the community, here you go.
OpTic Chicago Roster
Last season the Call of Duty League was running on the five versus five format, which was something most people either loved or hated. It became clear that moving back to the original four versus four format that Call of Duty had been known for, was needed. With this change, a roster mania landed, and Chicago came out with a stacked team.
- Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell
- Dylan ‘Envoy’ Hannon
- Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper
- Seth ‘Scump’ Abner
- Jordan ‘General’ General (Substitute)
- Troy ‘Sender’ Michaels (Head Coach)
Click to enlargeIf you’ve been following Call of Duty for a few years, you’ll understand the significance that comes with having FormaL and Scump play together under the OpTic name again, as they are arguably one of the best duos Call of Duty esports has seen. This roster is stacked, and should be primed to battle all season long to finish in 1st place. Additionally, they’ll have their eyes set on winning another Call of Duty Championship.
Atlanta FaZe Roster
We don’t have quite as detailed and dramatic stories for Atlanta FaZe in the offseason, as they didn’t undergo rebrands or anything or the sorts. FaZe managed to keep the core of this roster together during the switch to four versus four roster mania. Their roster coming into the 2021 season, looks to be marginally stronger than last year as well.
- Tyler ‘aBeZy’ Pharris
- McArthur ‘Cellium’ Jovel
- Chris ‘Simp’ Lehr
- Alec ‘Arcitys’ Sanderson
- Duante ‘Sibilants’ Gray (Substitute)
Click to enlargeCellium, Simp, and aBeZy were all on the roster last season, and became known as being the group of young gods on the game. As they are all still considerably young, it looks like FaZe may have the core team primed and ready for several years of dominance in Call of Duty. Arcitys acts almost as the final piece of the puzzle for Atlanta FaZe, and there will be extra emphasis on a strong performance from him this weekend, as he played on Chicago Huntsmen last season, and will want to prove that the team change was the right move.
Stories & Rivarlies
We’ve covered the massive off season drama of the OpTic selling and rebranding, there has been a longstanding friendship and rivalry between OpTic and FaZe since the dawn of competitive Call of Duty. Stemming back to the sniping clan days of Call of Duty, during Modern Warfare 2’s popularity, which started back in 2009, FaZe and OpTic were the two big names everyone wanted to be involved with. Instead of a huge wall of text, here’s a great video which helps to explain everything between OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan.
It’s worth noting that they both had teams competing in Call of Duty esports at this point, but it wasn’t until the release of Black Ops 2 in 2012, that the esports aspect started to gain higher levels of traction and popularity. In the past eight years, both OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan have found themselves at the pinnacle of Call of Duty esports, both winning major events and championships. OpTic have a slight edge over FaZe in the Call of Duty esports history books, as FaZe have never managed to win a Call of Duty Championship, but OpTic Gaming secured their first and only Call of Duty Championship on Infinite Warfare back in 2017.
Obviously both will be going their hardest all season long with the aim of finishing 1st in the regular season standing, however, this means very little if you cannot convert it into a Call of Duty Championship at the end of the season. We can expect to have a year long battle between both teams, with others like Dallas Empire and LA Thieves also fighting for all the bragging rights.
How This Match Will Pan Out
It’s tough to give a prediction for this match, especially with it being the first official event of the season. On paper, both rosters are stacked and will have that natural competitive drive to win. As they are the last game of the weekend, if you watch the games prior, you should be able to get a feel for who is clicking the most.
The only thing we can really base these teams off so far is any online tournaments prior to the league starting, we can be difficult to get a true understanding of, because the league is a whole other beast. There was a Kick Off event which basically showcased each team in a match. Atlanta lost 3-2 to Florida Mutineers and OpTic Chicago defeated LA Thieves 3-0, so there will be some extra momentum behind OpTic this weekend.
Images via Activision Blizzard | OpTic Chicago | Atlanta FaZe