Can Dallas Empire Faze Out Atlanta's Early Dominance At The CDL Playoffs?

The Call of Duty League Playoffs are just around the corner and fans are starting to get excited. Not only because this is the biggest event of the year but because it means the end for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Overall, the game hasn't been the greatest to watch, or play, and fans are ready for a new title to release. However, one team that might not be ready is the Atlanta FaZe. The squad has performed extraordinarily well this year and has one of the best shots to take home Call of Duty Champs. Although, standing in their way is a hungry Dallas Empire team who could need to get through FaZe to reach the Winners Finals of the bracket. Do they have what it takes, or will Atlanta win yet another series against the Empire?

Does the Empire stand a chance against FaZe?

At the final Home Series event, the Dallas Empire suffered a brutal 3-0 loss at the hands of the Atlanta FaZe. While the teams had some competitive matches at other events, this one was anything but. The ending to this match had many wondering if we could expect a similar outcome come CDL Playoffs time. Well, as we all know, that time is rapidly approaching, and the question still remains. 

While Dallas has taken home more event wins, Atlanta FaZe is generally considered to be the better squad. After all, FaZe has been to more grand finals and played a little more consistently all year. Pair that with the fact that they arguably have the more talented roster and it's not much of a debate. However, during Call of Duty Champs, anything can happen, as teams leave it all out on the playing field. 

So, does Dallas have what it takes to survive Atlanta? Let's first take a look at the respective rosters, as this will tell us most of what we need to know. Starting with Dallas, the two players that need the most discussion are Ian "Crimsix" Porter and James "Clayster" Eubanks. Two of the best Call of Duty players ever have more tournament wins than the ATL roster put together. With all of those tournament wins comes experience playing at the highest level during Call of Duty Champs. The Empire certainly won't have to worry about jitters from either one of these players. 

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However, are Crimsix and Clayster enough to take on the entire FaZe roster? No, they're not. Dallas needs its young guns to step up in a huge way, or else Atlanta will run over the roster. The submachine gun duo of Preston "Priestahh" Greiner and Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris is too strong for most teams as it is. If Dallas can't make life hard for these players, then the Empire has very little chance of winning. Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro needs to play at the MVP level he's been performing at and combat the FaZe SMGs in a major way. 

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If Dallas can do this, then they have a decent shot. However, if both Crimsix and Clayster can go big with their assault rifles and go toe-to-toe with Mike "MajorManiak" Szymaniak and McArthur "Cellium" Jovel, it's going to be hard for FaZe to get anything going in respawn modes. Atlanta plays extremely quickly in both Hardpoint and Domination, so Dallas needs to play up to this speed or slow the game down if they go ahead early. In regards to Search and Destroy, the same applies. The Empire needs to shut down the early rushes of FaZe and play off the sniper of Indervir "iLLeY" Dhaliwal. If they can get the picks early in the round, Atlanta has a harder time playing to their strengths. 

Overall, Dallas has the potential to beat Atlanta in the winner's bracket of the CDL Playoffs. However, it'll take their best performance of the year and some improved strategies to pull it off. 

 

Images via CODLeague