Minnesota Rokkr Home Series Preview

The second half of the Call of Duty League is in full swing and things are starting to heat up as the 12 franchise teams begin the final push for a solid regular season placement ahead of the season-ending CDL Championship.

With the top five teams competing at the Minnesota Home Series taking place from June 5th to June 7th, the event looks to be a hotly contested affair with the likes of Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas looking to cement their respective position at the top of the league table.

In this article, we are going to take a look at the key storylines heading into the event, attempt to predict the victors from the opening fixtures and take a look at who could walk away with the title on Sunday.

• You can find everything CDL related here at our Call of Duty League Hub, including standings, rules, rosters and recaps

Chicago In the Hunt for Another Title

Despite the late addition of Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson to the team prior to the Seattle Home Series, the Huntsmen still managed to take the tournament despite only having four days of practice heading into the event. The addition looks to have paid off for Chicago. Now armed with a selfless player willing to do anything to help the rest of his team to succeed, Chicago are in a prime position to repeat the successes of Seattle but it’s going to be an extremely tricky task.

Facing the Florida Mutineers in their first game followed by a likely encounter with the Toronto Ultra, a team that has gone the distance with the Huntsmen in previous tournaments, some may argue that the Huntsmen have the easier group but if they find themselves against a Dallas or an Atlanta team looking to stake their claim at the top of the Call of Duty mountain in the latter stages of the tournament, the quest for back-to-back victories is going to be far from straightforward.

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• Read More  - CDL Seattle Results and Recap

Time for a Change at Minnesota?

Since their second-place finish at the Dallas Home Series, the Minnesota RØKKR has been on the decline, with two top-six finishes in the two past Home Series events. Sat in fourth place in the table, now is a great opportunity for Minnesota to show that the team can still contend with the other North American juggernauts after such a hot start to the year.

But what if the RØKKR fall in the early stages of the tournament once again? Is a potential change on the horizon for one of the more consistent teams in the CDL? With CDL points more important than ever in order to guarantee a good seed for Champs, Minnesota cannot afford another poor result if they are to avoid being dragged into a mid-table battle that gets ever-closer.

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Florida Mutineers: The Dark Horses?

One of the roster changes that perhaps went under the radar is the acquisition of Joseph “Owakening” Conley by the Florida Mutineers in place of Chance “Maux” Moncivaez. The Minnesota Home Series will mark the debut for Owakening, an amateur talent that has been on the cusp of making it into the league for the last few months.

With the team seemingly falling short in the slaying department, Owakening looks to make an impact on a team that has had its moments of brilliance in past tournaments. A good result against some strong opposition could be the boost Florida needs as they look to remain in the top half of the table.

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First Round Predictions

Atlanta FaZe 3-0 Seattle Surge

Although the Surge has been desperately trying to reverse their fortunes with numerous in-game role changes, it’s going to be very difficult for them to overcome an Atlanta team that keeps going from strength to strength. This could be one of the fastest matches in the history of the league if Atlanta comes out with the hot hand.

Minnesota RØKKR 1-3 Dallas Empire

In recent weeks the Dallas Empire have looked extremely impressive with Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro and Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal finding their feet within the team. On paper, this series could be extremely competitive but given Minnesota’s recent run of form, Dallas has a good chance of setting up a clash against Atlanta in the Group A qualification match with a win over the RØKKR.

LA Guerrillas 1-3 Toronto Ultra

Toronto has been a team that has come so very close to taking down some of the top teams in the league while the Guerrillas still sit at the bottom of the table with just 30 points to their name. It’s only going to be a matter of time before the Ultra begin their assault on the mid-table battle and there’s no better time to begin the charge with a win against a team that has struggled despite changes to the roster.

Maybe the Guerrillas cause an almighty upset but it certainly won’t be tricky to overcome a Toronto side that has given the likes of Chicago a run for their money.

Chicago Huntsmen 3-0 Florida Mutineers

Prestinni will be intent on vengeance against his old team but despite the dominating score-line, this has all the makings of a close game where the Mutineers give the Huntsmen a close fight but are unable to close out maps.

Now with plenty of practice under their belts for both teams fielding a new roster, the series is going to be a battle of which team makes the fewest mistakes in what could well be the match of the night.

Tournament Predictions

1st: Dallas Empire
2nd: Chicago Huntsmen
3rd: Atlanta FaZe
4th: Toronto Ultra

The battle between the top three is going to be extremely exciting to watch given the sheer amount of talent on the sides of Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. It could be either one of those teams lifting the trophy but Dallas has sat out of two consecutive series and will be looking to come back with a bang and conquer one of the most competitive Home Series events of the season so far.

As for fourth place, I think that this is finally the time of Toronto to score a solid placement after coming so close to reaching the knockout bracket in previous occasions. The Ultra has a really good chance to dispatch of the LA Guerrillas and maybe throw a massive spanner in the works if they can beat Chicago in the qualifying match. The Ultra are my team to watch this weekend.

You can keep up to date with all of your Call of Duty League news here at GGRecon.

Image via Call of Duty League