London Royal Ravens’ first homestand brought a more traditional tournament-based format to Activision’s Call of Duty League. After a jam-packed weekend, here’s the story of how CDL London panned out.
Eight teams battled it out across the pond at London Royal Ravens’ homestand event during February 8-9. The iconic Copper Box Arena played host to a rowdy British crowd, who most definitely made themselves heard.
While the Chicago Huntsmen walked away with 50 CDL Points and the first Call of Duty League title of this inaugural season, how did the other teams fare?
Group A
Group A was as straight forward as it gets for the Chicago Huntsmen. After walking through ACHES’ Guerrillas, the Huntsmen were greeted by their eClásico rivals, Dallas Empire. After a dominant 3-0 showing against Seattle Surge, Empire were out for revenge against NRG’s Huntsmen.
However, Scump and co. proved too dominant once more, taking the series 3-1 and progressing to bracket play as the first high seed. Surge swept aside LA Guerrillas, where they found themselves up against Crimsix and co. once more. However, Empire proved too strong once again and took the series 3-1 to lock-in the low seed in the knockout stages.
Group B
On the other side of the fence, London Royal Ravens kickstarted their home event by easing past Toronto Ultra 3-1. The Subliners rolled through Paris Legion to find themselves against the hosts, where they were desperate to avenge their Week 1 loss. After being 0-2 down, the crowd proved to be the 6th Raven and the home team reverse swept the Subliners to progress as the high seed to bracket play.
Paris and Toronto found themselves in a French-Canadian face-off, where the Legion ultimately prevailed 3-1. With momentum behind them, the Legion absolutely dominated the Subliners, dominating the New York side 3-0 to secure a semifinals spot while also exacting revenge.
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Semifinals
Unfortunately for the home crowd, and for the Royal Ravens, they found themselves on the wrong side a reverse sweep in their semifinals match against Dallas Empire. The final map was a back and forth S&D match on Piccadilly, which Dallas Empire claimed to the dismay of the 6th Raven.
The Huntsmen-Legion went to a game five as well, with Paris taking both Hardpoint maps to force the pivotal fifth map. The final S&D match wasn’t as close as the rest of the series, as a huge game from Scump propelled the Huntsmen into the final, and into another series against Dallas Empire.
Grand Final
Huntsmen took a close game one, in Hardpoint on Azhir Cave. Another close S&D game also went to Chicago to give them a 2-0 lead leading into the third map… St. Petrograd. A back and forth Domination battle ultimately went the way of the Huntsmen, as they closed out the series in swift fashion.
CDL London: Results (February 8)
| Round | Match |
| Group B WR1 | Paris Legion 1-3 New York Subliners |
| Group A WR1 | Dallas Empire 3-0 Seattle Surge |
| Group A WR1 | Chicago Huntsmen 3-0 Los Angeles Guerrillas |
| Group B WR1 | London Royal Ravens 3-1 Toronto Ultra |
| Group A WR 2 | Dallas Empire 1-3 Chicago Huntsmen |
| Group B WR 2 | New York Subliners 2-3 London Royal Ravens |
CDL London: Results (February 9)
| Round | Match |
| Group A LR1 | Los Angeles Guerrillas 2-3 Seattle Surge |
| Group B LR1 | Paris Legion 3-1 Toronto Ultra |
| Group B LR 2 | Paris Legion 3-0 New York Subliners |
| Group A LR 2 | Seattle Surge 1-3 Dallas Empire |
| Semifinal 1 | Chicago Huntsmen 3-2 Paris Legion |
| Semifinal 2 | London Royal Ravens 2-3 Dallas Empire |
| Final | Chicago Huntsmen 3-0 Dallas Empire |
CDL London: Final Placements
| Position | Team | CDL Points | Roster |
| 1 | Chicago Huntsmen | 50 | Scump, FormaL, Arcitys, Envoy, Gunless |
| 2 | Dallas Empire | 30 | Clayster, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY, C6 |
| 3/4 | Paris Legion | 20 | Denz, KiSMET, Louqa, Shockz, Zed |
| 3/4 | London Royal Ravens | 20 | Dylan, Jurd, Rated, Skrapz, wuskin |
| 5/6 | New York Subliners | 10 | Accuracy, Attach, Temp, Zer0, ZooMaa |
| 5/6 | Seattle Surge | 10 | Apathy, Enable, Karma, Octane, Slacked |
| 7/8 | Toronto Ultra | 0 | Bance, Cammy, Classic, Loony, Methodz |
| 7/8 | Los Angeles Guerrillas | 0 | ACHES, AquA, Decemate, Lacefield, Saints |
Missed some of the action? Get up-to-speed with the weekend’s action on the Call of Duty League’s official YouTube channel, where full VODs of each match are available.
For more information about the CDL season, including the full event schedule and current overall standings, make sure to check out our Call of Duty League 2020 season hub.