Call of Duty League 2021: Atlanta Triumphs Over Hot-Shot Optic to End Week 1

Published 02/16/2021, 6:27 AM EST

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Call of Duty League 2021 is officially underway, and the first week is already over. Twelve teams are competing in this professional match-up and they will face each other in five stages. However, this format of the League is new, keeping up with the change from 5v5 to 4v4 from last year.

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The League kicked off on February 11 with a Group A match between Minnesota RØKKR vs. Los Angeles Thieves. LA won the match-up 1-3 with considerable ease. The same day also saw Dallas Empire trump over Seattle Surge with a 3-0 victory.

The next day saw the big guns roll their opponents into the mud. Both Atlanta FaZe and Optic Chicago emerged victorious, defeating their respective opponents 3 to nothing. Even before CDL 2021 started, fans knew the match-up to look out for would be the one between these two heavyweights.

CDL 2020 champs, Dallas Empire, also continued their winning run the next day. The first week was almost over, but the best match-up was still to happen. On Valentine’s Day, Atlanta FaZe faced Optic Chicago on the last map of the first week.

Call of Duty League: Nadeshot and Co. Recall Exhibition Match Humiliation

Atlanta FaZe asserts its dominance in Call of Duty League

Last year’s final Championship match was held between FaZe and Dallas Empire. Even with all the dominant performance throughout the League, FaZe could not beat Empire on the last map. Simp and Cellium, both MVP candidates, paired with Abezy, the best player to secure first-bloods on every map, failed to achieve where it mattered most.

However, this year they have again started with equal zeal and dominance. Furthermore, Arcitys has joined them as the fourth player in the team. The new team Optic Chicago also cannot be underestimated. The legendary duo of Scump and FormaL, along with the versatile Dashy, are going to make things difficult for all the teams ahead in this competition.

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The match-up between the two saw Atlanta FaZe take the dub in a narrow scoreline of 3-2. In the first map, Garrison Hardpoint, Optic secured the 250 points and the win. They were immediately thrashed by FaZe who leveled the series with a  6-0 win on Miami Search and Destroy.

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Dashy cracked up on the next map, Checkmate Control, and dropped 31 kills to help Optic re-take the lead. FaZE however forced a victory on Moscow Hardpoint, with a narrow win margin of 250-245. The series tied up 2-2.

It was the return of Search and Destroy on Moscow, and Optic again proved to be a failure in this mode. FaZe easily countered every attack and secured a 6-1 victory, winning the series 3-2.

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Both the teams will play Toronto Ultra next in Stage One of this competition. Stage One group play matches end on February 28. Catch the action live on YouTube Gaming.

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Written by:

Avhinandan Chakraborty

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Avhinandan Chakraborty is an eSports author at EssentiallySports since August 2020. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree in English Literature from Calcutta University, and has been professionally writing since 2020. Ever since he was a child, he has been extremely passionate about online gaming and eSports, having played titles like GTA Vice City, FIFA, and IGI, among many others.
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