2021 Call of Duty League season explained

2021 Call of Duty League Season
League:Call of Duty League
Sport:
Duration:January 23 – August 22, 2021
No Of Teams:12
Mvp:Chris “Simp” Lehr
Season2:Stage Champions
Season Champ2 Name:Stage 1
Season Champs2:Atlanta FaZe
Season Champ3 Name:Stage 2
Season Champs3:Toronto Ultra
Season Champ4 Name:Stage 3
Season Champs4:Atlanta FaZe
Season Champ5 Name:Stage 4
Season Champs5:Atlanta FaZe
Season Champ6 Name:Stage 5
Season Champs6:Minnesota ROKKR
Finals:Grand Finals
Finals Champ:Atlanta FaZe
Finals Runner-Up:Toronto Ultra
Finals Mvp:Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris
Prevseason Link:2020 Call of Duty League season
Prevseason Year:2020
Nextseason Link:2022 Call of Duty League season
Nextseason Year:2022

The 2021 Call of Duty League season was the second season for the Call of Duty League, an esports league based on the video game franchise Call of Duty.

Teams

!Team!Location!Venue(s)!Joined!Owner
Atlanta FaZe Atlanta, GAGateway Center Arena2020Atlanta Esports Ventures, FaZe Clan
OpTic Chicago Chicago, ILWintrust Arena2020NRG Esports
Dallas Empire Dallas, TXToyota Music Factory2020Envy Gaming
Florida Mutineers Orlando, FLAddition Financial Arena2020Misfits Gaming
London Royal Ravens London, UKCopper Box Arena2020ReKTGlobal, Inc.
Los Angeles Guerrillas Los Angeles, CAShrine Exposition Hall2020Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
Los Angeles ThievesGalen Center2021100 Thieves
Minnesota ROKKR Minneapolis, MNMystic Lake Casino Hotel2020WISE Ventures
New York Subliners New York City, NYKings Theatre2020Andbox
Paris Legion Paris, FranceLa Seine Musicale2020c0ntact Gaming
Seattle Surge Seattle, WAWaMu Theater2020The Aquilini Group
Toronto Ultra Toronto, OntarioMattamy Athletic Centre2020OverActive Media

Regular season

Format

For the 2021 season, the twelve teams are evenly split into two groups of six teams each. The season consists of five stages, with teams playing group play matches over the course of three weeks to determine seeding for that stage's Major. For Stage 1, the finalists of 2020 season Dallas Empire and Atlanta FaZe got to pick which teams plays in which group, with Dallas Empire first getting to pick a team for the group of Atlanta FaZe, followed by Atlanta FaZe picking a team for the group of Dallas Empire. The team which was picked by Dallas Empire for the group of Atlanta FaZe then got to pick a team for the group of Dallas Empire, with this process continuing until both groups consist of 6 teams. The six teams in each group will then play each other over the course of three weeks to determine seeding, with teams being awarded 10 CDL Points for each victory. At each Major, teams are awarded CDL Points based on their final standings; 75 CDL Points for 1st place, 60 CDL Points for 2nd place, 50 CDL Points for 3rd place, 40 CDL Points for 4th place, 30 CDL Points for 5th/6th place, 20 CDL Points for 7th/8th place, 10 CDL Points for 9th/10th place and no CDL Points for 11th/12th place. For Stage 2, the top two teams from the Stage 1 Major will have the first two picks for the Stage 2 groups, repeating the same process before Stage 1 kicked off.[1]

Prize pool distribution

The prize pool distribution has changed heavily since the 2020 season. This is due to the increase of the prize pool as well as all 12 teams qualifying for each major tournament. There is $500,000 for each major event and $2,500,000 for the playoffs making a total of about $5,000,000 for the whole season in prizes.

Majors:[1]

Playoffs:[1]

Stage 1

Stage 1 group stages began on February 11, 2021, and ended on February 28.

Group A

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Dallas Empire4–114–7Winners Round 2 Seed
2Los Angeles Thieves4–112–7Winners Round 1 Seed
3New York Subliners3–211–7
4Minnesota ROKKR3–210–8Losers Round 2 Seed
5Seattle Surge1–46–14Losers Round 1 Seed
6London Royal Ravens0–55–15

Group B

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
15–015–6Winners Round 2 Seed
24–114–6Winners Round 1 Seed
3Los Angeles Guerrillas2–38–13
4Paris Legion2–310–11Losers Round 2 Seed
5Toronto Ultra1–49–13Losers Round 1 Seed
6Florida Mutineers1–46–13
Source:[2]

Major

The Stage 1 Major ran from March 3 to March 7, 2021. Atlanta FaZe won the Major, with the Dallas Empire as the runners-up.[3]

Stage 2

Stage 2 group stages began on March 18, 2021, and ended on April 4. Starting with Stage 2, Crossroads Hardpoint and Garrison Search & Destroy were removed from the list of maps being played, with Apocalypse Hardpoint and Express Search & Destroy being added.[4]

Group A

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Atlanta FaZe4–114–4Winners Round 2 Seed
2New York Subliners4–113–8Winners Round 1 Seed
3Toronto Ultra2–39–11
4London Royal Ravens2–37–10Losers Round 2 Seed
5Los Angeles Guerrillas2–39–11Losers Round 1 Seed
6Los Angeles Thieves1–46–14

Group B

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Minnesota ROKKR3–29–10Winners Round 2 Seed
2OpTic Chicago3–29–9Winners Round 1 Seed
3Dallas Empire3–213–9
4Seattle Surge2–310–10Losers Round 2 Seed
5Paris Legion2–38–10Losers Round 1 Seed
6Florida Mutineers2–38–9
Source:[5]

Major

The Stage 2 Major ran from April 7 to April 11, 2021. Toronto Ultra won the Major, with the Atlanta FaZe as the runners-up.[6]

Stage 3

Stage 3 group stages began on April 22, 2021, and ended on May 9. Matches were played on Thursday through Sunday.

Group A

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Toronto Ultra5–015–1Winners Round 2 Seed
2Florida Mutineers3–210–9Winners Round 1 Seed
3Dallas Empire3–29–10
4Minnesota ROKKR2–39–12Losers Round 2 Seed
5Los Angeles Guerrillas1–49–12Losers Round 1 Seed
6Paris Legion1–45–13

Group B

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1New York Subliners4–114–7Winners Round 2 Seed
2Atlanta FaZe4–114–8Winners Round 1 Seed
3Los Angeles Thieves3–212–10
4OpTic Chicago2–38–10Losers Round 2 Seed
5London Royal Ravens2–310–12Losers Round 1 Seed
6Seattle Surge0–54–15
Source:[7]

Major

The Stage 3 Major ran from May 13 until May 16, 2021. Atlanta FaZe won their second Major of the season, with the New York Subliners as the runners-up.[8]

Stage 4

Stage 4 group stages began on May 27, 2021, and ended on June 13. Matches were played on Thursday through Sunday. Starting with Stage 4, Checkmate Search & Destroy was removed from the list of maps being played, with Standoff Search & Destroy being added.[9]

Group A

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Atlanta FaZe5–015–2Winners Round 2 Seed
2OpTic Chicago3–211–8Winners Round 1 Seed
3Minnesota ROKKR3–210–10
4Paris Legion2–39–11Losers Round 2 Seed
5Los Angeles Thieves1–47–14Losers Round 1 Seed
6Seattle Surge1–47–14

Group B

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Toronto Ultra4–114–3Winners Round 2 Seed
2New York Subliners4–112–8Winners Round 1 Seed
3Dallas Empire3–211–10
4Florida Mutineers3–213–9Losers Round 2 Seed
5London Royal Ravens1–45–13Losers Round 1 Seed
6Los Angeles Guerrillas0–53–15
Source:[10]

Major

The Stage 4 Major ran from June 17 to June 20, 2021. For the first time since March 2020 the league moved back to playing on LAN.[11] Atlanta FaZe won their third Major of the season, with the Dallas Empire as the runners-up.[12]

Stage 5

Stage 5 group stages began on July 8, 2021, and will end on July 25. Matches are played on Thursday through Sunday.

Group A

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1OpTic Chicago4–114–5Winners Round 2 Seed
2Atlanta FaZe4–114–4Winners Round 1 Seed
3Los Angeles Thieves3–211–11
4London Royal Ravens2–37–13Losers Round 2 Seed
5New York Subliners1–47–14Losers Round 1 Seed
6Paris Legion1–47–13

Group B

PosTeamOverall SeriesOverall GamesQualification
1Dallas Empire4–113–5Winners Round 2 Seed
2Toronto Ultra4–113–5Winners Round 1 Seed
3Minnesota ROKKR3–211–7
4Florida Mutineers3–210–9Losers Round 2 Seed
5Seattle Surge1–44–12Losers Round 1 Seed
6Los Angeles Guerrillas0–52–15
Source[13]

Major

The Stage 5 Major ran from July 29 to August 1, 2021. Minnesota ROKKR won their first Major of the season after being down 0–4 in the finals with the Toronto Ultra as the runners-up.[14]

Championship

The 2021 Call of Duty League Championship began on August 19 and concluded on August 22, 2021. The top eight teams competed in the Championship, and all matches were played in Los Angeles.

Grand finals

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Call of Duty League Kickoff Classic Sets the Stage for 2021 Season. Call of Duty League. 19 January 2021. 4 March 2021.
  2. Web site: CDL POINTS STANDINGS - Stage 1 Groups. Call of Duty League. 12 February 2021.
  3. News: Petrosyan. Albert. Atlanta FaZe win Stage 1 major. March 29, 2021. Dexerto . March 8, 2021.
  4. League . Call of Duty . CODLeague . 1371537015112667138 . 15 March 2021 . New maps in the rotation for Stage II! . 15 March 2021.
  5. Web site: CDL POINTS STANDINGS - Stage 2 Groups. Call of Duty League. 12 March 2021.
  6. News: Petrosyan . Albert . Toronto Ultra win $500K CDL Stage 2 Major. 21 May 2024 . Dexerto . 12 April 2021.
  7. Web site: CDL POINTS STANDINGS - Stage 3 Groups. Call of Duty League. 16 April 2021.
  8. News: Petrosyan . Albert . Atlanta FaZe win $500K CDL Stage 3 Major. 21 May 2024 . 17 May 2021.
  9. League . Call of Duty . CODLeague . 1396964476927107094 . 24 May 2021 . Welcome Standoff to the CDL2021 Search and Destroy map rotation in place of Checkmate S&D . 24 May 2021.
  10. Web site: CDL POINTS STANDINGS - Stage 4 Groups. Call of Duty League. 21 May 2021.
  11. Web site: Call of Duty League returns to LAN for Stage 4 Major in Dallas on June 17. Dot Esports. 6 May 2021. 13 June 2021.
  12. News: Salaun . Theo . Atlanta FaZe win $500K CDL 2021 Stage 4 Major. 21 May 2024 . Dexerto . 21 June 2021.
  13. Web site: CDL POINTS STANDINGS - Stage 5 Groups. Call of Duty League. 25 June 2021.
  14. News: Salaun . Theo . Minnesota ROKKR win historic $500K CDL 2021 Stage 5 Major . 21 May 2024 . Dexerto . 2 August 2021.