Call of Duty Legue: New York Subliners - Poised For A Good Start

• Seattle Surge and Boston Breach look evenly matched 
• New York Subliners and London Royal Ravens square off, seeking to improve on last season's performance 
• Toronto Ultra take on a rejuvenated Minnesota RØKKR, who have their work cut out for them
• The two bottom-placed teams from last season, the Mutineers and the Legions, come up against each other in week two

Minnesota RØKKR vs Toronto Ultra Pick

Toronto Ultra

Minnesota RØKKR vs Toronto Ultra Prediction

Toronto had a pretty good record last season. Bance will turn out for Ultra against his previous team, so that should be one contest to watch. Either way Minnesota don’t look like they have the firepower to challenge Toronto here.

Minnesota RØKKR - Starting Fresh After Bottom-Place Finish Last Season 

During Season 3 of the CDL, Minnesota finished 11th on the regular season’s standings, with just 150 points collected throughout the league. After that they let most of their roster go, only Attach remaining with the org. Marcus 'Afro' Reid, Benjamin 'Bance' Bance, and Cameron 'Cammy' McKilligan are their new players who'll debut in the qualifiers. 

Last season, they held an overall team-wide KD ratio of about 1.00 across Search & Destroy, Hardpoint, and Control. They played 43 maps in S&D, where they managed 2.7 plants per game and a first-kill rate of 51.2%. In 53 maps across Hardpoint, their hill time per game was 243.3.

Toronto Ultra - Looking To Make An Impact 

Toronto won the Stage 1 Major and finished as third seed in the Stage 3 Major, and stood seventh on the regular season’s standings with 180 points. They picked up the pace quite well heading into the end of the season, but the playoffs were disappointing in the end. They dropped to the loser's bracket after losing 2-3 to Optic Gaming, and there they were knocked out 1-3 by Seattle Surge. 

Eventually, they ended as 5th-6th seeds. Toronto’s overall kill-death ratio across modes was 0.98. While the number wasn’t bad in S&D, 1.03, struggles in Hardpoint and Control brought the overall figure down below 1. Their roster sees a few changes for this season, Eli 'Standy' Bentz joins in place of Bance who was acquired by Minnesota, and Thomas 'Scrappy' Ernst moved to a permanent role as a substitute.

New York Subliners vs London Royal Ravens Pick

New York Subliners

New York Subliners vs London Royal Ravens Prediction

The Subliners and Ravens were two of the most consistent teams during the previous season, but both let themselves down in strikingly similar ways during the playoffs. They'll now seek reparations for that, so it should be interesting to watch.

New York Subliners - Poised For A Good Start

The Subliners peaked at just the right time last season, becoming runners-up of the Stage 4 Major right ahead of the playoffs. They lost to the LA Thieves 3-5 in the final, but it was a big boost of confidence given that they hadn’t made the Major quarterfinals even once that season. 

Eventually, they finished in eighth place on the regular season standings, reaching the finals of the Stage 4 Major earning them enough points to qualify for the season’s playoffs. There however, they were a little out of their depth; a 2-3 defeat to Atlanta Faze saw them drop to the lower bracket, following which a heavy 0-3 loss to Optic Texas ended their campaign. 

London Royal Ravens - Consistent But Need To Improve In Knockouts 

The Ravens didn’t have a bad season, but will still be disappointed at how it ended especially given how quickly they were knocked out of the season’s playoffs, and that they were unable to go the distance in even a single Major. The closest they got was third seed in Stage 1. 

However, consistent performances saw them finish at fourth place in the regular season, with a 63-62 win-loss record and a 17-14 series record. They crumbled at the playoffs too at the end, losing 2-3 in turn to Seattle Surge and then to the New York Subliners.

Seattle Surge vs Boston Breach Pick

Pick: Seattle Surge

Seattle Surge vs Boston Breach Prediction

Both teams were at a similar level during the regular season of 2021-22, but Seattle's surge in the playoffs was the difference between them. They eventually finished third while Boston came in 7th-8th.

Seattle Surge - Looking To Pick Up From Impressive Last Season 

Surge started last season on a middling note, but improved towards the latter half, winning the Stage 3 Major. It earned them 65 points, enough to put them in the top half of the standings - eventually they finished fifth with 185 points. 

During the playoffs, however, was when they really came into their own - they gave Atlanta Faze a stiff fight in the upper bracket, but lost 2-3. This was followed by an excellent run in the lower bracket, where they knocked out Toronto Ultra 3-1 and Optic Texas 3-2, both teams they had struggled to beat during the regular season. This remarkable comeback was soon cut short by Faze in the lower bracket final, and their late-stage brilliance brought Surge the third seed.

Boston Breach - Have Had A Dull Year

The Breach wrapped up last season at sixth place on the regular season’s rankings, having put together 180 CDL points along with an even 16-16 series record, and a 63-68 win-loss ratio overall. Aside from a third-place finish at the Stage 2 Major, there weren’t really any other defining moments from last season as their records suggest. 

There are some changes to their roster heading into the new season, bringing Reece 'Vivid' Drost and Joseph 'Awakening' Conley on board with Capsidal being benched and TJHaLy moving to the Legions.

Florida Mutineers vs Las Vegas Legion Pick

Pick: Las Vegas Legion

Florida Mutineers vs Las Vegas Legion Prediction

Both the Legion and the Mutineers have completely revamped their rosters after a poor showing in Season 3. The Legion have a capable set of players on board now, and should be able to come out on top in this contest.

Florida Mutineers - Going Ahead With Revamped Roster

The Mutineers missed out on qualifying for the season’s playoffs after seeding ninth in the regular season. They closed out the league with a 13-18 series record, and an overall 54-67 win-loss record. 

They bid goodbye to their roster at the end of that disappointing year, bringing on Carson 'Brack' Newberry, Colt 'Havok'  McLendon, Michael 'MajorManiak' Szymaniak, and Javier'Vikul' Milagro. While the Mutineers finished in fourth place at the Stage 2 Major, they couldn’t get beyond the quarterfinals of the third and fourth stage majors, eventually earning only a smattering of points for each.

Las Vegas Legion - Looking Up After Hitting Rock-Bottom

The team has relocated their headquarters from Paris to Las Vegas since last season. Only their coach, Theory remains from Season 3’s roster; the new faces who’ll debut with the team this month are Donovan 'Temp' Laroda, James 'Clayster' Eubanks, Byron 'Prolute' Vera, Thomas 'TJHaLy Haly. 

After finishing dead last on the regular season’s standings last time, this roster revamp was probably due - they earned zero points after the second stage major, and finished with a 31-73 record with only two series wins out of 25 played. Their kill-death ratio was 0.95 overall, 0.86 in S&D and 0.95 in Hardpoint.

How to Watch Call of Duty League 2023

• Teams: Minnesota RØKKR vs Toronto Ultra, New York Subliners vs London Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge vs Boston Breach, Florida Mutineers vs Las Vegas Legion
• Location: Online
• Time: Saturday, December 3 at 3pm ET onwards
• How to watch: Official Call of Duty League YouTube Channel, CODLeague