Full Wrap #21

Major 1 is on the horizon, and parity continued into the final week of the online Qualifiers. At this point there is no such thing as an upset, unless Surge or Cloud9 win a series.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Carolina Contenders

The scriptwriters have the Ravens on repeat. Entering the weekend, Carolina had yet to lose since the addition of Exceed, but their toughest tests were awaiting in the form of OpTic and Thieves. Two of the giants of the CDL against a pair of rookies and previous league rejects—you would expect the Cinderella run to end here. The Ravens had other plans.

First up for Carolina was OpTic Texas, a team that was once held as the surefire favorites, but have faltered with a 1-2 record in 2026. OpTic responded to their recent losses by starting the series with a 250-186 Map 1 victory, briefly humbling the Ravens. It was very brief.

A quick 6-3 answer in the Search and Destroy, led by Nero’s 11/6, tied things up at 1-1. That was the beginning of the end for OpTic, as the Ravens kept the momentum and convincingly won the next two maps, 5-2 and 250-133.

Nero kept his MVP-caliber play up, going 94/71 (1.32), while Lurqxx joined him with a 94/73 (1.29) performance of his own. The pair topped the series in kills, K/D, and damage, handing OpTic another loss.

Next up was Thieves, and it was two quick map wins to start the series for Ravens. Exceed showed out in the Hardpoint, finishing 32/19 (1.68), while the team ended positive 31. Nero and Craze combined to go 20/12 in the SnD, and a potential sweep was in the cards.

LAT finally decided to fight back and took the Overload 7-0, followed by a 250-116 Hardpoint victory. It seemed like the Ravens' wings had been clipped. Thieves were threatening a reverse sweep, and then the 5-3 curse activated. Carolina rattled off three straight rounds to take Map 5, behind Exceed’s 14/7. Could the Ravens be… favorites?

M8s Back On Top

Paris started the season as arguably the best in the game, winning Kaysan’s Showdown and placing 2nd in the Launch Invitational. Coming out of the break, M8s barely took a 3-2 win over 11th placed Cloud9 and lost 1-3 to the Falcons. Cracks were beginning to show, but a good weekend would still set them up with the 1st seed for Major 1.

Their first match was with KOI, a team that was vying for a Winners’ Bracket spot. After dropping Map 1 250-219, M8s put together a dominant SnD, taking it 6-1. That domination quickly flipped, with KOI controlling the Overload en route to a 3-0 win.

With their backs against the wall, Gentle Mates showed why they’re held as one of the best teams in the game. A 250-173 win in Map 4 got them into another SnD, where, despite dropping the first two rounds, they dominated again. Neptune was the catalyst, going 32/27 and 10/5 with three of M8s four first bloods in the final two maps. He also finished as the only positive player in the series for Paris, ending with 101 kills and a 1.09 K/D. 

The Heretics rounded out the weekend for M8s, and there was a lot on the line. A 3-0 or 3-1 win for M8s secured the 1st seed and would send Miami to the Losers’ Bracket, with KOI on the sideline cheering against their Spanish rivals to hopefully land a Winners’ Bracket spot of their own. Who doesn’t love a partial round-robin tiebreaker?

It was again the Neptune show in Map 1; he finished as the only positive player for M8s, going 36/30 (1.20) to win 250-240. Miami made KOI start to sweat after taking the SnD 6-3, led by SupeR’s 10/5, five first blood performance.

After the Map 2 loss, it was relatively smooth sailing for Paris, taking the next two maps 3-1 and 250-166. Envoy was the closer, scoring two of their three goals and posting a 63/52 (1.21) stat line across the final two maps. There’s a new Prince in Paris.

Thieves Survive

Thieves ended their split with a 3-2 loss to Carolina, but that wasn’t their only matchup this weekend: on Saturday they had a matchup with the Boston Breach. With nearly every team being in contention for the Winners’ Bracket, every matchup had seeding implications. 

The series opened with a 250-238 Hardpoint victory for the Boston Breach. The Thieves could not read that Boston would spawn right behind them on the final, decisive P4. The Thieves would bounce back in Map 2, with their SMG duo of aBeZy and HyDra running wild. The pair combined for 18/8 and three of the team’s four first bloods. 

Boston responded with a 4-2 victory in the Overload, borrowing the age-old soccer strategy of “parking the bus” after gaining an early 4-1 lead. Nastie and Snoopy both had 1.5s (27/18 and 30/20, respectively) as every LAT player went negative trying to breach the Boston setup. 

The last two maps were all LAT. aBeZy once again led the Thieves in Map 4, posting a 34/22 (1.55) performance, adding on an additional 97 seconds in the hill in a 250-168 victory. In the Map 5 Search, it was last year’s SnD K/D leader and MVP Scrap that stepped up, closing out the series with a 9/2 performance with three first bloods. 

All along, Kenny, the question mark on the team, was reliable in the slaying department. After two abysmal series vs KOI and M8s, he has bounced back and held positive K/Ds in the last three series he’s played. The team’s floor seems to live or die with Kenny’s performance, so if he can carry over this performance to LAN, the Thieves may be able to make a run. Nium be damned. 

Brooms For G2

Minnesota had just one series this weekend, matching up with KOI in both teams’ last series of Major I Qualifiers. At 2-4, if G2 lost this series, they were staring at a guaranteed Losers' Bracket start next weekend, but a win, paired with their uncanny ability to force Game 5s, might sneak them into the Winners’ Bracket. And what a win it was. 

In a year where Kremp has taken the limelight for G2, this series was Estreal’s turn to shine. The matchup kicked off on Colossus, which has been dubbed by some casters as “Kremplossus” after his ridiculous record-setting performance last week. This time Estreal and Mamba were the driving force on the map, as they put up 35/24 (1.46) and 33/24 (1.38), respectively, also combining for 197 seconds in a 250-191 victory. 

Estreal carried his hot hand into Scar SnD, picking up 10 kills and three first bloods in a 6-2 drubbing. He followed that up with another stellar performance in the Den Overload, dropping 30/23 (1.30) as G2 shut down and shut out Toronto 2-0. Parking the bus has proven exceptionally effective when playing with a lead, much to viewers’ chagrin.

Many fans and even some pros and former pros have expressed displeasure at watching teams sit in their own spawn with the device instead of trying to score. Is it possible we see changes to GAs, or even a change to the ruleset after Major I?

This series marked KOI’s third consecutive loss after starting the split 3-1. While some viewed them early as a dark horse contender for the Major I crown, it seems like they are doing the opposite of peaking at the right time. They managed to sneak into the Winners’ Bracket as the 7th seed, but a matchup with 2nd seeded FaZe is looming. 

BRACKET PREVIEW

OpTic vs Falcons

Riyadh finished the split on a five-series win streak to tie for the 1st seed. Their reward? The back-to-back champs, OpTic Texas. These two matched up in the first series of the CDL season, with OpTic taking it 3-0.

Since that first series, OpTic is 3-3 with an 11-13 map count, while the Falcons are 5-1 with a 16-9 map count. If there was ever a time for Pred to get revenge against OpTic, it would be at the OpTic Major.

Gentle Mates vs KOI

What a rollercoaster for KOI. From playing M8s in their first series of the weekend to cheering for a M8s win over Miami to make the Winners’ Bracket, they now find themselves in a rematch from just days ago to kick off their Major 1.

Gentle Mates enter as the overall 1st seed, but KOI isn’t a pushover. After losing the SnD’s with a round count of 4-12, KOI will need to lock in on the mode if they want to cause an upset.

Thieves vs Ravens

The Ravens have a chance to do the funniest thing. Well, funny to the Thieves at least. Beat them again.

Carolina squeaked out a 3-2 victory over LAT this weekend, but LAN could prove to be a difference maker. The Thieves bolster a veteran lineup with a history of winning, while the Ravens have a bunch of question marks. Let's see who gets the last laugh.

FaZe vs G2

Yet another rematch in Winners’ Round 1, G2 is looking to cause an upset once again. Coming off a 3-0 victory against KOI, Minnesota is hitting their stride at the right time. Just one problem. So is FaZe.

Since the return from the break, FaZe’s lone slip-up was against G2, and they are coming off a 3-0 victory of their own. The game plan should be simple. Veto Kremplossus and advance.

TOP PERFORMERS

Nero: When Exceed called him the best in the game, he might not have been lying. Carolina had won three straight series coming into the weekend, but this weekend was their true test. Nero answered the bell in both series, first with a 94/71 (1.32) against OpTic, followed up by a 98/85 (1.15) performance against LAT. He led both series in kills and K/D, ending the weekend with a 1.23 overall K/D. He was a menace in Map 2s, combining for 21/9 (2.33) in the two he played this weekend. After helping his team to a 5-2 record in Qualifiers, Nero and the Royal Ravens will prepare for another matchup with the Thieves in WR1 of Major 1. Will he fiddle as LA burns?

Simp: “I’m Him, don’t worry about FaZe.” Truer words may never have been spoken. Simp was confident coming into the season despite the breakup of the longstanding FaZe trio, and his confidence was on full display this weekend. He ran down the bottom-feeding Vancouver roster at every opportunity, dropping a ridiculous 80 kills in just three maps. His 80/52 (1.54) performance jumped him to the very top of the Major I Qualifiers K/D leaderboard (1.19 overall). 

Simp’s 80 kills topped the second most in the lobby by 14, and he also eclipsed the second highest damage total by over 1,400. He was a menace in respawn and SnD alike, with a 13/6 statline in Map 2, kicking in two first bloods to boot. In the closeout Map 3 Simp set the Overload kill record, dropping a ridiculous 40/24 (1.67) scoreline. With the 2nd seed and a favorable first-round matchup with G2, he may have positioned his new-look FaZe roster as the favorites for Major I. And kicked off his campaign for yet another MVP to add to his already crowded trophy case.  

aBeZy: Being the brunt of early-season criticism from some Call of Duty savants, aBeZy showed just how effective he can be alongside the LAT roster this weekend. Needing at least one series victory this weekend to land a Winners’ Bracket spot, aBeZy led the way in K/D in both series, ending the weekend with a 1.14 K/D (190/167). His impact was most felt in the Hardpoints, where he went 122/90 (1.36) while adding in 1.5 minutes of hill time per map across four maps.

If not for aBeZy, LAT would be starting their Major 1 in the Losers’ Bracket. Map 4s were all his; sitting in a 1-2 series deficit entering both, he posted a ridiculous combined 64/37 (1.73) in the two maps to keep his team alive. It’s 2EZ (map) 4 aBeZy.

Cellium: Rounding out the top performers is the final member of the old FaZe trio, Cellium. Back to his old ways, Cell didn’t have a single map below a 1.17 K/D in the 3-2 victory and finished with a series-leading 1.32 K/D (90/68). An all around performance, he slayed and soaked in HP, totalling 189 seconds of hill time to go with his 54/43 (1.33). It didn’t stop there, he was the playmaker in SnD, finding five first bloods, three of which came in the 6-1 Map 5 win. An activated Cellium could lead the Falcons to their first Major Sunday.