CDL Major II, hosted by OpTic Texas, Kicks Off Thursday Afternoon

(Gray News) - The Call of Duty League’s (CDL) second Major starts Thursday afternoon in Allen, Texas, just outside Dallas. The tournament’s host is OpTic Texas, based out of Dallas. The last CDL tournament played in Dallas was the 2024 CDL World Championship, which OpTic won. They’re a team that has flourished on various occasions at home, but they aren’t looking strong going into this weekend, failing to make the winners bracket.

Instead, the top eight teams after Major II qualifiers will face off this afternoon to begin the tournament. Each CDL Major is formatted as a double-elimination bracket. Eight teams start in the winner’s bracket and are the first to fight, hoping they will continue unscathed into the winner’s round two. The remaining four teams wait in the loser’s bracket to meet the blemished in the first elimination matches of the tournament. The first four matches of CDL Major II are as follows -

Matches scheduled for Thursday, March 20th:

• Carolina Royal Ravens vs. Vancouver Surge - 1:30 PM EST / 12:30 PM CST / 10:30 AM PST
• Toronto Ultra vs. Cloud9 New York - 3 PM EST / 2 PM CST / 12 PM PST
• Los Angeles Thieves vs. Boston Breach - 4:30 PM EST / 3:30 PM CST / 1:30 PM PST
• Atlanta FaZe vs. Minnesota RØKKR - 6 PM EST / 5 PM CST / 3 PM PST

The Carolina Royal Ravens and Vancouver Surge are the first to go this afternoon. These two have only faced each other once, back in Major I qualifiers. The Surge narrowly won that series 3-2, but in the grand scheme, both these teams look incredibly strong. Most recently, they both made it to the Semifinals of Minor II, and the Surge went on to lose to the Los Angeles Thieves in the Finals. The Royal Ravens barely edged out the Surge in seeding, but the statistical differences regarding the standings are minimal between the two. This series will most likely come down to the wire, and honestly, it is the don’t-miss match of the day. its

Next up is Toronto Ultra versus Cloud9 New York. They have also only played each other once before, but more recently during Major II qualifiers. In the first week of qualifiers, Cloud9 swept Ultra. Since then, Ultra has finished with a better match record and a better finish at Minor II. Ultra has remained consistent all season, while Cloud9 has finally found its footing after a tough start to the season. Both teams can pull a win off in this one, but if forced to choose, most likely fall on the side of Ultra.

The Los Angeles Thieves and Boston Breach face off in Thursday’s penultimate series. This series is the first one-sided match of the day. The Thieves went undefeated in Major II qualifiers, won Minor II, and were in the Grand Finals of Major I. The farthest the Breach have made in a tournament this season was round two in Minor I. The odds are stacked against the Breach, but those looking for an underdog matchup should set an alarm for the start of this series.

Atlanta FaZe will take on Minnesota RØKKR to close out Thursday’s matches—another series with a top team looking to knock off the little guy. FaZe won Major I and Minor I, and while Minor II didn’t garner much success for them, they still only dropped one series in Major II qualifying. RØKKR has their work cut out for them in this one, but unlike the Breach, RØKKR made it to round three of losers at Major I. Betting against FaZe rarely works, so more than likely another top team will move on to winners round two.

Tune into the official CDL YouTube channel to watch today’s matches. Coverage will start 30 minutes before the start of the first match. Today’s schedule certainly doesn’t disappoint, so don’t miss a second of the action.

Gray Television is an investor in OpTic Gaming.