Top 5 Esports Events June 2021

Category: CoD

Warzone – Does it have potential to be a top esport?

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

Call Of Duty’s battle royale game mode Warzone is one of the most intense, and action packed games out there. The game has that fast paced game style, while adding that tactical and strategic play we see in other battle royales. Here’s everything you need to know about Warzone and its potential as an Esport.

What is Warzone?

Much like any other battle royale esport, the main goal in warzone is to be the last team remaining and survive till the end to achieve the Warzone Victory. Players can queue in multiple game modes, Solos, Duos, Trios, Quads, as well as Resurgence, Mini Royale and Plunder.

Screenshot e
Credits: Activision

Weapons

Similar to any other game, Warzone consists of what we nowadays call as meta weapons. We see this time and time again with games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, which have a myriad of weapons to choose from. In Warzone, meta weapons are changing with every season and it’s tough to keep track of which gun has the best TTK (time to kill). Thankfully, due to the game’s popularity, there are multiple content creators which put effort into helping others identify tips and tricks, and what weapons to use in the game.

Warzone Tournaments

When it comes to competitive Warzone, tournaments are happening all the time. Unfortunately, the majority of the competitive Warzones scene resides in North America, however there are a couple of players from Europe which have showcased their abilities multiple times. A few of Warzone’s most well-known players are: Aydan, HusKerrs, Joewo, Tommey, Jukeys, Newbz, Destroy, and many others. Unfortunately in Warzone, there is no direct competitive game mode, however the way tournaments work is similar to how old Fortnite tournaments used to work, Kill-races.

In this type of game mode a set of players team up in one of Warzone’s regular game mode playlists and compete against each other to see who will achieve the most kills in that match. This could also be played in a best of 2 or best of 3 format. The most common format we see nowadays is the 2v2 kill race format, where a duo join another duo team lobby and queue in the quads game mode. If you think Warzone isn’t a good esports to be a part of, think again. This esport has some of the biggest prize pools in all of esports, with prize winnings varying from $150,000 to $300,000 and beyond. Here’s a short list of the highest earners in Warzone

  • Aydan – $198,711.07
  • HusKerrs – $166,816.68
  • Rated – $161,784.43
  • SuperEvan – $159,470.83
  • Tommey – $158,150.51
  • Biffle – $137,741.67
  • Almxnd – $109,769.68
  • WarsZ – $108,138.07
  • Jukeyz – $101,408.37
  • JoeWo – $101,316.67

The World Series of Warzone

Just recently, Call Of Duty revealed their very own major event, the World Series of Warzone. This event will be directly hosted by Activision themselves, and broadcasted fully on Twitch. As mentioned in a previous article of ours, there will be 4 events that involve 50 Trio/Duo squads from North America and Europe. Each tournament will consist of a $300,000 USD prize pool and will be one of the most exciting Warzone events yet!

cdlworld

Warzone’s main issues

From a Warzone player perspective you can identify multiple issues within a game like Warzone. To start with, Warzone has a huge problem with cheaters. Unfortunately Activision have put most of their focus on battle passes and seasonal skins, and have not taken action against these cheaters that are purposely ruining every player’s experience. This has become a huge issue within the competitive scene as tournament participants need to back out and re-queue each time they face a cheater.

Screenshot
Credits: Activision

There are also various bugs and issues within the game. But one that is most concerning is the Skill-based matchmaking, or as many call it, SBMM. With some tournaments having their format as timed kill races (getting the most kills in a set-time, for example 3 hours), players have found a way to get easier lobbies to get higher kills. This can be abused in many ways, but at the moment players have been leaning towards VPN’s and special routers that change their geographical location. A major concern for the future of Warzone and it’s competitive nature.

Conclusion

Warzone has only been out for a year, and throughout this past few months we’ve truly seen how competitive this esport can get. With these action-packed tournaments and talented personalities within the game, Warzone certainly has a future in esports. 

Captains for World Series of Warzone Revealed

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

With one of the most anticipated tournaments of the summer approaching, the captains for the World Series of Warzone have been revealed. Here is the announcement:

Captains for World Series of Warzone Revealed – Who are they?

As seen in the tweet above, popular figures within the Warzone competitive space were chosen. We’re certain that you’ve heard one of these names before. This list features 100 Thieves founder Nadeshot, FaZe Swagg, NYSL Aydan, & streamers Dandangler and TimTheTatman. 

Event Details

The event is set to kick off on the 23rd of June, and it will consist of a $300,000 prize pool. This tournament in particular will cater towards the North American players, and will feature a Trios format. In addition, there will be a total of 6 game rounds to play out, giving ample time for any team falling behind to catch up. 

The player selection draft will take place a day before the event kicks off, the 22nd. Here, the captain will be selecting a pool of players to play alongside them during the tournament.

Tournament Broadcast

Much like every other major Warzone tournament, Twitch Rivals will be the main host for the event. This means that the tournament will be streaming on the official Twitch Rivals channel. As a bonus, due to it being a Twitch Rivals event, there will be different points of view from all participating players.

This is the first of many steps that CallOfDuty are pursuing into creating the best esports atmosphere for Warzone. We cannot wait to see what else they have in plan for 2021, and for the other regions!

Visit www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!

CDL returning to LAN for Stage IV Major

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

The CDL (CallOfDuty League) have announced that they are returning to a LAN environment for the Stage IV Major. Here is their announcement:

Stage IV Major Details

As seen in the trailer above, the Stage IV Major will take place between the 17th and 20th of June. As stated by the COD League, this is going to be the 4 CDL Major event, but also the first offline event! This Major will be hosted by the Dallas Empire and will be taking additional measures into consideration to ensure the safety of everyone involved. As per usual, all 12 CDL teams are participating for the share of $500,000 in prize pool.

CDL returning to LAN for Stage IV Major – What does this mean?

Competitive COD returning to LAN is great news, especially for die hard Call of Duty fans. With the majority of the season being played online we’ve seen multiple results that surprised us. Hopefully with the return of LAN we’ll be seeing a stronger side out of every competitor due to the competitive nature that an offline event brings.

Here’s a short list of each Stage Major winner so far:

Visit www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!

How to Watch CDL Stage 4 2021; teams, format, schedule, streams, predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

We’re past the halfway mark for the competitive Call of Duty League season and things are spicing up quite nicely. Accordingly, following two weeks since the Stage 3 Major, we’re ready for another regular season. Indeed, the CDL Stage 4 season looks to answer a billion questions, while offering so many more. Read on for another reliable esportsguide How to Watch episode!

Event Background

As I’ll reiterate, we’re entering the latter half of the competitive season for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. Out of five stages and majors, this is notably the fourth one.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Accordingly, our 12 teams still have a chance to earn a considerable amount of points to try and qualify for the biggest event of the year – Champs. Bearing in mind the stakes, the regular season of Stage 4 kicks off soon on May 27th, moving up to 13th June a few weeks later.

As a brief reminder, here are the 12 competing teams heading into this season, together with their overall points and ranking so far in the season:

  1. Atlanta FaZe – 340
  2. New York Subliners – 240
  3. Dallas Empire – 230
  4. Toronto Ultra – 225
  5. OpTic Chicago – 200
  6. Los Angeles Thieves – 170
  7. Minnesota Rokkr – 140
  8. Florida Mutineers – 120
  9. Los Angeles Guerrillas – 90
  10. London Royal Ravens – 70
  11. Paris Legion – 60
  12. Seattle Surge – 50

Heading into this event there are also some exciting changes, such as a change in map pool. Specifically, Standoff Search will replace Checkmate Search.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Format

Moving over to the format, there’s nothing exactly new here compared to previous stages. Split into three weekends of Group Play, named as Home Series, the competition will be fighting for seeding into the next major. Each match of the groups will a BO5.

Here’s how the weekends are grouped:

  • Chicago Home Series (27-30 May)
  • Florida Home Series (03-06 June)
  • LAT Home Series (10-13 June)

Here are how the Groups have been Snake Drafted:

Group A

  • Atlanta FaZe
  • Los Angeles Thieves
  • Minnesota ROKKR
  • OpTic Chicago
  • Paris Legion
  • Seattle Surge
Credits: Jordan Kaplan Twitter

Group B

  • Dallas Empire
  • Florida Mutineers
  • London Royal Ravens
  • Los Angeles Guerrillas
  • New York Subliners
  • Toronto Ultra

Schedule for CDL Stage 4 2021

There’s definitely a lot to chomp through, but the schedule should be quite familiar. At every weekend, Thursday and Friday will broadcast two games, while Saturday and Sunday will enjoy three each.

For example, below find a tweet for this upcoming weekend schedule:

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Indeed, for the entire updated schedule, it’s recommended to check out the official Call of Duty League Schedule page.

Watch the CDL Stage 4 2021 on esportsguide

You can also watch the CDL All-Star Weekend 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.

CDL Stage 4 2021

Predictions

Bearing in mind the structure of the Groups, I’ll be approaching predictions for each separate one.

Beginning with Group A, it’s quite likely that Atlanta FaZe arise as the first seed. Otherwise, the other team who could potentially upset the leaders are likely OpTic Chicago.

Meanwhile, it’s likely that Los Angeles Thieves and Minnesota ROKKR will contest for positions 3rd and 4th. Sadly for this group, it almost seems too obvious that Paris Legion and Seattle Surge are doomed for the bottom spots.

CDL Stage 1 Major
Credits: Call of Duty League

Now, let’s talk Group B – an incredibly exciting group. On this half of the fence, the majority of teams look a little murky and predictions are tough. Anyways, the top 2 teams are certainly New York Subliners and Toronto Ultra, with Ultra likely to place first.

Otherwise, it gets very tricky. All four teams; Dallas, Florida, London and LAG; are some of the most inconsistent teams in the league right now. Personally, the likelihood is that Florida and Dallas prevail, but who knows?

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

World Series of Warzone Announced – Finally Going Competitive

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Ever since its release, here at esportsguide we’ve patiently been waiting for competitive Warzone to simply take off. Indeed, while the community has shown the game a great amount of love, the developers have been quite patient. Finally, with the announcement of World Series of Warzone, we have a global event across multiple regions celebrating the battle royale!

World Series of Warzone – All the Details

Credits: Call of Duty Twitter
  • Format: 4 events involving fifty trio squads – trios and duos in NA and EU
  • Prize pool: $200,00 for performance at the events, with $100,000 for the Captain’s Cup
  • Captain’s Cup? Five captains selected to draft team of trio squads – going at it once more
  • Date: 23rd June is when it all kicks off

What an awesome piece of news for competitive Call of Duty players. Currently, leading battle royale titles of PUBG followed by the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends will now need to make way for the most popular battle royale yet.

Credits Activision e
Credits: Activision

However, many have affiliated public matches of Warzone with cheating. Here’s how Activision looks to combat this:

Before participating in a WSOW event, all participants will need to pass an extensive and internal Activision security check to make sure their Activision accounts are in good standing.

Participants found to have violated competitive integrity standards will be banned from all future Activision sponsored Warzone events and may be subject to further action.

Credits: Activision

It all seems swell – let’s hope for more details soon!

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

How to Watch CDL All-Star Weekend 2021; teams, format, schedule, streams, predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

There’s nothing quite like a showmatch. Indeed, many say ‘nothing’s on the line and it’s all for fun’ – is it though? However, for Call of Duty it definitely isn’t. After the fans voted on their top 16 players, we have our CDL All-Star Weekend 2021 coming up and it looks to be an exciting affair! Read on to learn How to Watch!

Event Background

Following the Mid-Season CDL Stage 3 Major, the Call of Duty League is switching things up. Just like last year, in the inaugural season, we’ll be watching the top individual competitors going at it on one day in a 1v1 Gunfight format, followed by another exiting piece. Indeed, this time around, we’ll be having an exciting 4v4 single-elimination with the CDL Casters on board too.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Running from 22-23rd May, the event will definitely have a prize pool. Although still unannounced, last year offered $100,000 – this year will likely be similar or a level higher.

Before moving onto the format, here’s a list of the competitors:

  • Owakening – Florida Mutineers
  • Dashy – OpTic Chicago
  • Insight – Toronto Ultra
  • Octane – Seattle Surge
  • Methodz – Toronto Ultra
  • Shotzzy – Dallas Empire
  • Apathy – Los Angeles Guerillas
  • HyDra – New York Subliners
  • Standy – Minnesota Rokkr
  • Huke – Los Angeles Thieves
  • AbeZy – Atlanta FaZe
  • Skrapz – Paris Legion
  • Envoy – OpTic Chicago
  • Kenny – Los Angeles Thieves
  • Simp – Atlanta FaZe
  • PaulEx – London Royal Ravens

Format

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

As you can tell, this isn’t a regular 4v4 Call of Duty League Tournament. Instead, this event is split up into two exciting stages.

  • 16 player single elimination bracket – 16 players voted by fans will be fighting through a bracket. Here, the game mode of Gunfight will spawn players with random weaponry on a tight map – gunskill is the only way out. After a few rounds, we’ll have our own 1v1 champions.
  • 4v4 Caster Draft tournament – later on, teams drafted by Casters from the 16 will battle in regular series matches to figure out a champion roster.

So far, the 4v4 rosters will be announced at a later stage.

Schedule for the CDL All-Star Weekend 2021

In terms of schedule, below you can find yourselves a tweet from the Call of Duty League which concisely lists all the times you need to be aware of:

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Watch the CDL All-Star Weekend 2021 on esportsguide

You can also watch the CDL All-Star Weekend 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.

CDL All-Star Weekend 2021

Predictions

Now this, this is a tonne of fun to predict. Naturally, all 16 players heading into this event are talented. However, this 1v1 format in the intial stage, which looks to be the more competitive side, involves more than talent in a role.

CDL Stage 3 Recap
Credits: Call of Duty League

With that being said, the following are a few favourites for the event:

  • Simp and aBezy – both young guns from FaZe are definitely to watch out for, known as the Tiny Terrors. Yet, how will they fair on other weapons?
  • Dashy – the phenom from OpTic Gaming, not many come close in terms of pure mechanical skill
  • Shotzzy – reputed to have some of the best movement in the game, he’s definitely one to watch out for
  • Insight – one of my personal picks, this young gun has truly shown off his capabilities ever since joining the league and this will definitely be a test for his abilities

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

Minnesota Rokkr Roster – Accuracy Dropped, Major Back

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Following the Stage 3 CDL Major, there are ripples in the community. Accordingly, while some teams are content with their performance, others are yearning for better results. Furthermore, the Minnesota Rokkr Roster is one which didn’t look too hot. Just like that, it’s no surprise that a roster change has been confirmed!

Minnesota Rokkr Roster – Much Needed Change

Indeed, a 9-10th finish at the recent Major was a very disappointing result for the roster. Accordingly, only a month ago did the roster introduce the youngster of “Standyy” to successfully place top 4 at CDL Stage 2. However, following such poor results, a the substitute bench has been utilised:

Credits: Minnesota ROKKR Twitter

It seems that the Main AR of Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi wasn’t working well with the roster. Bearing this in mind, the current active roster is the following:

  • Eli “Standy” Bentz
  • Dillon “Attach” Price
  • Preston “Priestahh” Greiner
  • Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak
CDL Stage 1 Major
Credits: Call of Duty League

Currently sitting at 7th place, the organization wants to guarantee a top 8 finish at the end of the year, to reach the biggest event of the year.

Besides Minnesota Rokkr, multiple other roster changes are also expected as teams fight for the top 8.

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

CDL Stage 3 Major Recap – FaZe Back on Top

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

And just like that, the third stage of the CDL League is over. Accordingly, the CDL Stage 3 Recap is finally over. Indeed, another $500,000 were on the line and FaZe return as our champions once again. Read on for a quick recap of this incredible event below!

CDL Stage 3 Recap – The Journey of FaZe

Like we do with recaps here at esportsguide, let’s view FaZe’s journey at this event. For those unaware, this Major was preceded by three weeks of group stage for seeding. It was here that FaZe achieved a top spot in their Group to reach Round 3 immediately.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Indeed, FaZe had to take down some fierce competition:

  • FaZe Atlanta vs Dallas Empire (3-0)
  • Toronto Ultra vs Atlanta FaZe (2-3)
  • FaZe Atlanta vs New York Subliners (2-3)
  • Toronto Ultra vs Atlanta FaZe (2-3)
  • FaZe Atlanta vs New York Subliners (5-2)

Falling to the Loser’s Bracket after losing to NYSL, it was an uphill climb on Sunday. Nonetheless, they managed to pull off an incredible run at the CDL Stage 3 Major. As I’ll reiterate, this is the second win for FaZe Atlant – there are only two events left in the year until Call of Duty Championship.

Accordingly, to conclude here are the current standings of the CDL 2021. The next season is in two weeks and we cannot wait.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

How to Watch CDL Stage 3 Major: teams, format, schedule, streams, predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Over the past few weeks, competitive Call of Duty has really found a new rhythm on multiple levels. Accordingly, the climax of Stage 3 will present itself at the CDL Stage 3 Major. Indeed, the $500,000 event is only a few days away. Bearing this in mind, we’ve gathered all of the essential viewership details in another episode of ‘How to Watch’ here at esportsguide!

Event Background

Within the competitive framework of the Call of Duty League, this is the third major out of five. Notably, this third event will be the last one held online.  Once again, $500,000 are on the line together with a tonne of points, contributing to qualification for Champs at the end of the season. The event will take place in the weekend of May 13th, running up to May 16th.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Once again, I’d like to present the 12 franchised teams heading to this event. However, I’ll be listing them according to the Stage 3 groups and their seeding. Let’s see how they stacked up:

Group A

  1. Toronto Ultra (5-0)
  2. Florida Mutineers (3-2)
  3. Dallas Empire (3-2)
  4. Minnesota Rokkr (2-3)
  5. Los Angeles Guerrillas (1-4)
  6. Paris Legion (1-4)

Group B

  1. New York Subliners (4-1)
  2. Atlanta FaZe (4-1)
  3. Los Angeles Thieves (3-2)
  4. OpTic Chicago (2-3)
  5. London Royal Ravens (2-3)
  6. Seattle Surge (0-5)

Read on to see how these seeds have built up the bracket below. Indeed, all twelve teams will be attending the event.

Format

In terms of format, there’s nothing new here for the Call of Duty League. Specifically, teams will find themselves in a Double Elimination Bracket. For those unaware, this means that those in the upper bracket have a cushion of falling into Losers’ while those in Losers’ only have one shot. Furthermore, entering the Grand Finals through the Upper Bracket gives the team the advantage of playing less matches.

Accordingly, the following is how the bracket will play out:

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Schedule for the CDL Stage 3 Major (CET)

In terms of schedule, this is likely the biggest change for this event. Since previous events, the league is now moving to a 3 day schedule over 4 days. Basically, games will run from Thursday instead of Wednesday down to Sunday. Notably, please find the first few days listed below, with their allocated times:

Thursday 13th May – Friday 14th May 2021

  • Paris Legion vs London Royal Ravens (21:00)
  • Seattle Surge vs Los Angeles Guerillas (22:30)
  • Dallas Empire vs Atlanta FaZe (00:00)
  • Los Angeles Thieves vs Florida Mutineers (01:30)
Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Friday 14th May – Saturday 15th May 2021

  • To Be Determined vs Minnesota Rokkr (21:00)
  • To Be Determined vs OpTic Chicago (22:30)
  • TBD vs Toronto Ultra (00:00)
  • TBD vs New York Subliners (01:30)

Be sure to visit the CDL page for the entire schedule here.

Watch the CDL Stage 3 Major 2021 on esportsguide

You can also watch the CDL Stage 3 Major League live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.

CDL Stage 3 Major

Predictions for the Stage 3 Major

Predictions for Call of Duty have never been so excitingly skewed. Multiple teams are on the rise while others simply look unpredictable. Clearly, Toronto Ultra are the favourites for the event following their dominant group stage run. Behind them, many consider FaZe and possibly New York Subliners as likely candidates also. At the lower end of this list of favourites, I would place Minnesota Rokkr too.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

On the downfall, Dallas Empire and OpTic Chicago haven’t convinced fans of their potential as of late. Further down, the likes of newly formed rosters such as Florida and Los Angeles Thieves together with London also look strong.

Otherwise, dark horses such as Los Angeles Guerillas, Paris Legion and Seattle Surge need to get moving if they want a chance to qualify for the big event at the end of the year.

That was our HTW for the CDL Stage 3 Major event.

For more esports news, please visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

CDL Stage 4 LAN – Back to Basics

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Ever since this time last year, competitive Call of Duty has been held online. Accordingly, the community has been thirsting for good old reliable offline competition. Indeed, Activision has finally confirmed that the competition is ready to come back offline – starting with the CDL Stage 4 LAN!

CDL Stage 4 LAN – Dallas, No Fans

Officially, the Call of Duty League has confirmed that the next stage of competition will culminate in an offline stage. Specifically, it will all boil down to the Playoffs of Stage 4 which will take place on June 17-20, 2021.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Naturally, the event will adhere to strict health protocols as one would expect, including a limited crowd and a staff following certain protocols.

What does this mean? It means that professionals will no longer be able to make excuses over connections and server issues. while viewers can enjoy a more authentic viewership experience.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Indeed, excuses are out of the window thanks to this awesome announcement. Bearing in mind that most teams have located in Dallas, it makes sense that the venue will be the Esports Stadium Arlington.

Furthermore, there’s another announcement. Accordingly, Tournaments are now moving to a Four-Day experience instead of Five-Days.

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news