CoD Gentlemen's Agreements

Category: CoD

How to Watch CDL 2023 Stage 1 Major – teams, format, schedule, streams, predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

This weekend, we have another set of qualifying matches for the Call of Duty League to enjoy. Accordingly, these three weeks of action have been building up to the upcoming major. Now within a week, we’ve taken the initiate to let you know how to watch this highly anticipated CDL 2023 Stage 1 Major event in this featured article!

Event Background

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

For those unaware, the Call of Duty League is the highest level of competitive CoD, and has been for the past 3 seasons. Accordingly, apart from online qualifier matches which influence seeding for each event and ultimately Championship Weekend, we have Majors to enjoy.

Indeed, this first Major will run from 15th to 18th December. Taking place offline in the Raleigh Convention Centrer, $500,000 will be on the line for the best teams of 4 in the world.

As the first Major for Modern Warfare II, Activision is inviting more than just the 12 franchised teams. Moreover, 4 amateur teams in attendance will make this a ‘Pro-Am’ type of event – with the closed qualifier taking place a day before the main event (14th December).

Credits: CDL Twitter

Here are your competing teams listed below:

Franchised Teams

  • Atlanta FaZe
  • Boston Breach
  • Florida Mutineers
  • Las Vegas Legion
  • London Royal Ravens
  • Los Angeles Guerrillas
  • Los Angeles Thieves
  • Minnesota Rokkr
  • New York Subliners
  • Seattle Surge
  • OpTic Texas
  • Toronto Ultra

Challenger Qualifiers (TBD x 4)

  • 4 from the following: Decimate Gaming, LAG Academy, ROKKR Academy, Pollodrom, Aw0babobs, Elevate, Orgless, D1 Gaming

Let’s dive deeper into the event below!

Format

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

With regards to the format of the event, all the competition looks to kick off with the Group Stage. Here, all 16 teams will be split into 4 groups of 4 teams each.

Once here, 4 GSL style groups will take place – meaning that qualification will only be for teams who manage two victories. Note that each match here will be a BO5. Meanwhile, from this stage, only the top 2 teams in each group will move on to Bracket Play.

Essentially halving the competition, only 8 teams will make it to the Bracket Play component of the competition. Indeed, here a double elimination BO5 bracket will play out, with all teams starting in the Upper Bracket.

Conclusively, only two teams will make it to the Grand Finals, where a BO7 Grand Finals will crown the very first champion for CoD: MWII!

Schedule for the CDL 2023 Stage 1 Major

CDL LDN HOMESERIES DAY e
Call of Duty League 2020 Season 2020-02-08 / Photo: JOE-BRADY for Activision Blizzard

As of writing, the schedule for the event is not yet available.

However, we can guarantee that the entire schedule will be updated daily over on the Call of Duty League Twitter page here.

Watch the CDL 2023 Stage 1 Major on esportsguide

You can also watch the event 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 2023 Stage 1 Major

Predictions

Heading into the first Major, with some qualifier games yet to be played, there are certain teams which have looked stronger than others.

For example, the likes of Boston Breach, Atlanta FaZe, London Royal Ravens, LA Thieves and OpTic Gaming are all looking strongly.

However, with the amount of in-game and competitive changes – who knows what will happen at the Major?

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

CDL Stage 1 Viewership – Already Breaking Viewership Records

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Accordingly, heading into the competitive season, the Call of Duty League announced the switch to Twitch from YouTube. Bearing this in mind, the CDL Stage 1 Viewership has been insane in the opening weeknd of the season – read on to learn more!

CDL Stage 1 Viewership – Twitch is Working!

Credits: CDL Twitter

Thanks to the open nature of Twitch, multiple content creators have been co-streaming all the action this past weekend.

For those unaware, this opening weekend of the seson kicked off with some online qualifier matches which will seed teams into Major One Raleigh.

Usually, these regular season matches don’t offer too much viewership. However, things are different this time around. Take a look at the viewership so far, with two more weekends of qualifiers left:

Call of Duty League 2023: Stage 1 Major Qualifiers:

  • Peak Viewership: 192,943
  • Average Viewership: 124,628
Credits: CDL Twitter 2022

Just like that, this first qualifier season is in the top 6 all-time viewed Call of Duty esports events in terms of peak viewership. Here’s where it ranks:

  • CDL 2020 Finals – Peak Viewership 331,558
  • CWL Championship 2018 – Peak Viewership 324,086
  • CDL 2022 Playoffs – Peak Viewership 275,244
  • CDL Championship 2021 – Peak Viewership 238,794
  • CWL Vegas – Peak Viewership 200,859
  • CDL 2023: Stage 1 Major Qualifiers – Peak Viewership 192,943

We can’t wait to see how viewership carries on growing in the coming weeks!

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

Call of Duty League 2023 – Opting for Twitch Over YouTube

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Over the past few years, Activision Blizzard has been tied to an exclusivity deal for viewership with YouTube regarding events. Accordingly, the Call of Duty League 2023 season kicks off in the coming hours. Bearing this in mind, it seems that exclusivity is now out the window!

Call of Duty League 2023 – A Much Needed Change

Indeed, many have been concerned that streaming exclusively on YouTube hurt viewership numbers for the CDL.

They just came out with the following Twitter:

Credits: CDL Twitter

Finally, for 2023, the CDL will be streamed on Twitch and the Call of Duty League website.

So, what’s the big deal with finally showing events on Twitch? Well, Twitch opens up the scene to an open approach, where watch-parties will be possible and content creators may freely stream competitive events without needing permission.

CoD League Rostermania Update
Call of Duty League 2020 Season 2020-02-09 / Photo: Robert Paul for Activision Blizzard

Accordingly, for those unaware, here’s the top viewership for CDL events so far:

  • Call of Duty League 2020 Finals – Peak Viewers 331,558
  • CWL Championship 2018 – Peak Viewers 324,086
  • Call of Duty League 2022 Playoffs – Peak Viewers 275,244

We can’t wait to see how Twitch affects the viewership compared to YouTube!

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

Call of Duty League 2023 – Pre-Season Rankings and Predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Accordingly, it’s been a very interesting off-season rostermania for competitive Call of Duty. Finally, after months of roster moves, the season looks to be returning this weekend with an all new year to look forward to. Indeed, read on as we discuss the pre-season Call of Duty League 2023 rankings in this featured article below!

Call of Duty League 2023 – All New Teams?

CoD League Rostermania Update
Call of Duty League 2020 Season 2020-02-09 / Photo: Robert Paul for Activision Blizzard

Firstly, we have to point out that for the fourth consecutive season, there will be no expansion in the Call of Duty League.

Bearing this in mind, we have 12 franchised teams to support and watch. Luckily for us though, almost every single team has made changes and looks different this time around.

Before we start ranking the teams, let’s take a look at the full rosters below – note that those names in bold are new to the organization and have been signed this past off-season:

  • Atlanta FaZe – aBeZy, Cellium Simp, SlasheR
  • Boston Breach – Methodz, Nero, Owakening, Vivid
  • Florida Mutineers – Brack, Havok, MajorManiak, Vikul
  • Las Vegas Legion – Clayster, Prolute, Temp, TJHaly
  • London Royal Ravens – Asim, Nastie, PaulEhx, Zer0
  • Los Angeles Guerillas – Arcitys, Huke, Neptune, Spart
  • Minnesota Rokkr – Afro, Attach, Bance, Cammy
  • New York Subliners – HyDra, KiSMET, Priestahh, Skyz
  • Toronto Ultra – CleanX, Insight, Scrappy, Standy
Credits: CDL Twitter

However, not every organization has opted to make changes. Specifically, only 3 rosters have stuck together as listed below:

  • Seattle Surge – Accuracy, Mack, Pred, Sib
  • OpTic Texas – Dashy, iLLeY, Scump, Shotzzy
  • Los Angeles Thieves – Drazah, Envoy, Kenny, Octane

Ranking the Competition – Three Tiers

For this set of pre-season rankings, we’ll be dividing the competition into three tiers of competition.

Do note that we’ll be basing our rankings based on the community discussion, the outlook from the professional scene and our own opinions.

Also note, these predictions will serve to guide viewers for the very first event and not for the entire season – rosters and the game itself will surely change with time.

Credits: CDL Twitter

Tier 1 – Who Are the Favourites To Win?

So, with the season kicking off on the 2nd December, with qualifiers for Stage 1, we need to ask – who’s the most likely to win?

Now, in this tier, there were multiple teams worth considering, all for multiple reasons.

  • Los Angeles Thieves
  • FaZe Clan
  • Toronto Ultra
  • Seattle Surge
  • OpTic Texas

Considering we haven’t been watching the pre-season practice, we need to rank our top 5 based off of the results from last season.

Credits: OpTix Texas Twitter

Firstly, the likes of Los Angeles Thieves, the champions from last season, are heavy favourites early in the year. Keeping the same formula, they will likely maintain their dominant form. Speaking of which, second place at Champs, FaZe are back and will likely be the FaZe the community fears – swapping out Arcitys for a hugely experienced veteran such as SlasheR.

Following them, in 3rd and 4th, we’d like to suggest Seattle Surge and OpTic – both teams sticking together after placing Top 4 at Champs thanks to some incredible talent on this roster.

Otherwise, we’d like to point out Toronto Ultra – after winning the first event of the season last year, and signing the impressive youngster of Scrappy, they’re looking ridiculously dangerous.

Tier 2 – Contending for the Top of the Call of Duty League 2023

Now, the following teams in the Call of Duty League 2023 are what we’d consider ‘middle-of-the-pack’ teams. Tightly contested against one another, they’ll likely struggle in matches against the favourites:

  • Boston Breach
  • New York Subliners
  • Minnesota Rokkr
  • Paris Legion
Credits: CDL Twitter

Heading into the season there has been some noise over at the Paris Legion camp – practice seems to be going very well.

With regards to Minnesota and Boston, they seem to have made lateral moves and looks like they’ll need more time to improve.

Honestly for the New York roster, following the drama surrounding the roster break-up in the off-season, the community is concerned that a lack of winning mentality will hamper this team despite the undeniable talent present.

Tier 3 – Underdogs or Underperformers

Rounding off are list are teams with weaker rosters and a likely reduced chance of shaking up the league:

  • London Royal Ravens
  • Los Angeles Guerillas
  • Florida Mutineers

Naturally, despite this ranking, we’re always hoping for upsets to keep things exciting.

Everything kicks off this wekend with Qualifier matches – we can’t wait for another season of incredible competition!

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

CoD MW 2 – The Fastest-Selling Call of Duty Ever?

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Unlike other competitive titles, Call of Duty is unique for its yearly release schedule. Accordingly, sales figures are important and reflect the interest of the community. Bearing this in mind, CoD MW 2 released this past week and it’s looking very promising!

CoD MW 2 – Looking Very Promising

Credits: Cod MW 2 Twitter

As we’ll reiterate, the title has only been released recently. Indeed, launched globally on 28th October 2022, the community has had the opportunity to try out the title.

Accordingly, so far a total of $800 million in sales has been achieved by Activision-Blizzard within a few days. Here’s how that compares to the previous years:

  • Call of Duty Vanguard – 42% less than MW2
  • CoD Black Ops Cold War – 9% less than MW2
CallofDutyLeague
Credits: Activision/Blizzard

As a casual arcade shooter, the casual community has an interesting relationship with the competitive one. Accordingly, when the casual community is happy, the title tends to perform better and competitive receives more attention and support.

However, opening weekend sales may be somewhat misleading. Certainly, the success for a competitive title will involve post-launch support across the whole year of the Call of Duty League.

Regardless, it’s looking rather exciting!

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

London Royal Ravens CDL 2023 – Finally Revealed

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

So far, every single Call of Duty League roster has been announced. Accordingly, the likes of the London Royal Ravens CDL roster was just announced. Indeed, read on as we describe the roster which was just announced below!

London Royal Ravens CDL 2023 – Last Squad

Credits: London Royal Ravens Twitter

Heading into this year, the London Royal Ravens has been hoping for an improved roster. Indeed, hanging on to British players hasn’t proved very successful.

Accordingly, it seems that the organization is now heading to form a half-British, half-International roster. Here’s a look at the announced roster:

  • Byron “Nastie” Plumridge
  • Trei “Zer0″ Morris
  • Obaid “Asim” Asim
  • Paul “PaulEhx” Avila
  • Substitue – Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall

There are some great players on this roster. Keeping the likes of “Nastie” and “Zer0” from last year, they’re also resigning Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall from a few years ago.

CoD Gentlemen's Agreements
Credits: Call of Duty League

Otherwise, the likes of Obaid “Asim” Asim and Paul “PaulEhx” Avila are welcome additions, both having strong performances last season.

Anyways, heading into this year, the organization will hope to improve over their past performances:

  • 7-8th @ Call of Duty League 2022 Playoffs
  • 4th @ CDL 2022 Regular Season
  • 9-12th @ CDL 2022 Stage 4 Major
  • 7-8th @ CDL 2022 Stage 3 Major
  • 9-12th @ CDL Pro-Am Classic

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

Call of Duty League 2023 – Full Season Schedule Revealed

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Earlier this month, Activision-Blizzard released a loose schedule for the upcoming season of the CDL. However, this past week, the Call of Duty League 2023 details are now public informaiton thanks to a new press release. Read on to learn more about this below!

Call of Duty League 2023 – Dates Listed Below

Credits: Call of Duty Twitter

So far, we already knew that December 2nd marked the kick-off for the upcoming season. With five Majors and a Championship Weekend, the question we had was – when?

Now, everything’s finally been answered. Read on as we list the schedule for the entire season below:

Major I

  • December 2-11th – Online Qualifiers
  • December 15-18th – LAN Tournament

Major II

  • January 13-29th – Online Qualifiers
  • February 2-5th – LAN Tournament (Boston Breach)

Major III

  • February 17-March 5th – Online Qualifiers
  • March 9-12th – LAN Tournament (OpTic Texas)
Credits; Toronto Ultra Twitter

Major IV

  • March 24-April 9th – Online Qualifiers
  • April 13-16th – LAN Tournament (New York Subliners)

Major V

  • May 5-21st – Online Qualifier
  • May 25-28th – LAN Tournament (Toronto Ultra)

Championship Weekend – LAN Tournament

Accordingly, the only question mark is the Championship Weekend. Indeed, many are hoping that the off-season event takes the community to a European venue considering their legacy.

We’ll be keeping you updated for another season of competitive Call of Duty!

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

Rogue KOI Partnership 2023- Joining Forces for Esports

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Overall, massive partnerships are quite normal for the esports industry. Indeed, the organization of Rogue is making a big move. Accordingly, read on as we describe the implications of the Rogue KOI partnership 2023 below!

Rogue KOI Partnership 2023 – Multiple Esports

Credits: Rogue Twitter

In summary, the Spanish organization Koi has partnered with Rogue and parent company, Infinite Reality.

For those unaware, Koi was founded in 2021, tied to the Twitch star Ibai Llanos with footballer Gerard Pique. This means that Koi will now have a massive impact on the uniting of two esports teams, uniting with the following list of teams:

  • Koi – VALORANT, LVP SuperLiga
  • Rogue – Call of Duty, Rocket League, Rainbow Six, LEC
Credits: Rogue

Here’s what Koi co-owner Ibai Llanos had to say:

I couldn’t be more proud of Koi and what we’ve been able to achieve in such a short period of time.

This partnership with Rogue and Infinite Reality just accelerates our growth and broadens our opportunities to provide the most engaging and exciting experiences for our fans. ¡Vamos!

Credits: Rogue

We’re sure this change will have implications on branding and more – we’ll be staying up to date!

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

Call of Duty League 2023 – Full Season Schedule Revealed!

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

As the community enjoys the open beta, Modern Warfare II looks to field another season of the Call of Duty League. Accordingly, the Call of Duty League 2023 is only a few months away. Luckily, the full season details have already been revealed – read on to learn more below!

Call of Duty League 2023 – Dates and Destiny

Credits: CDL Twitter

With an official press release from the CDL, we have confirmed dates and events for the upcoming season. Listed below, let’s take a look at the what to expect for this season:

  • December 2nd – Online Qualifiers for Major 1
  • December 15-18th – Major 1 (Raleigh, NC)
  • Second Major – Hosted by Boston Breach
  • Third Major – Hosted by OpTic Texas
  • Fourth Major – Hosted by New York Subliners
  • Fifth Major – TBD
  • Championship Weekend

Naturally, dates for the later events are still to be released.

Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter

Also, what’s interesting about the first event is that it will be a Pro-Am. Accordingly, this means that amateur teams will fight alongisde professional. In addition, a Challengers Open and the CoD Mobile Championship event will also be taking place.

Otherwise, we simply cannot wait for this exciting season to kick off, much earlier than previous years!

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

Call of Duty 2023 – Modern Warfare II Gameplay Revealed

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Announced back at CoD Champs, the reveal of Call of Duty 2023 is finally here. Accordingly, with the title kicking off on October 28th, the community is currently enjoying some early gameplay. Read on to learn more about what we know so far from the reveal!

Call of Duty 2023 – Open Beta and Warzone

Credits: Call of Dutry Twitter

Naturally, here at esportsguide we’re concerned with gameplay changes which shape up how the esport works. Lets take a look at some of the features which seem to be a part of multiplayer:

  • Swimming and Aquatic Combat – unlike previous Modern Warfare titles, gunfights can now take place in dedicated water areas on maps
  • New Movement – apart from tactical sprint and mounting, a slide has been added together with ledge hanging. Most notably, slide cancelling doesn’t seem to be in the game.
Credits: Call of Duty Twitter
  • Vehicles – although present, it’s very unlikely that they’ll be part of the esport. However, the return of classic killstreaks will likely be used for competitive play
  • Field upgrades are back from Modern Warfare and feature some new additions
  • Reduction of doors and switches

All of these changes will significantly impact the next year of the Call of Duty League. Also, Warzone 2 has also fielded a tonne of attention from the casual and competitive community.

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