Boy, what a day of Call of Duty we have had, with all four matches of Day 1 going all the way to Game 5, Search and Destroy. I feel this just goes to show just how competitive the scene is now and that literally, any of these teams can win this year’s Championship.

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LONDON ROYAL RAVENS vs. SEATTLE SURGE

We begin the day with Seattle versus London, Game 1, Hardpoint on Tuscan and Seattle’s gunner from down-under Amer “Pred” Zulbeari really showed up on map one. Seattle took the first map 250–148, but it was Pred who stole the spotlight with a staggering 2.27 K/D. The one-man Aussie arsenal amounted to 34 kills — 24 of which were traded kills — and only 15 deaths, meaning London just couldn’t kill him. He would later go on to be awarded Rookie of the Year.

Game 2, Search and Destroy (S&D) was to be played on Desert Siege and London were looking to put Pred and the West Coast boys in their place and that is exactly what they did. The map was extremely one-sided with Seattle only managing to win one round off the Ravens. Ultimately, London took the map 6–1 with Trei “Zer0” Morris topping the leaderboard with 11 kills and 4 deaths. Marcus “Afro” Reid also put on a masterclass showcasing phenomenal movement as he got a two-piece on Makenzie “Mack” Kelley and Pred.

Afro is breaking ankles for the 2 piece. pic.twitter.com/UdonePPr1v

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 4, 2022

Game 3’s game mode of Control was on Berlin, the newest map inserted into the Control game mode’s map rotation. London took this map in a clean 3–0 mostly due to Seattle’s Mack having gone over double-negative, resulting in a 0.4 K/D, with only 10 kills and 25 deaths. That’s not to take away from Afro’s performance as he finished with a 1.6 K/D to finish the map.

But worry not as Seattle bounced back in the next map, Berlin Hardpoint. In a nail-biting three-point game, the score for the duration of the map was pretty even. With Seattle only needing one mere point and London having a numbers advantage, Pred breaks into the hill, getting himself a two-piece of his own and helping his team win Game 4, 250–247 in favour of the Surge.

WHAT AN ENDING.

PRED WITH THE MASSIVE TWO PIECE pic.twitter.com/qT91NgMYJr

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 4, 2022

The first Game 5, S&D of the tournament and Seattle weren’t going to let London have their way with them like back in Game 2. With the map being Berlin, London opted for the use of a sniper which would inevitably come back to bite them as having a sniper means you slow down your team’s retakes. We saw this in the final round when even with a numbers advantage, London were unable to retake the B bombsite. The map ended 6–3 in favour of Seattle Surge, meaning they would advance to the upper bracket semifinals and the Royal Ravens would be sent down to the lower bracket.

LOS ANGELES THIEVES vs. BOSTON BREACH

The second match was between the winners of the most recent Major, LA Thieves and Boston Breach. The Thieves were favourites to win the tournament on the back of their recent Major win less than a month ago. The question was, would they be able to carry over the momentum or not?

Map 1, Tuscan Hardpoint would go in favour of Boston thanks to all members except Reece “Vivid” Drost getting over a 1.0 K/D. Weirdly enough, the highlight of the game comes from Vivid, although he was bottom of his team’s leaderboard he managed to get an insane triple-kill with a grenade which helped Breach regain momentum as they stretched their lead. The Breach came out on top winning the map 250–181.

BANG!!! VIVID FOR THREE pic.twitter.com/jvZGxj1iQT

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 4, 2022

Desert Siege S&D would be Game 2 and in contrast to the last game, Vivid would top the leaderboard for Boston. But unfortunately, that just wouldn’t be enough as both Sam “Octane” Larew and Zack “Drazah” Jordan would pop off for the Thieves. Thieves would end up winning the map 6–4 and although it wasn’t a blowout, it was a much-needed map win for LA Thieves to regain composure and bring the series count back to 1–1.

Berlin Control went all the way to Round 5, with Boston taking the victory 3–2. It becomes apparent that Vivid is the one to watch as he ended up dropping 41 kills doubling his captain’s.

They BREACH the point and secure a huge round. pic.twitter.com/bbgquGDRGv

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 4, 2022

With Boston at match point, LA had their backs against the wall, meaning they would all have to step up if they wanted to stay in the upper bracket. With that, all members dug deep and in the end, the Thieves force a Game 5 with all four players getting over a 1.0 K/D but LAT’s Octane showed exactly why he is considered by many to be one of the greatest assault rifles ever as he dropped a 1.88 K/D, totalling 32 kills and 17 deaths.

Game 5, S&D on Tuscan is extremely close and went all the way to Round 11 but Kenneth “Kenny” Williams managed to go double-positive and secure his team the victory finished with a 2.33 K/D, with 14 kills and 6 deaths. Kenny was subject to a clip in Round 9 that could have cost his team the round if it were not for Drazah clutching a 1v2. LAT would move on to the next round after closing the map 6–5.

Someone take Kennys Y button away. pic.twitter.com/cUyVaosEWc

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 4, 2022

OPTIC TEXAS vs. TORONTO ULTRA

Probably the fan-favourite match to watch for the day, OpTic versus Ultra. Game 1 was bound to be a bloodbath as it was on Bocage, a map synonymous with being so kill-intensive that the map never reaches the max score of 250. OpTic dominated this first map thanks to Seth “Scump” Abner and Brandon “Dashy” Otell both dropping over 30 kills each with a 1.37 and 1.29 K/D respectively. The map ended 205–162 in favour of OpTic.

Bocage would be played again as Game 2 but this time it was S&D. The Toronto Ultra’s Danish demon, Tobias “CleanX” Juul Jønsson played phenomenally ending with a 1.67 K/D and managed to deal 1,400 damage throughout the course of the map. But it wasn’t enough as all players from OpTic managed to get a 1.0 K/D or over. OpTic inevitably took the map 6–3, increasing the scoreline to 2–0.

With OpTic now on match point, Toronto finally switched on and decided to give the GreenWall a run for their money. Control Gavutu would be Game 3 and it came pretty close with Ultra managing to pull the win, 3–2. CleanX again showed that although he’s the only Dane to ever play professional CoD, he is indeed one of the best submachine gun players in the world. He carried his team to victory with a 1.48 K/D, totalling 34 kills and 23 deaths. For OpTic, Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro was in his element, pulling off an insane three-piece in Round 3. But it just wasn’t enough as their veteran, Scump had his worst map of this tournament only managing a mere 20 kills and 31 deaths.

SHOTZZY ARE YOU KIDDING ME pic.twitter.com/swqAchTJTc

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 5, 2022

Tuscan Hardpoint was Game 4 and on the back of the last map, Toronto were looking to carry over that momentum and carry over they did. In a close 25-point game, Ultra’s Cameron “Cammy” McKilligan began to show glimpses of his Cold War season form where he was considered by many to be one of the best in the game. Closing out the map 250–225, Cammy amounted to 36 kills and 25 deaths, that’s 1.44 K/D.

With the series tied up at 2–2, the map was Berlin S&D and the pressure began to kick in for both teams as this map went to another Round 11. Even with numbers to their advantage, the Ultra failed to convert that into the round win they needed to take the series. OpTic clutched up at that moment and won 6–5.

OpTic win a 3v4 in Game 5 Round 11 to secure the series and move on in the winners bracket. pic.twitter.com/NhSkR9y1II

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 5, 2022

ATLANTA FAZE vs. NEW YORK SUBLINERS

To close out the day was the highly anticipated matchup between Atlanta FaZe and NYSL. Map 1 was Gavutu Hardpoint which initially began one-sided in favour of New York. FaZe almost managed a comeback, but after regaining their composure, the boys over at New York managed to close out the game 250–243.

Game 2 was Tuscan S&D and having played such an intensely close game, both teams were on edge, but the Subliners were looking to extend their lead. New York’s Paul “PaulEhx” Avila and French phenom Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez took over the map with a 1.25 and 2.0 K/D respectively.

PaulEhx goes huge for NYSL to take the round. pic.twitter.com/fHb89LK34H

— Breaking Point (@GGBreakingPoint) August 5, 2022

Game 3 would also be on Tuscan but in Control we would see FaZe completely dominate NYSL. Although HyDra played extremely well, NYSL as a whole stepped off the gas with Matthew “KiSMET” Tinsley especially, going 9/23 the entire map. All of Atlanta managed to get themselves over a 1.0 K/D and converted that dominance into a clean 3–0 victory.

Another Tuscan was to be played for Game 4 and we saw Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris and McArthur “Cellium” Jovel from Atlanta FaZe pop off as they proved why many in the CDL consider them the most annoying to play. aBeZy almost dropped a 40 bomb, totalling 39 kills and 26 deaths and Cellium ended with 29 kills and 20 deaths for himself. Thanks to this dynamic duo, FaZe managed to level the series after winning the second Hardpoint 250–210.

The final map of the day was Berlin S&D, and after a long day of Call of Duty, FaZe wanted to tuck NYSL down into the lower bracket so we could all take a breath. And it was indeed a fast game, as within a blink of an eye, the map was over 6–2 meaning that FaZe had completed the reverse sweep on New York and meant that they would proceed to the next round.