Seattle Surge Destroys FaZe to Win First Ever CDL Major

As we headed into Major III, there were high expectations for several teams. At the top of the table sat Atlanta FaZe, closely followed by OpTic Texas, Minnesota Rokkr, and the New York Subliners. However, with odds of 13.00 to win, Seattle Surge was by no means a favourite heading into the Major III tournament. Despite that fact, the Seattle squad dominated the board, beating Atlanta FaZe twice to secure the $200k grand prize and 65 CDL points.

It was a huge shock, with Seattle Surge ultimately moving up from the 6th to the 3rd position in the standings overnight. There were almost no expectations for Seattle Surge to pull this off, even if the team was coming out of the Major III qualifiers with a 3 – 1 record. After failing to win a single series at the Pro-Am Classic and being knocked out of every Major so far this year, this win is a monumental booster for the squad and puts the team in a fantastic place for Major IV.

Seattle Surge Drowns Out Atlanta FaZe

In recent years, Atlanta FaZe has proven to be a constant thorn in the side of all other CDL teams. Since the CDL 2021 season, Atlanta FaZe has either made it to the final round or simply won every single Major tournament in the competition. There’s one exception, and that was in 2021’s Major V tournament when the team fell flat and walked away in 8th place. For the fans, seeing at Atlanta FaZe Major final is becoming quite stale, with the team boasting one of the most dominating power positions we’ve ever seen in Call of Duty esports.

This weekend, at Major III, Atlanta FaZe was handed a huge loss at the hands of Seattle Surge, a wholly unexpected victor. In 2021, Seattle Surge ended up in 9th place, failing to even qualify for the CDL Championship event. This year, the squad is coming up in a huge way, and this win marks its first Major tournament victory ever. In just one weekend, Seattle Surge propelled itself from 6th to 3rd place. However, the second-place finish also gave Atlanta FaZe a huge burst of CDL points, and it now sits almost 40 points ahead of OpTic Texas, the second-place squad.

As we move into the Major IV qualifiers, something drastic will need to happen for FaZe to be knocked from the top spot. While the Call of Duty Championship tournament can change everything, it seems like Atlanta FaZe – at this rate – will be lifting the trophy once again.

Ultra Fails to Clutch Up, OpTic Loses Sight

Up until the very final stages, Toronto Ultra seemed to be the team to back at Major III. Following a knock-down by FaZe in the opening fixtures, Ultra stormed the Elimination Bracket, beating Legion, Rokkr, Florida, and LA Thieves, back-to-back. Unfortunately, when the team clashed once again with FaZe in the semi-finals, a lacklustre performance produced nothing more than a 3 – 2 loss.

Sadly, OpTic Texas also failed to gain any real traction at Major III. In the opening fixture for the squad, a 3 – 2 loss at the hands of the Florida Mutineers sent OpTic crashing down into the Elimination Bracket. Although the squad was able to overwhelm both LAG and the Royal Ravens, a 3 – 1 loss popped up, courtesy of the LA Thieves, which sent OpTic spiralling out of the contest. It was a similar tale for both Minnesota Rokkr and the New York Subliners, both of which were expected to perform well at the event.

Now, as we head to Major IV, we have a much more diverse table. Before Major III, teams were bunched up in the middle table with few points between them. Now, there’s an epic gulf between the top and the bottom of the table, and it seems all the pieces are in place for Call of Duty Champs. At present, Rokkr, Mutineers, Subliners, and Paris Legion will not be seeing the Champs tournament.

Let’s see what Major IV brings.