The Kings from North: Toronto Ultra take down Optic Texas to win CDL Major III

Last night, the third CDL Major concluded at the Arlington Esports Stadium in Texas. Hosted by Optic Texas, CDL Major III saw Toronto Ultra make an undefeated run to lift the first-ever major trophy. With the victory, Toronto Ultra now stands second behind Atlanta Faze in the regular season leaderboard. Let's look at how Major III went down.

CDL Major III Qualifiers recap:

As dictated by the rulebook, the qualifiers for determining the seeding of the 12 league teams concluded a week before the Major III week. The qualifiers saw Seatle Surge and Boston Breach take the lead, winning four out of five matches. After making a change, Minnesota ROKKR finished the regular season without a single win. Mutineers only managed to get a single win. Optic Texas, without Scump, made a decent run, winning three matches. The qualifiers concluded with Seatle Surge taking the first seed, followed by Boston Breach, Toronto Ultra, etc.

CDL Major III recap:

Winners Round 1 Recap:

The Major week kicked off with Toronto Ultra taking on New York Subliners. Despite losing the first Hardpoint, Toronto Ultra easily won S&D, Control, and second Hardpoint to win the first match. The Seattle surge took on LA Guerrillas in the second fixture. After losing two games in a row, Surge won the fixture 3-2.

In the third and fourth fixtures, Atlanta Faze and Boston Breach took down LA Thieves and Optic Texas in a 3-0 Fashion. Atlanta Faze looked especially strong as they dominated LA thieves 6-0 and 3-0 in S&D and Control.

Elimination Round 2:

In the Elimination round 1, Las Vegas Legion eliminated LA Guerrillas. LA thieves eliminated Minnesota ROKKR. Minnesota ROKKR finishes Major III with the loss without winning a single series. Optic Texas struggles to get rid of London Royal Ravens but eventually edges them out to continue in the series. In the final elimination game, Mutineers defeat Subliners to see another day in Texas.

Elimination Round 3:

Las Vegas Legion continue their winning march after defeating LA Thieves 3-1. LA Thieves look weak at the Major and need to return stronger at the next one to make it to the Championships. In the second match-up, the hosts Optic Texas survive Mutineers and put them away to continue forward in the competition.

Winners Round 2:

In the first game of Winners Round 2, the Surge tok on Atlanta Faze. The Surge has been looking strong at the Major, but although thier attempts fall to the defending champions.

Toronto Ultra continues its S&D and Control domination to win over Boston Breach. Toronto Ultra now faces the defending champions for a shot at the Grand finals.

Elimination Round 3:

Las Vegas defeated both the LA teams and facing Boston fell flat. Boston eliminated Las Vegas Legion to reach the Elimination Round 4. Optic Texas continues its lower bracket run and defeats Surge on the way. They now face Boston Breach for the Elimination Round 5 contention.

Elimination Round 4:

Boston Breach and Optic Texas meet for the second time at the Major. This was the perfect revenge match-up for Optic Texas for their first-round loss. Optic dominated Breach in the first game and won the Control and second Hardpoint to eliminate the Breach. The hosts live to see another day.

CDL Major III Winners Final:

Toronto Ultra and Faze took on each other for the Grand Finals spot. Ultra continues to dominate A/B Control and S&D and secured two points after the Hardpoint loss. They edge out Faze in the second Hardpoint to reach the Grand finals of Major III.

CDL Major III Elimination Final:

This will be Optic Texas' final challenge before the grand finals. The defending Champions look strong and, despite falling to Ultra, displayed some great performances. The hosts dominated Faze in the first game, setting the tone for the event. Faze answered back strongly with the S&D win, but Optic Texas won back Control and paired it with the Hardpoint win to secure the Grand finals.

CDL Major III Grand finals Recap:

For the first time in the Major, Ultra won the first Hardpoint, but Optic came prepared. Optic answered back with a Control and S&D win to hand Ulta their first Control and S&D losses. It seemed Optic Texas would run away with the Major III, but Ultra held strong. Ultra won the second Hardpoint with a score of 250-170. They followed the hardpoint victory with a close 6-5 S&D victory.

Optic and Ultra were tied before the last round in the intense exchange. It was anyone's game, and no team seemed to have the upper hand. With Optic on defense, they secured the A control very early in the map. But Ultra forced Optic away from the B control and won the final point to win the CDL Major III.

Three years in Major, this was Ultra's first Major title. Thomas "Scrappy" Ernst was named the Major III MVP. The win was especially special for CleanX, who has been trying to get his hands on the trophy with Ultra since 2020.

With the victory, Toronto Ultra is twenty points away from the top spot on the regular season leaderboard.

Image Credits: Call of Duty League Twitter.

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