The roster for this new team will feature Saudi players Roxas, Exnid, KingAbody, and KHHX, who most recently competed at the Esports World Cup, finishing in the top 16.

Lewis “LewTee” Todd, the coach of the Falcons, expressed his excitement and gratitude for the opportunity, acknowledging the challenges ahead but emphasising the team’s potential and the support of an entire region behind them.

The Falcons’ entry into the CDL marks the end of the Legion’s run, which began as the Paris Legion in 2019 before relocating to Las Vegas in 2022.

THE FALCONS ARE UNLEASHED!

We’re ready to dominate the @CODLeague
— @VegasFalcons #FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/dqU9hikt3q

— Team Falcons (@TeamFalconsGG) August 21, 2024

The Legion had a lacklustre performance throughout its tenure, never quite making a significant impact in the league.

In addition to the Falcons’ entry, rumours are swirling about further shake-ups in the CDL.

Esports organisations like Fnatic and Gen.G are reportedly in talks to replace the Carolina Royal Ravens and Los Angeles Guerrillas.

Fnatic, which last competed in Call of Duty esports in 2017, and Gen.G, which had a strong presence in 2019, are both potentially returning to the scene.

Meanwhile, the future of Boston Breach is uncertain, with reports suggesting that their parent company, Oxygen Esports, may cease operations despite earlier denials.

These developments come amid broader changes within the CDL, following mass layoffs at Activision Blizzard and shifts in how the league is managed.

As the transition to the upcoming Black Ops 6 season approaches, the Call of Duty esports landscape appears to be on the cusp of significant transformations, with more roster and franchise changes expected in the coming weeks.

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This victory marks the first time OpTic has won the end-of-season playoffs in the Call of Duty League era and the organisation’s second title at CoD Champs, their first since 2017.

THE WINNING MOMENT FOR @OpTicTexas #CODChamps | @CallofDuty pic.twitter.com/iaUuDxRzj5

— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) July 21, 2024

Despite a rocky path leading to the championship, including a last-place finish at Major Four, OpTic Texas showed resilience.

Entering CoD Champs 2024 with many questions surrounding their performance, Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro and his team immediately displayed their Major Three form with a dominant sweep of Los Angeles Guerrillas in their first match.

They followed up with a reverse sweep of Los Angeles Thieves and a hard-fought 3-2 victory over New York Subliners, solidifying their spot in the grand final.

Subliners, the Major Four champions and winners of CoD Champs 2023, responded to their loss by beating Toronto Ultra, setting up a rematch with OpTic.

However, the grand final was less competitive than their earlier match, with OpTic earning a decisive 5-1 win in the best-of-nine series.

Notably, OpTic won two Search and Destroy maps in the grand final and posted a 5-2 record in the mode for the weekend, a significant turnaround from their 12-map Search ‘N’ Destroy losing streak heading into CoD Champs.

SU-PER-STAR @Shotzzy | #CODChamps pic.twitter.com/DrWqaMfAKm

— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) July 21, 2024

Shotzzy was named tournament MVP, posting a 1.27 overall K/D, the highest at the event.

Amer “Pred” Zulbeari, the first player from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region to win CoD Champs, was close behind with a 1.24 overall K/D.

Brandon “Dashy” Otell, earning his first Champs ring, joined Kenneth “Kenny” Williams and Shotzzy, who now have two Champs wins each.

OpTic Texas’ victory was celebrated by thousands of passionate fans at the Credit Union of Texas Events Center in Allen, Texas.

The storyline was rich, as it was OpTic’s first grand final appearance in over seven years and a chance for Subliners to become the first organisation in CoD history to win back-to-back championships.

Following the win, Shotzzy was awarded the tournament MVP, and the crowd chanted “superstar” repeatedly.

Kenny expressed his joy, saying, “It feels amazing to do it with another team. I love these boys. We worked for this. A lot of ups and downs, but overall, we won it, so I’m happy.”

With OpTic Texas’ victory, Kenny and Shotzzy join the elite group of players with more than one ring.

Meanwhile, Dashy and Pred celebrate their first-ever rings, and their coach Damon “Karma” Barlow adds to his impressive collection, earning his fourth ring overall—three as a player and one as a coach.

OpTic Texas’ incredible resilience proved their doubters wrong and set the stage for an exciting offseason ahead of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, as other organisations strategize to dethrone the Green Wall in 2025.

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Seattle Surge and Las Vegas Legion last met in the second week of Call of Duty League 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, when Las Vegas won on map five. It was a chaotic game, with the teams going back and forth until the Legion closed out the series with 6-4 on Search & Destroy – 6 Star.

Across their final games of the qualifiers last week, both squads looked shaky, struggling to find traction before heading to Burbank. And considering neither is particularly efficient on LAN, we can expect another closely contested game.

A bet on over 4.5 maps isn’t a terrible choice, but we prefer Las Vegas Legion at outsider odds.

Toronto Ultra are the second favourites to win CDL 2024 Major 4 with Call of Duty betting sites, and that’s not surprising considering how dominant they were in the qualifiers. They lost their first game against Seattle Surge but then collected six victories, including a 3-2 win against Atlanta FaZe and a 3-0 sweep of OpTic Texas.

Los Angeles Guerrillas barely finished the qualifiers inside the top eight, scraping in with a 3-4 record thanks to the complete collapse of Las Vegas Legion in the third week. This was also the Guerrillas’ tied-best placement in an online stage this season, which says a lot about where they stand.

There’s not a single reason to believe Toronto Ultra can lose this game. They’re consistent, efficient in beating lesser teams, and have already beaten Los Angeles Guerrillas three times since January.

New York Subliners ended CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers with a disappointing 4-3 record, which includes a 2-3 loss to Atlanta FaZe in the opening week. On paper, the Subliners held on well in that match, but it’s important to note that FaZe didn’t perform like themselves on that day.

Since then, the Subliners have looked somewhat shaky, especially towards the end of the qualifiers, with a close five-game victory against Minnesota R?KKR and a loss against Los Angeles Thieves.

Atlanta FaZe had a slow start to CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, but they quickly found their rhythm and showed much cleaner performances in the final four games of the stage. Their Control still needs a lot more work, and it could be a weak spot New York will take advantage of.

So, while we can give the Subliners a map, anything more seems unlikely.

In what should be the closest game of the day, Los Angeles Thieves meet Miami Heretics for the fourth time this season. Two of those clashes ended in favour of Miami, but the Thieves won the only LAN match between the two.

Both sides won four games during CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers and performed similarly well. But the Heretics had a tougher schedule, and their only three defeats came against OpTic Texas, Toronto Ultra, and Atlanta FaZe.

This should be a competitive series, and even though Los Angeles Thieves deserve some recognition for their solid showing at the last LAN, Miami Heretics shouldn’t be priced as underdogs.

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Seattle Surge suffered their second loss of Call of Duty League 2024 Major 4 last Sunday against Las Vegas Legion. In contrast, the Miami Heretics picked up their third victory of the stage against the Carolina Royal Ravens in a fairly one-sided series.

Both teams are 3-2 heading into this match, and they’ve both had their moments over the last three weeks. The Seattle Surge have shown higher highs, whereas Miami Heretics have seemed more stable with dominant wins against weaker teams and tough losses against superior squads.

The last two meetings between Seattle Surge and Miami Heretics extended to five maps, and considering their form, there’s a good chance we’ll see another close affair.

Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra are guaranteed a top-eight finish this online stage, but there’s still pride on the line as the two CDL title contenders clash for the sixth time this season.

Of the five meetings, Toronto Ultra have won all but one — during CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers — which includes a close 3-2 victory in the winners’ finals at the previous Call of Duty League Major. So not only have Toronto Ultra beaten FaZe online, but they’ve also proven to be the better team on LAN.

Even though Toronto Ultra have not accomplished as much as FaZe this season, they’re one of the few teams that can cause Atlanta FaZe problems. Admittedly, FaZe have looked much more potent over the last three weeks of CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, but this doesn’t justify them being priced as such big favourites. Value is with Toronto Ultra.

Las Vegas Legion have been very up and down so far in this online stage. They lost against Toronto Ultra in the first week, then picked up three wins against New York Subliners, OpTic Texas, and Seattle Surge, but lost their most recent outing against Los Angeles Guerrillas.

This confirms what was already known: the Legion are highly volatile, although capable of causing upsets.

The Los Angeles Thieves have not been as inconsistent with their showings. They have beaten teams they were expected to but also crumbled against Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra last week — although the Thieves showed some resistance, namely on Hardpoint and Control maps.

Las Vegas Legion have shown high highs this online stage, but they’re not to be trusted when expected to do well. They’re also 0-2 down in the head-to-head with Los Angeles Thieves, which makes backing Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe and co. an easy choice.

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Boston Breach are by far the worst-performing team in the Call of Duty League (CDL). They’re on a streak of 10 consecutive losses and have not won a match since March. Over that stretch, Boston Breach have managed to force their opponents to five maps in seven series but that doesn’t mean they were ever close to winning a game.

Seattle Surge are doing quite well and on a opposite trajectory to the Breach. Surge have won four of their last five series, which includes two against Toronto Ultra and Minnesota R?KKR in the first week of the qualifiers.
There’s not much to analyse here. Even though Seattle Surge are not one of the top title contenders, they’re significantly stronger than Boston Breach, who don’t seem capable of beating anyone.

New York Subliners had a weird run through the first week of CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers. They barely made it past Carolina Royal Ravens and then had a shaky showing against Atlanta FaZe on Sunday.

Las Vegas Legion ended last week with a 0-3 loss to Toronto Ultra and a surprise 3-2 victory against OpTic Texas. The Legion are now 2-2 with their newest addition, Giancarlos “oJohnny” Carrasco, and have shown some improvement – but still have a long way to go.

New York Subliners are the better team with a much higher ceiling than the Legion. But they’ve not looked as polished and unless they step up, we could be in for a competitive game on Saturday.

Los Angeles Thieves had to grind out a game-five victory against Los Angeles Guerrillas in their opening CDL 2024 Major 4 Week 1 match. But then found more success against Boston Breach, who they swept aside without any issues.

Carolina Royal Ravens lost both of their matches last week against Los Angeles Guerrillas and New York Subliners, which isn’t too inspiring. They looked terrible against the Guerrillas and didn’t show much more against the New York Subliners – putting them in a questionable spot ahead of a very tough schedule.

Los Angeles Thieves already beat Carolina Royal Ravens twice this season, both times on map five. This time, it should be no different, but considering how shaky the Royal Ravens looked last week, the Los Angeles Thieves should be able to win with a bit more to spare.

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Los Angeles Thieves finished the Call of Duty League 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers in fourth place and looked set to make a splash on LAN. But the Thieves failed to make it far in Toronto, suffering an early second-round exit against Miami Heretics.

Losing to Heretics isn’t that worrying, but the Thieves also had an iffy showing against Boston Breach in round one, suggesting they might not be as good as they seemed a few weeks back.

Los Angeles Guerrillas are not as much of an enigma. While you could rank them above Boston Breach, anything more is too optimistic. Still, the Guerrillas are much more efficient online and are 3-1 up in the head-to-head against the Thieves, who haven’t shown enough recently to earn the tag of $1.30 favourites.

Toronto Ultra are the clear third-best team in the league, behind Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Texas. They had some distinct issues over the first three stages of the season, namely with Search & Destroy, but even that doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

In CDL 2024 Major 3, Toronto Ultra managed to grind out some great wins on Search & Destroy and showed great consistency on respawns, earning them a silver medal and a ticket to the CDL Championship.

Las Vegas Legion exited CDL 2024 Major 3 in the first round, which marked their worst LAN result of the season, but that was expected after what they showed in the qualifying stage.

Legion took a map in two of their three meetings with Ultra this season, but they’re now in worse form, whereas Toronto Ultra are improving. A 3-0 sweep seems likely.

Miami Heretics placed fifth-sixth at CDL Major 3, which is a massive improvement on their consecutive 9th-12th finishes in the first two LAN events. That result didn’t come easy, but Miami Heretics earned it with solid performances against the Las Vegas Legion and Los Angeles Thieves.

Their only loss of CDL 2024 Major 3 came against OpTic Texas, who beat them 3-1 in the third round of the lower bracket. That doesn’t sound too inspiring ahead of this fixture, but we can’t ignore Miami Heretics’ recent improvement.

By winning CDL 2024 Major 3, OpTic Texas earned the tag as the strongest CoD team in the league. They’re still 20 points short of catching up to FaZe in the season standings, yet their improvement since the second stage is noticeable.

It’s very difficult to doubt OpTic Texas and their chances to defeat Miami Heretics. Still, there’s a very good chance they drop a map — as OpTic typically do online.

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Toronto Ultra picked up their fourth victory of the qualifiers on Sunday when they swept Minnesota R?KKR. With a 4-1 record, Toronto Ultra are guaranteed a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs, but they still have a lot of work to do to compete for the trophy.

Search & Destroy isn’t Ultra’s strong suit, as seen in their last two series. But their respawns have been pretty solid, so it’s hard to find any significant reasons to doubt Ultra when faced with a weaker opponent.

Boston Breach are 0-5, and that’s a fair representation of where they stand. They forced OpTic Texas to five maps at the start of CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers Week 4. Still, that minor accomplishment means very little after seeing Breach struggle against LA Thieves, LA Guerrillas, Minnesota R?KKR, and even Miami Heretics.

Had Boston Breach shown a bit more, they would be a solid bet to take a map from Toronto Ultra, but their form is concerning and individually, they can’t compare to the favourites.

Los Angeles Thieves won against Boston Breach on Sunday with a fairly convincing display. They dropped Control, and the Highrise – Search & Destroy score (6-5) doesn’t paint the whole picture. Overall, the Thieves performed well, but also highlighted their main weakness.

Los Angeles Thieves are 1-4 on Control this split, and they have consistently underperformed in game five. These are two big reasons Los Angeles Thieves can’t compete for the title.

Seattle Surge will look to capitalise on that, but there are some questions about this team following an abysmal performance against Miami Heretics. Team work-wise, Seattle Surge have looked great throughout this entire split, but their recent performance leaves a lot to be desired.

Los Angeles Thieves should be considered as better team of the two, but they’ve looked flawed enough to believe they can slip against Seattle Surge. Even though Surge didn’t amaze with what they showed against Miami Heretics, they’re still a capable team and a solid outsider pick.

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Despite placing third in CDL Major 2, New York Subliners haven’t looked great in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers due to some teamwork issues. They won against Minnesota R?KKR in the first round but then lost to Carolina Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge, and Atlanta FaZe.

Las Vegas Legion’s only highlight of the split was a five-map series against Los Angeles Thieves, but even that should’ve ended in a 3-0 sweep for the Thieves. Since then, the Legion have lost to OpTic Texas and Seattle Surge, both 0-3.

It’s hard to trust New York Subliners in the state they’re in. But it’s even more difficult to believe in the Las Vegas Legion and their ability to win the series.

Atlanta FaZe are in cruise control heading into the fourth week of CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers. After claiming the second Major of the season, they are already guaranteed a top-eight finish having won all four games of the split.

Last week, Atlanta FaZe crushed the struggling New York Subliners in four maps. That followed wins over two other two contenders, Toronto Ultra and OpTic Texas, in the opening two weeks. FaZe still have some work to do, namely on Highrise – Control, but that may be their only weakness.

Carolina Royal Ravens showed some improvement early in the qualifiers but then crumbled in Week 3 with defeats against Los Angeles Thieves and Toronto Ultra. While results like that don’t make the Royal Ravens one of the bottom CDL teams, they prove that James “Clayster” Eubanks and his crew aren’t ready for FaZe.

Los Angeles Guerrillas are priced as huge underdogs for their series against OpTic Texas, and this is not an overreaction. OpTic are clearly one of the top two teams in the CDL, whereas the Guerrillas are tipped to end this stage outside the top eight.

Los Angeles Guerrillas have won two series over the three weeks, but they’ve only beaten two struggling teams in Boston Breach and Minnesota R?KKR. OpTic Texas, on the other side, have lost only to Atlanta FaZe.

As the CoD esports betting odds suggest, this should be a one-horse race.

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With 12 losses in their last 15 games, Miami Heretics are in a very tough position. They’ve not done well since the first stage of the 2024 Call of Duty League season and have not shown any noticeable improvement over the last couple of weeks.

New York Subliners are 1-3 and on a three-game losing streak after losses to Carolina Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge, and Atlanta FaZe. The sudden collapse of the Subliners following a strong showing in CDL 2024 Major 2 comes as a shock, but knowing how stacked this team is, it’s only a matter of time before NY find some traction.

Considering the poor form the Subliners are in, it’s difficult to justify betting on them as huge favourites. But unlike Miami Heretics, New York have a high upside, and facing a much weaker opponent just might be what they need to get back on track.

Boston Breach have made no progress in the CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers. They enter this match with three defeats against Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR, and Los Angeles Guerrillas — three of the stage’s worst-performing teams.

OpTic Texas are 3-1 and in good form. Their only defeat of the stage happened in Week 1 against Atlanta FaZe, but they’ve since made easy work of Seattle Surge, Las Vegas Legion, and the Heretics.

OpTic Texas are one of the strongest CoD esports teams in the league, whereas the Breach might be the weakest squad of the stage. By all metrics, OpTic are the better team, and they should run over Boston without any issues.

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Los Angeles Guerrillas are on a four-game losing streak. They won their final game of the end of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers and two series on LAN, but if we zoom out, the Guerrillas are 3-11 since the end of Major 1.

Despite occasional promising showings, the Los Angeles Guerrillas are not performing well, which explains why they’re priced as underdogs for this match. However, it’s not like Boston Breach have looked much better recently.

The Breach have played just two series so far and lost both against Miami Heretics and Minnesota R?KKR. They forced map five in both games, but the main issue with Boston and the main reason for their defeats is a lack of discipline and a tendency to throw away maps.

Even though Los Angeles Guerrillas are far from good, there is no reason to have them priced as $3.22 outsiders against Boston Breach. This is a 50-50 match at best, making it hard to pass on the underdogs.

Toronto Ultra are 2-1, with wins against Los Angeles Guerrillas and Miami Heretics and a 0-3 defeat against Atlanta FaZe. This isn’t too bad, but Toronto Ultra aren’t playing as well as they did in the previous splits.

Their Control is solid, but Toronto Ultra look very weak on Search & Destroy and Hardpoint. Teams go through rough patches on game modes, so Ultra’s slump doesn’t mean they’re out of the elite four teams in CDL. But they have a lot of work to do to regain the respect they earned in Major 1.

Toronto Ultra are at their lowest point of the 2024 CDL esports season and they’re set to play Carolina Royal Ravens, who have shown immense improvement. The underdogs can easily take the Search & Destroy map, and if we see Rio – Hardpoint, things can quickly get out of hand for Ultra.

Los Angeles Thieves navigated through a tough schedule in the previous split well, but their strong run came to a stop in the second round of the Major when LA Thieves lost to Los Angeles Guerrillas. That small slip-up on LAN doesn’t mean much as Thieves have been performing well online.

So far in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers, Los Angeles Thieves have won two five-map series against Las Vegas Legion and Miami Heretics. This might not seem too good, but the Thieves played better than what the final scores suggest, and have been slowly improving over the last couple of months.

Minnesota R?KKR are 1-2 in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers, with defeats against Atlanta FaZe and New York Subliners and one victory against the shaky Boston Breach. Those results don’t prove much, but there are a few things we can take from the three series.

Minnesota R?KKR’s Search & Destroy is decent, Control is lacking, and Hardpoint is not too bad. The eye test proves that Minnesota R?KKR have some potential, and they already accomplished plenty in the second split. But we have to see more from Minnesota R?KKR before trusting them to defeat the surging Los Angeles Thieves.

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