CDL Chicago Day 1 recap & highlights: FaZe dominate, Huntsmen upset again

Day one of the Chicago Huntsmen Home Series wrapped up on April 24, setting the table for what should be an exciting final two days of competitive Call of Duty League action.

The Chicago Home Series kicked off with the usual four matches schedule for day one, and while no one’s been eliminated yet, teams came in knowing that anything but a fast start could see them falling short come the weekend.

Two of the tournament favorites, Dallas Empire and Atlanta FaZe, both won their matches in convincing fashion but the third, Chicago Huntsmen, were upset by New York Subliners and will now play in the losers bracket of a tournament for the first time this season.

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Group A

Atlanta FaZe 3-0 London Royal Ravens

The action kicked off with a matchup between two teams that hadn’t competed in nearly two months; their last action in the CDL was at the Los Angeles Home Series in early March before the league had restructured to an online format.

• Read More: CDL power rankings ahead of Chicago event

Despite making a roster change and bringing Seany into the starting lineup for Rated, Royal Ravens found themselves on the wrong end of the same 3-0 shellacking that FaZe have handed many teams so far this season.

A spectacular 49-kill effort from Simp in the Azhir Cave Hardpoint set the tone, and things never really looked good for the Europeans after that. The result means that Atlanta will go on to play in the Group A finals on Saturday, while London will be on the brink of elimination in the first round of the losers bracket.

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Chicago Huntsmen vs New York Subliners

The Match of the Day turned out to also be one of the upsets of the season, as New York Subliners handed the hosts a shocking loss in the final game of day one.

The series will definitely go down as one of the more nailbiting ones this season; after NY took a commanding 2-0 lead, Huntsmen won the Domination and Hardpoint to tie up the series, the latter coming thanks to a monstrous 10-kill streak from Arcitys.

However, Chicago’s reverse sweep effort came up short as Subliners sealed the deal in the Rammaza S&D on the back of some stellar plays from Temp. The result is Huntsmen’s second loss in a row, following their semifinal defeat to Florida Mutineers in the CDL Dallas semifinal.

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Group B

Seattle Surge 3-0 Los Angeles Guerrillas

Seattle Surge came into this event with only two wins under their belt this season, both coming against Los Angeles Guerrillas. They can now add a third tally after handing Guerrillas yet another 3-0 smacking, which has offered Surge a rare passage to the second round of Group B.

• Read More: CDL announces server changes and new veto system

The series was closer than the final scoreline would suggest; Seattle barely won the Rammaza Hardpoint 250-248, followed by a 6-3 win on Arklov Peak Search & Destroy and a 172-132 win on Gun Runner Domination.

While Surge will celebrate the rare first-round victory, the massive struggles continue for Guerrillas, who have not made it out of group play in any of the three knockout tournaments they’ve played so far.

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Dallas Empire 3-1 OpTic Gaming LA

Despite showing major signs of improvement back at their own Los Angeles Home Series, OpTic Gaming were not able to match the firepower of Dallas Empire, especially with Dashy and SlasheR having seemingly switched roles just days before the tournament.

Dallas got off to a fast start as Shotzzy’s 40-kill effort on Gun Runner Hardpoint gave them a 1-0 lead, and even though OGLA tied the series with a convincing 6-1 win on Arklov Peak Search & Destroy, Empire shut down the series with back-to-back wins on Hackney Yard – 155-150 in Domination and 250-208 in Hardpoint.

Look ahead to Day 2

Things will get a lot more cutthroat in the second day of action at the Chicago Home Series as four of the eight teams will be eliminated once the six matches are played out.

The Group A winners final features Atlanta FaZe against New York Subliners, while hosts Huntsmen, one of the favorites to win the whole event, will have to claw their way out of an early losers bracket matchup vs Royal Ravens.

Meanwhile, the Group B winner will be decided between Dallas Empire and Seattle Surge, with the former likely to go into the match as heavy favorites. In the losers bracket, an in-city rivalr match between Guerrillas and OpTic means that at least one of the LA teams will be out on Saturday.

Group A bracket

Group B bracket

Day two schedule

Remember, you can watch these matches live and keep up with all of the Call of Duty action via our CDL Chicago hub, which includes streams, updated scores, brackets, and more.