FaZe & OpTic start Stage 2 strong – CDL Toronto Home Series scores, highlights, recap

The Call of Duty League’s Toronto Home Series has come to an end; catch up on all of that action from Week 1 of Stage 2 with all the results, plenty of highlights, and full recaps of each day.

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• FaZe and OpTic emerge as early group leaders in Stage 2.
• Royal Ravens finally get their first win with stunning sweep of Guerrillas.
• Struggles continue for Ultra after going winless at their own Home Series.

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The first week of Stage 2 is now in the books with the conclusion of the Toronto Home Series, and it’s Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Chicago who currently sit atop Group A and B respectively.

A chaotic four days of matches had plenty of excitement, including Empire and Surge playing a series of the ages, Royal Ravens getting their first win of the season, Subliners reverse-sweeping Thieves, and much more.

CDL Toronto Home Series: Results, highlights, recaps

Day 1 – Thursday, March 18

Match 1: FaZe stay perfect with win over Subliners

A 3-1 win over Subliners ensured that FaZe would remain the only team in the league without a loss, extending their winning streak to a whopping nine matches to start the season. Atlanta looked like their usual-dominant selves despite facing several wild cards in this series, including two brand new maps and a new weapon meta after the XM4 was GA’ed.

Game 2: Surge bounce back with strong victory over Mutineers

One of the bottom dwellers of the league after their first-round exit at the Stage 1 Major, Surge put together quite a nice performance against the Mutineers, including a dominant win on the new Apocalypse Hardpoint map. Octane and Gunless starred for Seattle, who got just their second win of the 2021 campaign.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1372668696016093184

Day 2 – Friday, March 19

Match 1: Thieves spoil Insight’s incredible Ultra debut

LA Thieves bounced back from a disappointing Stage 1 Major with a key win over Ultra that went all the way to a game five, round 11. They had to overcome a record-breaking debut from Toronto’s new rookie Insight, whose incredible performance set the CDL record for most kills in S&D (18) while tying the mark for longest kill-streak (11).

Match 2: Legion make statement vs ROKKR

A battle of two teams who exited early at the Stage 1 Major, it was Paris Legion who came better prepared, pulling off a sweep that not many would have expected. The victory included a massive comeback on Miami S&D, in which Legion trailed 5-2 before reeling off four straight rounds, against the league’s second-best Search team to boot.

Day 3 – Saturday, March 20

Match 1: OpTic take care of business vs Legion

OpTic opened their Stage 2 campaign with a win 3-1 over Legion, improving their overall season record to 7-3. The victory was anything but routine, however, as Chicago had to pull off some clutch plays to finish off maps, such as a well-coordinated hold at the end of Apocalypse HP and this stunning comeback in the first round of Raid Control.

Match 2: Mutineers add to ROKKR’s recent struggles

A day after getting surprisingly swept by Legion, ROKKR found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 result again, this time against Mutineers. 2020 MVP finalist Skyz led the way for Florida with a superb 1.40 series K/D, helping his team bounce back after a tough loss to Surge earlier in the week.

Match 3: Empire survive Surge in series for the ages

Empire and Surge produced what was arguably the greatest series so far in 2021, going all the way to a game five and both S&Ds extending to a round 11. The fifth map was an instant classic, as Dallas escaped with a win by mere seconds after Seattle was unable to defuse the bomb in time.

Day 4 – Sunday, March 21

Match 1: Royal Ravens get first win in PaulEhx’s debut

A successful rookie debut for PaulEhx saw Royal Ravens finally get their first win of the 2021 season with a surprising sweep of Guerrillas. The series was pretty one-sided over the first two maps before London’s tight win in the Control secured the 3-0 victory.

Match 2: FaZe stay perfect with dominant sweep of Ultra

It’s now 10 wins with no losses for the ever-dominant Atlanta FaZe after they dismantled the Home Series hosts in 3-0 fashion. The victory was routine yet ruthless, as Toronto didn’t look like they ever had a chance of pulling off the upset.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1373750144357834752

Match 3: Clayster leads Subliners to reverse sweep of Thieves

It looked as though LA Thieves would coast to a 2-0 record in Group A before a stunning comeback from New York Subliners saw them end up on the wrong end of a reverse sweep. Clayster’s phenomenal performance had a lot to do with the final result, as the veteran led the lobby in kills, K/D, and, of course, one fall off of the map.

CDL Toronto Home Series essentials

• CDL Stage 2 Preview with Reverse Sweep’s Enable & Pacman
• CDL 2021 Power Rankings heading into Toronto Home Series
• Reverse Sweep panel recaps & analyzes Stage 1 Major
• Top 10 Moments from CDL Stage 1 Major
• CDL Stage 1 Major MVP & Team of the Week
• CDL players test out Apocalypse as teams call for Stage 2 map changes

CDL Toronto Home Series: Format & info

• Location: Online
• Prize Pool: N/A
• CDL Points: 10 per win
• Maps & Modes:
  • Hardpoint: Apocalypse*, Checkmate, Garrison, Moscow, Raid
  • Search & Destroy: Checkmate, Express*, Miami, Moscow, Raid
  • Control: Checkmate, Garrison, Raid
• Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)

*Apocalypse HP & Express S&D were added to the Stage 2 rotation in place of Crossroads & Garrison.

CDL Toronto Home Series: Teams & rosters

All 12 teams participated in this event, split into the two groups that were drawn at the start of Stage 2. There were some roster shuffles to keep an eye on for this week, including Methodz getting benched for Insight on the Toronto Ultra starting lineup, and Royal Ravens parting ways with Parasite in favor of Challengers star PaulEhx.

Group A

Group B

Make sure to check out our CDL 2021 Season hub for the latest standings, a full schedule of all events, a breakdown of the season format and more.