Crimsix vs FormaL: Battle of COD Legends! CDL Major Preview

The CDL Stage 4 Major is upon us, and the Reverse Sweep crew have shared their thoughts ahead of the league’s first LAN event in well over a year on the CDL Preview show.

A move back to LAN is one that has been hugely welcomed by players and fans alike. As well as not having to deal with connection issues, a huge mental game comes into play as opponents are sat on the stage opposite each other, with the bright lights shining down on them.

Now we’re approaching the business end of the year, with Champs just around the corner, and the teams have everything on the line.

Here are the major talking points from the CDL Preview Show ahead of Major IV, from hosts Katie Bedford, Ian ‘Enable’ Wyatt and Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker.

Returning to LAN

Of course, the biggest talking point from the preview show is the return to LAN. As Pacman says, this is “competing at the highest level” and it’s something that literally everyone benefits from.

While it’s disappointing to not have fans in attendance, it’s certainly promising and shows that we might see fans back in seats before long.

All eyes on the rookies

There are several players who haven’t played on LAN as a pro yet, and as Enable points out, there will be rookies that thrive and rookies that “crumble” under the pressure, nervous in a much more intimidating setting.

Enable adds, though, that shifting to LAN puts a lot of pressure on LA Thieves’ Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat. With his vocal anti-online sentiment and prior success on LAN, he has to prove that LAT made the right choice bringing him back.

FormaL vs Crimsix

Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper and Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter had a very public spat on Twitter just days prior to the Stage 4 Major starting, and now they face off in the first round.

“A lot of the time, when you see players from two different teams going at it over social media, it’s artificial,” explains Enable. “They seem to legitimately not like each other. So both players and teams really want to win. But right now, I don’t know how anyone could possibly think that Empire would take this series off OpTic.”

There’s clearly bad blood between these former teammates, and they’ll be at each other’s throats to kick the tournament off. What could be better?

Bold predictions

Enable has a solid history with his bold predictions, and for the Stage 4 Major he says New York Subliners will be upset by Minnesota RØKKR in Round 1. Not just that, though: he thinks they’ll make a Loser’s Bracket run to place fourth, even with a sub in place of Asim.

On the other hand, Pacman predicts Dallas to beat both OpTic and Toronto Ultra in the first two rounds of the Major, but Ultra will come back to make the grand final and lose 5-4 to Atlanta FaZe.

Very bold predictions, but as we all know in the CDL, anything can happen! Be sure to watch the full video to see exactly what the Reverse Sweep crew had to say.