OpTic Chicago’s start to the 2021 Call of Duty League season was almost disastrous but here’s how Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez managed to keep Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell in the starting lineup for their opening matchups.
The new CDL season is all set to kick off on Thursday, February 11 with the Atlanta FaZe Home Series. While teams are all competing online for another year, a majority of the league’s player base has relocated to the United States for the best chance at success.
All of OpTic moved to Texas at the start of 2021 in order to compete out of the HECZQUARTERS. All four starting members made the transition and were ready to get the action underway with their opening series on February 12 against Paris Legion.
However, a major spanner was thrown into the works as Dashy almost missed this first showdown. As a Canadian temporarily in the US, Dashy’s ‘P1’ Visa was only just approved days prior. To properly activate it, he needed to exit the country and make it back in time. Here’s how he got it done thanks to H3CZ.
Due to the ongoing global crisis, leaving the country and reentering in a short timeframe isn’t as simple as it once was. “[Dashy] couldn’t go back to Canada because Canada has a 14 day quarantine period,” H3CZ explained.
Even if Dashy left the moment he got approval, it would have overlapped with the first week of CDL action. To avoid this disaster, the two got on flights to Mexico as soon as they could.
It was an “insane timeline” but flying in and out of Mexico – a total of “eight hours travel” – was enough to activate the Visa and keep Dashy in the US for the season ahead. The Visa even lasts “five years,” Dashy added, meaning he won’t have to go through that process again anytime soon.
Without that option to rapidly get in and out on the same day, OpTic’s first week could have looked completely different.
The relevant section begins at the 16:45 mark below.
Following their first matchup against Paris, OpTic squares off against Atlanta FaZe on Sunday, February 14. Not having Dashy in the lineup, or having Dashy play on high ping, would have been a major disadvantage to kick the year off.
All four members of the starting lineup will now be competing out of the HECZQUARTERS without issue. Thanks to this hectic day of travel, an early crisis has been avoided. For a full rundown on the first week of action, be sure to check our complete hub for the Atlanta FaZe Home Series.
The Call of Duty League has combined Weeks 2 and 3 of Stage 1 into one massive Super Week of matches, and everything you need to watch and follow the event live can be found below.
OpTic 100-point club Ultra in confident victory.
TJHaLy puts up rare numbers as LA Thieves improve to perfect 3-0.
Empire clutch up in five-map thriller to avoid upset vs Royal Ravens.
Day 4 preview: ROKKR vs NYSL, OpTic vs LAG, FaZe vs Mutineers
Due to the inclement weather in Texas and other parts of the United States causing power outages for a lot of pro players, the CDL opted to combine the Week 2 and 3 matches into Super Week.
Seven straight days of matches will see all 12 teams in action at least three times, and with the Stage 1 Major looming around the corner, this will be the final opportunity for teams to improve their seeding for the $500,000 tournament.
CDL Super Week: Stream
The CDL streams all of its matches exclusively on YouTube, which is where you can also find replays of matches that have already been completed.
Empire & LA Thieves escape upsets, OpTic back to winning ways
Having already suffered an upset loss at Opening Weekend, Dallas Empire barely avoided back-to-back such defeats in their match vs London Royal Ravens. Despite getting completely dominated by the Subliners the day before, London pushed the defending champs to a fifth map before ultimately coming up just short of their first win of the season.
LA Thieves found themselves in a similar situation against the Seattle Subliners, who, just like London, were swept the day before. A back-and-forth affair saw the match pushed to a game five, but that was the most resistance that Surge could offer as LAT dominated the final S&D 6-0, thanks to some historic numbers put up by TJHaLy.
The third and final match of the day saw OpTic Chicago back in action for the first time since their Opening Weekend loss to FaZe. Faced with a stiff test in Toronto Ultra, the Green Wall started off with one of the most dominant Hardpoint wins in CDL history, putting Ultra in the dreaded ‘100-point club.’
The series settled down and got a bit closer after that but OpTic ultimately edged out the victory in four maps, improving to 2-1 on the season while Toronto dropped to 1-2.
Mutineers get first win of 2021, FaZe stay unbeaten
After losing their season-opener at CDL Opening Weekend, Florida Mutineers’ new-look lineup got their first win of 2021 with a 3-1 victory over LA Guerrillas, who now sit at 1-2. LAG won the first map in dominant fashion before the Mutineers ripped off three straight maps to secure the series.
The second match of the day was a battle of the unbeatens as Atlanta FaZe took on Toronto Ultra. The series started back-and-forth, and if it wasn’t for a clutch break at the end of the Raid Hardpoint, Atlanta may have found themselves down 0-2 early.
But things settled down after the second map as FaZe took games three and four quite comfortably to secure the 3-1 victory. The win now gives the boys in red a league-leading three wins, against just zero losses, while Ultra drop to 1-1.
Legion & Subliners sweep their way to first wins, ROKKR stay hot vs Surge
After going 0-2 in the Opening Weekend, Paris Legion finally got their first win of 2021 at Super Week, and what a win it was. Despite being underdogs to the Mutineers, Legion pulled off a shocking sweep that featured a rare Hardpoint ending on time.
Following Paris’ script, the New York Subliners also notched their first one in the win column after sweeping London Royal Ravens in perhaps the most dominant performance we’ve seen so far in 2021.
None of the three maps were close, especially the Control, which saw NYSL shred their opponents from start to finish and not give them even a chance at making any sort of comeback. With the loss, Royal Ravens now sit at 0-2 early on in the season.
Rounding off a trio of Day 2 sweeps was Minnesota ROKKR grabbing their second win in a row after taking apart Seattle Surge 3-0. The series was closer than the final scoreline would suggest as Surge did make solid comebacks in both the S&D and Control, only to fall just short in both.
The win is ROKKR’s second in a row after their upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend. Meanwhile, Seattle falls to 1-2, suffering already their second sweep this season.
Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)
CDL Super Week: Teams & Rosters
ROKKRCDL roster spotlight: Minnesota ROKKR’s new-look lineup delivered an upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend.
All 12 teams are participating in the Week 2 event, split into the two groups that were drawn at the start of Stage 1. All teams within the same group play each other once during the Stage, for a total of five matches.
Group A
Team
Roster
Dallas Empire
Crimsix, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY
London Royal Ravens
Alexx, Dylan, Seany, Zer0
Los Angeles Thieves
Kenny, SlasheR, TJHaLy, Temp
Minnesota ROKKR
Accuracy, Attach, Priestahh, MajorManiak
New York Subliners
Clayster, Asim, Diamondcon, Mack
Seattle Surge
Octane, Gunless, Prestinni, Loony
Group B
Team
Roster
Atlanta FaZe
Simp, Cellium, aBeZy, Arcitys
Florida Mutineers
Skyz, Owakening, Slacked, Neptune
Los Angeles Guerrillas
SiLLY, Assault, Apathy, Vivid
OpTic Chicago
Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Dashy
Paris Legion
AquA, Classic, Fire, Skrapz
Toronto Ultra
Methodz, Bance, Cammy, CleanX
Make sure to check out our CDL 2021 Season hub for the latest standings, full schedule of all events, a breakdown of the season format, and more.
