Dallas Empire win CDL Champs: final placements, highlights, results, MVP
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The Call of Duty League’s 4.6 million Playoffs and Championship Weekend have now wrapped up, and Dallas Empire have been named the first-ever CDL World Champions!
In a dominant, one-sided series that will be remembered for the rest of CoD esports history, Dallas Empire took down Atlanta FaZe 5-1 in the Grand Final to become champions of the CDL’s inaugural 2020 season.
Some began doubting the Empire after their season began with adversity and poor performances, but they steadily improved throughout the campaign and were one of only two teams (Florida Mutineers) to win three Home Series tournaments.
They become so good that many considered them the favorites to win Champs, despite being the second seed behind FaZe, and now this result casts aside all doubts and discussions about who the best team is in the CDL.
WE ARE THE @CODLeague WORLD CHAMPIONS ?#TakeTheThrone // #CDLChamps pic.twitter.com/xTZylu7KSN
— Dallas Empire (@DallasEmpire) August 30, 2020
You can find a full recap and highlights of the Grand Final below, as well as the final placements for this postseason tournament and each team’s share of the $4.6 million prize pool.
CDL Playoffs & Champs final placements
| Place | Team | Winnings | Regular-season record | Roster |
| 1 | Dallas Empire | $1,500,000 | 23-12 (2nd) | Crimsix, Clayster, Huke, Shotzzy, iLLeY |
| 2 | Atlanta FaZe | $900,000 | 26-7 (1st) | Simp, aBeZy, Cellium, Priestahh, Majormaniak |
| 3 | Chicago Huntsmen | $600,000 | 21-9 (4th) | Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Arcitys, Prestinni |
| 4 | London Royal Ravens | $450,000 | 12-14 (6th) | Skrapz, wuskin, Seany, Dylan, Zer0 |
| 5/6 | OpTic Gaming LA | $300,000 | 10-17 (9th) | SlasheR, TJHaLy, Kuavo, Drazah, Hollow |
| 5/6 | Toronto Ultra | $300,000 | 11-13 (7th) | Methodz, Classic, Bance, Cammy, CleanX |
| 7/8 | Florida Mutineers | $175,000 | 20-12 (3rd) | Skyz, Havok, Frosty, Fero, Owakening |
| 7/8 | New York Subliners | $175,000 | 13-17 (5th) | ZooMaa, Attach, Accuracy, Temp, Mack |
| 9/10 | Minnesota ROKKR | $100,000 | 12-16 (8th) | SiLLY, Assault, Alexx, Asim, Exceed |
| 9/10 | Paris Legion | $100,000 | 10-16 (10th) | KiSMET, Zed, Denz, Shockz, Louqa |
| 11/12 | Los Angeles Guerrillas | $0 | 5-18 (12th) | Blazt, Aqua, Decemate, Saints, Vivid |
| 11/12 | Seattle Surge | $0 | 5-18 (11th) | Octane, Slacked, Apathy, Pandur, Proto |
Grand Final recap & highlights
The grand final for this Call of Duty Championship was a bit different than in previous years. Instead of the team from the Losers Bracket being required to win two series, the league decided to make the final match best-of-nine, with a maximum of eight maps, and have the Winners Bracket team start 1-0.
This means that Dallas Empire had to win just four games while Atlanta FaZe needed to win five.
The series started on Azhir Cave, and just like in the Winners Bracket final, Empire looked a step or two ahead of FaZe almost the entire way as they took the map with a relatively comfortable scoreline of 250-173.
Two players really stood out for Dallas: Huke, who dropped a lobby-leading 37 kills, and Clayster, for putting in a whopping two minutes and 46 seconds of hill-time when no one on either team even had a minute.
HUKE THE NUKE: @Huke drops 37 kills as @DallasEmpire grab the 250-173 Hardpoint victory!@ATLFaZe trail 0-2 in the Championship Match: https://t.co/NLS3oDwv9M#TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/o6lojGeKeb
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 30, 2020
Things did not get any easier for Atlanta as the match shifted to Gun Runner Search & Destroy. Despite being winless against FaZe in this map-mode combination during the regular season, Dallas put in another masterclass postseason display, with this ridiculous bomb spot from iLLeY being one of several instances.
This bomb spot from @iLLeYYY is RIDICULOUS ?#TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps pic.twitter.com/JpnTts7rAj
— DEXERTO Call of Duty #Warzone (@DexertoIntel) August 30, 2020
Empire ended up winning the map 6-3 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series and just two more victories away from the ultimate goal.
Advantage: 3-0! @DallasEmpire roll through the Gun Runner S&D 6-3.@ATLFaZe need a response QUICK: https://t.co/NLS3oDwv9M#TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/2JoLDkb5I5
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 30, 2020
Perhaps the biggest turning point of this Grand Final came in the St. Petrograd Domination, a mode which, like the previous ones, Atlanta had dominated in their previous matchups against Dallas, going 7-1 overall.
They were all set to add another win to that statistic, leading by double digits almost the entire way through before Empire swooped in with a last-second comeback to steal the map and take a seemingly unsurmountable 4-0 lead.
Here's the frantic ending of that last Domination, which @DallasEmpire trailed almost the entire way through… #TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps pic.twitter.com/T0gkyo88di
— DEXERTO Call of Duty #Warzone (@DexertoIntel) August 30, 2020
With their backs fully against the wall, FaZe finally got on the board with a 250-211 on Gun Runner Hardpoint. It was their turn to flip the script; they came in as underdogs on this map-mode pairing after Empire had beaten them four out of five times in their previous meetings.
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aBeZy came up huge for Atlanta, as he’s done many times during the season, dropping 40 kills to ensure that his team would not be swept in the first-ever CDL Championship match.
A point on the board: @ATLFaZe grab a 250-211 Hardpoint for their first map victory in the Championship Match. @aBeZy with the 40-bomb.@DallasEmpire still one map off the W: https://t.co/NLS3oDwv9M#EZAF | #CDLChamps | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/XxppsDPn3v
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 30, 2020
Unfortunately for Atlanta, any dreams of pulling off the ultimate reverse-sweep comeback ended there, as the following S&D on Rammaza, once again, ended up going the way of Dallas.
It was a tight affair, one that saw the two teams trade blow for blow in the first few rounds before Empire pulled away to clinch the match victory and win the Call of Duty League World Championship.
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? IT'S ALL OVER!!!@DallasEmpire are your first-ever Call of Duty League World Champions!
Congrats to:
– @Clayster
– @Crimsix
– @Shotzzy
– @iLLeYYY
– @huke
– @ramboray
– @hastr0#TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps pic.twitter.com/riySyyR3PG
— DEXERTO Call of Duty #Warzone (@DexertoIntel) August 30, 2020
Championship Grand Final MVP
Just as his teammate, Shotzzy, won the CoD League’s regular-season MVP award, Empire’s Crimsix was named the Most Valuable Player of the Championship Grand Final.
Here are some of what he accomplished during the final series:
- 1.02 overall K/D (92-90)
- 1.50 S&D K/D (21-14) – best in Grand Final
- 1.65 Domination K/D (23-14) – best in Grand Final
The Call of Duty League 2020 Championship MVP presented by @ASTROGaming: @Crimsix!
He gives us an interview we won't soon forget.#TakeTheThrone | #CDLChamps | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/uGEbzHNpVR
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 30, 2020
CDL Playoffs & Championship Weekend brackets & scores
Here are the brackets for both the Playoffs and Championship Bracket portions of the postseason tournament, including the results of all matches from the two weekends.
Winners Bracket
Losers Bracket
Championship Weekend Bracket
CDL Playoffs & Championship Weekend coverage
Articles
Media
That wraps up the 2020 Call of Duty League season, so what’s next? There will be a period of Rostermania as teams make roster changes, and there could also be new franchises announced if the league plans on expanding from its original 12-team setup.
As for the next campaign, no dates and details have been announced, so make sure to follow us on Twitter @DexertoINTEL for all the latest CDL news, player signings, updates, and more.
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