Owakening leads Boston Breach in major upset to kick off 2023 CDL season

The Call of Duty League returned for its fourth season today with the Boston Breach taking down the Atlanta FaZe 3-1 to open the professional Modern Warfare 2 circuit.

After a season that saw FaZe reach four grand finals without claiming a championship, the CDL’s most dominant franchise decided to make a change heading into 2023, replacing two-time world champion Arcitys with longtime veteran SlasheR. SlasheR, who won a world championship with Envy in 2016, comes to Atlanta after spending last season with the Los Angeles Guerrillas. 

Boston’s first season in the CDL was a mild success, with the team qualifying for CoD Champs. But unfortunately for the Breach, they never finished better than third at any event last season and decided to make a change, replacing TJHaLy with Owakening, who spent last season with the Florida Mutineers. 

Atlanta have consistently been the best team in the world since the core of Simp, aBeZy, and Cellium joined the organization ahead of the CDL’s inaugural season in 2020. Since then, the team has been to the grand finals of each of the league’s previous championships, claiming the 2021 CDL Championship during the Cold War season. But today, Boston took care of business in Owakening’s debut for the franchise.

The series’ first map, Embassy Hardpoint, went the way of Atlanta by a score of 250-207 and it appeared FaZe were well on their way to another dominant series victory. Each member of Atlanta went positive in the slaying category, with SlasheR and Simp leading the way at 1.44 and 1.56 K/Ds, respectively. 

Related: Results for 2023 Call of Duty League Major One qualifiers

But the new-look Boston squad had other plans heading into the Al Bagra Fortress Search and Destroy. With the map tied at two rounds apiece, Owakening found himself left in a one-vs-two retake situation. Despite the numbers advantage, Cellium and aBeZy were not ready for Owakening to be behind them, allowing Owakening to pick up the two-piece and round win, giving Boston a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the map. 

With the series tied at one map each, it was time for the teams to battle it out on Al Bagra Fortress in the game’s third mode, Control. From the opening, Boston were the more aggressive and offensive team, winning two attacking rounds and one defensive round in the clean sweep that gave the Breach a 2-1 series lead. 

Led by another massive performance from the team’s latest addition, Owakening, Boston closed the series out with an impressive 250-203 victory in the series’ fourth map, Zarqwa Hydroelectric Hardpoint. Big Wake, as he’s affectionately known throughout the CoD community, dropped a 1.42 K/D in the series’ decisive map. His K/D for the match against FaZe was a series-high 1.31, showing he may be one of the best free agent signings of this past offseason.

Atlanta will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 5pm CT when they take on the Los Angeles Thieves in a rematch of the 2022 CDL Championship grand finals. Boston returns when they match up with the Seattle Surge on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 5pm CT. All of these online qualifying matches are leading up to the first Major of the 2023 season, which will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina from Dec. 15 to 18.