Atlanta FaZe emerge victorious over L.A. Thieves in CDL Championship rematch that went to the wire

The Atlanta FaZe clinched their first victory in the 2023 Call of Duty League season, taking down defending CDL champions Los Angeles Thieves in a thrilling five-game series.

It was the two team’s first matchup since the 2022 CDL Championship where Los Angeles claimed the season’s biggest prize with a 5-2 victory over Atlanta. While this showdown was not for the season championship, it was extremely impressive to see FaZe bounce back after a loss at the hands of the Boston Breach in their season opener. 

The match opened with Hotel Hardpoint where Cellium, last season’s MVP, was dominant on the map. He posted a 30-14 statline, good for a 2.14 K/D, in Atlanta’s 250-216 victory to take a 1-0 lead. aBeZy also had a massive performance on this map with 29 kills to only 20 deaths.

While Atlanta struck first, there was no quit from the defending champions, who fought back at every moment to get back into the series.

Los Angeles took the next map, Hotel Search and Destroy, in a comeback effort where the team actually went negative in slaying during the map. Despite the discrepancy in the slaying column, Thieves pulled out the victory in Round 11. Kenny was the only player for L.A. to go positive on the map with a 9-8 stat line.

The two juggernauts traded the series’ next two maps, Al Bagra Fortress Control and Hydro Hardpoint by scores of 3-2 and 250-169, respectively. Los Angeles ended their 2022 season knocking off Atlanta multiple times, including in the Grand Finals of the CDL Championship, and their Search and Destroy was a big reason why.

After dropping the series’ first SnD, Atlanta were poised to clinch the map and series if they could put together a consistent performance. They did just that. 

FaZe reached out to a fast 5-2 lead early on in the map. Los Angeles did manage to take a round to cut it to a 5-3 deficit, but Atlanta proved to be too much in the end. Simp, Cellium, and SlasheR all went positive for FaZe, with Cellium leading the way with a 9-4 performance in the slaying category. 

Atlanta will be back in action next week when they take on the Las Vegas Legion next week on Dec. 10 at 2pm CT. Los Angeles will return with a match against the Florida Mutineers on Dec. 10 at 6.30pm CT.