The Atlanta FaZe looked like their dominant self for the first time in the 2022 Call of Duty League season today, taking down the Los Angeles Thieves in a 3-1 performance. With the win, Atlanta move to 2-0 on the year.
An intense opening Hardpoint on Tuscan gave Los Angeles a 1-0 series lead after winning a wild 250-248 contest. From there, however, the defending champions proved their mettle and rattled off three straight maps to take the match, including an impressive 250-136 victory in the series’ final map, Bocage Hardpoint.
Superstar AR player Cellium had his best series of the young season, posting an incredible 1.46 K/D over the series’ four maps and dealing more than 10,000 damage. ABeZy found his form in this series: he posted an impressive 1.12 series K/D in the victory. He felt the momentum in the series shift shortly after Atlanta started strong in Tuscan Control.
“The control offensive win. We were all hype after that.” The 2021 CDL Playoffs MVP Award winner said in a post-match interview. “I feel like offense in this game is very hard to win, so whenever you pull out an offensive win, you just have so much momentum going into the rest of the map and match.”
While Atlanta are 2-0 on the year, many felt the team had not lived up to the absurdly high expectations placed on the team each year, especially as defending CDL Champs. Any concerns on their ability in Vanguard should be put to rest after this dominant performance against one of the better teams in the Call of Duty League.
“It just took time to find our footing. It kind of happened last year too, in the preseason,” aBeZy said of Atlanta’s relatively slow start this season. “I think we kind of just fell flat and our communication wasn’t on point in the preseason, so I’m glad that we started the actual season off strong and our communication’s slowly getting better and better.”
Los Angeles battled hard, but the series started to slip through their fingers after getting swept on Tuscan Control in Map Three. Drazah performed admirably, dealing more than 10,000 damage and holding a 1.05 series K/D.
Atlanta are back in action next week, when they take on the Boston Breach on Feb. 12 at 5pm CT. Los Angeles has a matchup with the Florida Mutineers at 6:30pm CT, following the Atlanta vs. Boston series.
