The Toronto Ultra have been crowned the champions of the first Call of Duty League LAN event of the 2024 season today—and they did so with a flawless record in two game modes.
Toronto earned the 2024 CDL Major One trophy in Boston by defeating the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Atlanta FaZe twice on Jan. 28. The Ultra posted a jaw-dropping 13-2 map count at the CoD tournament, only losing two Control maps while going undefeated in both Hardpoint and Search and Destroy throughout Major One.
Heading into the 2024 Call of Duty League season, Toronto was coming off a lopsided 5-0 loss to the New York Subliners in the grand finals of CoD Champs 2023, leading to the offseason acquisition of 2022 world champion Envoy. The Ultra went 6-1 in the CDL Major One online qualifiers, most notably entering this weekend’s tournament after a dominant 3-0 sweep of New York on Jan. 19. That, more than anything else, clearly should’ve been an indication of this team’s true potential by the time Major One rolled around.
Toronto made quick work of both the Seattle Surge and Minnesota RØKKR in Boston to set up a winners bracket showdown with Atlanta, who had gone 7-0 in the Major One qualifiers. Although FaZe handed Toronto their first map loss of the tournament, the Ultra walked away with the 3-1 series victory—including an impressive 6-1 win in the Search and Destroy.
Atlanta then took down OpTic Texas for a second time at Major One to get their shot at revenge against Toronto in the grand finals, but the rematch essentially followed the same script as their first showdown. Both Hardpoints were incredibly close—less than 15-point wins—but the Search and Destroy victories stood out with Toronto taking both 6-2 despite FaZe’s SnD strengths.
The only map Atlanta won against Toronto in the grand finals was Invasion Control, giving the Ultra a 6-0 record in Hardpoint and a 5-0 record in Search and Destroy at CDL Major One (2-2 in Control). Toronto—CleanX, Insight, Scrap, and Envoy—head home from the first event of the season with 100 CDL Points and $150,000. And Scrap, the 2023 CDL Rookie of the Year, made it clear Toronto are moving on from their loss in the grand finals of CoD Champs last year.
“Past is the past, fuck that Champs shit,” Scrap said in his post-match interview. “We back, we back on top. We’re coming all fucking year bro, all year.”
Scrap and Toronto will definitely have a target on their backs when the online qualifiers for Major Two of the 2024 CDL season kick off on Friday, Feb. 16.
Published: Jan 28, 2024 07:43 pm