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Atlanta FaZe secured their first win in their 2023 Call of Duty League campaign on Sunday, saluting in a best-of-five series against the defending-champion Los Angeles Thieves.
In their first game of the CDL Major 1 Qualifiers, which commenced on December 2, FaZe went down to the Boston Breach in four maps. The Thieves, on the other hand, started their campaign with a win over the Las Vegas Legion.
Both teams were meeting for the first time since the Thieves bested FaZe in the 2022 CDL Championship grand final. They claimed a 5-2 victory to clinch the $1.2 million prize money, while FaZe took home $650,000 as the runners-up.
The first map of the outing was Hotel (Hardpoint), and McArthur “Cellium” Jovel played a dominant role in helping FaZe win the map. He registered 30 kills and 14 deaths on the map, posting a 2.14 K/D with the team finishing the game with a 250–216 score line. Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris also played a big role with 29 kills while sustaining only 20 deaths.
Los Angeles Thieves took the loss on the chin and moved on, exerting their dominance on the second map. The defending champions bested FaZe on Hotel (Search & Destroy), closing out the map in the 11th round. Kenneth “Kenny” Williams was the only player on the roster with a positive rating, having secured nine kills and eight deaths.
Both teams divided the next two maps, with FaZe winning 3-2 on Al Bagra Fortress (Control) and the Thieves getting up 250-169 on Hydro (Hardpoint), respectively.
Having defeated FaZe on Search & Destroy maps numerous times in the 2022 regular season, including the grand final of the CDL Championship, the Thieves were expected to do the same in the deciding map of the series. While they had lost to the LA Thieves in the first S&D map of the series, it appears Atlanta were not willing to suffer another defeat.
FaZe took an early 5-2 lead on the map, and LA Thieves managed to reduce the gap to 5-3 but found it difficult to make their way back. Atlanta seemed too hot to handle as all of their players finished the map with a positive rating. Cellium led the team, having secured the highest kill-to-death ratio (9-4).
On December 10, FaZe will be tasked with going up against the Las Vegas Legion, who have yet to win a matchup, in their next outing. Although esports betting sites have yet to post odds for this game, Atlanta will be favorites to win the outing.
LA Thieves will take on the Florida Mutineers on the same day but at a later time. Both teams have posted a 1-1 record thus far, but the defending champions will be expected to be the better team of both franchises.
