by The second Call of Duty League (CDL) Major of the 2025 season is just around the corner, as the world’s best CoD esports teams get ready to head to Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Dallas, Texas, to fight for glory.
Set to kick off on Thursday, March 20, the CDL 2025 Stage 2 Major is expected to be dominated by the league’s top dogs — Los Angeles Thieves and Atlanta FaZe — with the two squads proving they are in a class of their own throughout the online stage.
Major II Bracket is SET
pic.twitter.com/aJcGTsIlgm
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 16, 2025
The top esports betting sites have LA Thieves priced as -125 favourites to hoist the trophy, ahead of Atlanta FaZe (+125) and Vancouver Surge (+750) — the only other teams at single digits.
The outright betting markets suggest that there are only two serious candidates to win the second Major of the season, but can we expect any surprises?
CDL 2025 Stage 2 Major betting odds
The CDL 2025 Major 2 outright betting odds paint a clear picture of how the tournament should go, with two firm favourites, a few outsiders, and the rest.
- Los Angeles Thieves – -125
- Atlanta FaZe – +125
- Vancouver Surge – +750
- Toronto Ultra – +1400
- Carolina Royal Ravens – +2500
- OpTic Texas – +2500
- Cloud9 New York – +4000
- Minnesota RØKKR – +6600
- Boston Breach – +8000
- Miami Heretics – +25000
- Los Angeles Guerrillas M8 – +50000
- Vegas Falcons – +100000
Top of the class – LA Thieves & Atlanta FaZe
Los Angeles Thieves were the only squad to end CDL 2025 Stage 2 Major Qualifiers with a perfect 7-0 record, while they put together an equally impressive 21-2 map record. By convincingly securing the top seed for Major 2, LA Thieves have made a strong case for themselves as the most likely Major champions.
Two-time CDL champions Atlanta FaZe have not had the best start to the season, but they turned things around at the end of Stage 1 with a dominant display in Major 1, where they defeated LA Thieves in both the upper-bracket final and the grand final.
Since picking up the first Major trophy, however, FaZe have looked rough around the edges — namely on respawns, but also on Search & Destroy towards the end of qualifiers.
Following a questionable display against Boston Breach, Atlanta FaZe dropped maps against Los Angeles Guerrillas M8 and Cloud9 New York last week.
FaZe have not been playing great recently, and they have shown some cracks, mainly on their weakest maps. But as Chris “Simp” Lehr and co. have shown before, they are not to be underestimated on LAN, where they tend to have their best showings.
Royal Ravens & Surge can surprise
The list of underdogs heading to Texas for CDL 2025 Major 2 is long, but there are two teams who stand out as dark horses to make some noise: Carolina Royal Ravens and Vancouver Surge.
Carolina Royal Ravens started Major 2 qualifiers with two losses against Los Angeles Thieves and Toronto Ultra, but they soon got back on track and strung together five consecutive wins to end the qualifiers in fourth place with a +8 map differential.
The Royal Ravens have been a competitive team since the start of the season, although they’ve struggled too much on respawns to leave a lasting mark in the league. This, however, seems to have changed, as they are 6-0 on Hardpoint since the first week of qualifiers.
Having worked on their weakness, the Royal Ravens look ready to make a splash at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center. But there is another, more consistent team worth our attention.
Vancouver Surge have found serious momentum since the arrival of Travis “Neptune” McCloud in February, going 8-3 since the roster change. Over that stretch, Surge have been beaten by only two teams — LA Thieves and Toronto Ultra — while they picked up two wins against Atlanta FaZe during Major 2 qualifiers and Minor 2.
The Surge have been one of the more consistent teams in the league, so if you’re a Vancouver fan, you can feel hopeful that they can make it far in this Major.
OpTic Texas debut Skyz
The defending CDL champions, OpTic Texas, are one of the more exciting teams to follow in the second major of the season as they debut a new-look roster featuring Cesar “Skyz” Bueno.
The Green Wall recently finished an abysmal 1-6 run through the qualifiers and did not wait to make drastic changes by releasing Kenny “Kenny” Williams after 19 months of service.
With just one victory during the qualifiers, things can only go up for the tournament hosts; however, their road to the top will not be easy, as OpTic will begin their CDL 2025 Major 2 campaign in the lower bracket.
CDL 2025 Major 2 betting predictions
CDL 2025 Major 1 champions Atlanta FaZe are not to be underestimated, but it is difficult to make a case for them over Los Angeles Thieves, who have been in cruise control since the Stage 1 Major.
The Thieves enter CDL 2025 Major 2 qualifiers on a 10-game winning streak, having dropped just six maps over that stretch — three of those coming against the Surge in Minor 2 finals.
While their first LAN of the season ended in bittersweet tears, the Thieves have since improved. On the other side, FaZe have started to show some cracks, which makes it easy to believe Thomas “Scrappy” Ernst and co. can justify their tag as the tournament favourites.
Vancouver Surge are intriguing underdogs from a betting perspective, priced at +750 to win the Major. While their results this stage have not been as flashy, the Surge have beaten FaZe twice and forced LA Thieves to seven maps in the Minor 2 finals, which is not something to ignore.
Paying +333 with BetOnline, predicting LA Thieves and Vancouver Surge to meet in the finals is worth a look.
