This week, between the 9th and the 12th of March, CDL’s Major III tournament will play out. It’s a perfect midpoint to the season so far, being hosted in Arlington by OpTic Texas, and it’ll be the last crowd-backed Major we see in the Call of Duty scene until the end of May. There’s a massive prize pool on offer worth $500,000, and as always, a good run at the Major followed by a win can completely change the face of the CDL standings.

As we enter the all-important tournament period, it’s Seattle Surge that sits at the top of the stage’s standings, boasting a win/loss record of 4 – 1. Following a relatively lacklustre year, there are high expectations for the squad going into Major III. Unfortunately, this tournament’s host, OpTic Texas, is currently a mid-table team, having produced a 3 – 2 record in the Major III qualifiers and sitting in fifth place overall in the table.

Following an epic stage, will Seattle Surge go all the way at Major III? (Image Credit: CDL)

This was a fantastic weekend of Call of Duty League action, with some unpredictable upsets having landed across the board. To lock in the top seed going into Major III, Seattle Surge effectively dispatched the New York Subliners, the Royal Ravens, Florida, and Minnesota Rokkr. However, the boys in boy didn’t make up the only dominating team this weekend. Boston Breach also offered up a similar performance, dashing down the LA Thieves in a five-map fixture at the very end of the tournament’s qualifying stage.

Elsewhere, in what could be classed as the most hard-to-predict turn of events in recent months, the Royal Ravens rose to decimate Toronto Ultra. For fans of Call of Duty betting, it would have meant a great payout for the backing of a serious underdog side, as the Royal Ravens sit flat bottom in the CDL standings, while Toronto Ultra holds firm in third place overall. It was a mixed bag for Toronto Ultra this week, as amidst wins over OpTic, NYSL, and Legion, the Canadian side fell against both Boston Breach and, remarkably, the London Royal Ravens.

For the Ravens, it was only their second win since mid-January, and for Toronto Ultra – specifically for rookie Scrap, who was nowhere to be seen after the loss – it was a crushing blow.

And finally, while the Los Angeles Guerrillas failed to gain too much traction through this stage, the squad was able to produce one of the most iconic clips of the season thus far…

There’s a huge amount on the line at Major III, and at the moment, it seems that there are several teams with the ability to win the entire thing. In terms of the Call of Duty odds on offer, Atlanta FaZe remains the favourite, as ever, but the likes of Toronto Ultra and the New York Subliners are coming into the event with undeniable momentum.

Here are the confirmed, locked-in fixtures that’ll form the foundations of Major III:

• Seattle Surge vs. Los Angeles Guerrillas (we’ll give the win to Surge in this one)
• Atlanta FaZe vs. LA Thieves (Major II champions vs. CDL 2023 champions, we’ll call this 3 – 2 to FaZe)
• Boston Breach vs. OpTic Texas (Breach could use a winning streak as fuel to dominate the Major host)
• Toronto Ultra vs. New York Subliners (NYSL has beaten Toronto twice in the last year – will they end their winner’s bracket run immediately? We think so)

As stated, the action commences on the 9th of March, live in Arlington, Texas. Don’t miss it!