Falcons fly through group stage at CDL Major 3

The Riyadh Falcons were the lone team to complete a pair of 3-0 sweeps on Friday as the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major got underway in Atlanta.

OpTic Texas, the Toronto KOI and the Los Angeles Thieves also won both of their matches to emerge as group champions.

The other playoff berths went to the Miami Heretics, the Paris Gentle Mates, G2 Minnesota and FaZe Vegas.

All 12 CDL teams began play along with four outside qualifiers in the double-elimination opening round, split into four groups. Matches are all best-of-five until the best-of-seven grand final on Sunday. The championship team will receive $150,000 and 100 CDL points.

In Group D on Friday, Riyadh downed Cloud9 New York 250-184 on Colossus Hardpoint, 6-3 on Raid Search and Destroy and 4-3 on Exposure Overload.

Vegas, a 3-1 winner over ROC Esports, subsequently fell to the Falcons 250-222 on Colossus Hardpoint, 6-1 on Den Search and Destroy and 4-3 on Exposure Overload.

New York downed ROC Esports 3-0 in an elimination match before Vegas swept Cloud9 3-0 in the decider match.

In Group A, OpTic opened with a 3-0 victory over OMiT, and G2 Minnesota topped the Vancouver Surge 3-1. Texas beat Minnesota 3-1 in the winners match. OMiT trounced Vancouver in the elimination match before falling 3-0 to G2 in the decider match.

To open Group B play, Toronto took down Huntsmen 3-0 and Miami beat the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-0. The KOI then defeated the Heretics 3-1. The Royal Ravens got past Huntsmen 3-2 in the elimination match but fell 3-1 to the Heretics in the decider match.

Group C action began with the Thieves defeating Project Notorious 3-1 and the Boston Breach besting Paris 3-1. Los Angeles trounced Boston 3-0 in the winners match. Paris edged Project Notorious 3-2 in the elimination match and dumped the Breach 3-1 in the decider match.

The Saturday first-round playoff schedule:

--OpTic Texas vs. Miami Heretics

--Riyadh Falcons vs. Paris Gentle Mates

--Toronto KOI vs. G2 Minnesota

--Los Angeles Thieves vs. FaZe Vegas

The winners-bracket second round and losers-bracket first and second rounds also will be contested on Saturday.

Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major final group-stage results

Group A

1. OpTic Texas, 2-0

2. G2 Minnesota, 2-1

3. OMiT, 1-2

4. Vancouver Surge, 0-2

Group B

1. Toronto KOI, 2-0

2. Miami Heretics, 2-1

3. Carolina Royal Ravens, 1-2

4. Huntsmen, 0-2

Group C

1. Los Angeles Thieves, 2-0

2. Paris Gentle Mates, 2-1

3. Boston Breach, 1-2

4. Project Notorious, 0-2

Group D

1. Riyadh Falcons, 2-0

2. FaZe Vegas, 2-1

3. Cloud9 New York, 1-2

4. ROC Esports, 0-2

Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major prize pool, with money winnings and CDL points

1. $150,000, 100

2. $90,000, 75

3. $50,000, 60

4. $30,000, 45

5-6. $15,000, 30

7-8. $7,500, 15

9-12. no money, no points -- OMiT, Carolina Royal Ravens, Boston Breach, Cloud9 New York

13-16. no money, no points -- Vancouver Surge, Huntsmen,

Project Notorious, ROC Esports

--Field Level Media