Gentle Mates, three lower seeds advance at CDL Stage 1 Major

The Paris Gentle Mates, Los Angeles Thieves, G2 Minnesota and OpTic Texas kicked off the Call of Duty League Stage 1 Major with upper-bracket quarterfinal victories Thursday in Dallas.

Paris finished qualifiers tied for first with FaZe Vegas, Riyadh Falcons and Carolina Royal Ravens, and they earned the four top seeds in the double-elimination bracket. Paris won its opener 3-1 against Toronto KOI, while the other high seeds were all swept 3-0.

The Thieves swept the Royal Ravens, Minnesota blanked Vegas and Texas turned back Riyadh. The four losing teams are still alive drop into the lower bracket.

All 12 Call of Duty League teams qualified for Major 1, which runs Thursday through Sunday. The teams that finished qualifying in the top eight spots began in the upper bracket and places 9-12 were slotted into the lower bracket.

All matches are best-of-five until the grand final, which is best-of-seven. The winning club will take home $150,000 and 100 CDL points; the runner-up gets $90,000 and 75 CDL points.

On Thursday, Paris opened with a 250-169 win on Den Hardpoint, but Toronto answered 6-3 on Exposure Search and Destroy. The Gentle Mates took over from there, prevailing 5-3 on Exposure Overload and Exposure Hardpoint.

The Thieves swept the Royal Ravens 250-189 on Exposure Hardpoint, 6-3 on Den Search and Destroy and 6-3 again on Scar Overload.

G2 Minnesota triumphed over FaZe Vegas 250-189 on Blackheart Hardpoint, 6-2 on Scar Search and Destroy and 7-5 on Den Overload.

OpTic Texas were 250-135 winners over the Falcons on Colossus Hardpoint, then took Exposure Search and Destroy 6-3 and Den Overload 4-1.

The tournament continues Friday with five matches:

--Toronto KOI vs. Miami Heretics (lower-bracket Round 1)

--Carolina Royal Ravens vs. Vancouver Surge (lower-bracket Round 1)

--FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach (lower-bracket Round 1)

--Riyadh Falcons vs. Cloud9 New York (lower-bracket Round 1)

--Toronto/Miami winner vs. Carolina/Vancouver winner (lower-bracket Round 2)

Call of Duty League Season 7 Stage 1 Major prize pool:

1. $150,000, 100 CDL points

2. $90,000, 75 points

3. $50,000, 60 points

4. $30,000, 45 points

5-6. $15,000, 30 points

7-8. $7,500, 15 points

9-12. No money, no points

--Field Level Media