LA Thieves unblemished at CDL Major 4 qualifying

The Los Angeles Thieves posted the lone sweep on Saturday and remained atop the standings at 5-0 as the third and final week continued in Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying.

While the Thieves shut out the winless Vancouver Surge 3-0, the Miami Heretics topped also winless Cloud9 New York 3-1, OpTic Texas edged Toronto KOI 3-2 and the Riyadh Falcons also went five maps to outlast G2 Minnesota 3-2.

The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing five qualifying matches apiece to determine seeding for the fourth major of the season to be held Thursday through June 28 at Nanterre, France. Each team receives 10 CDL points for each win.

On Saturday, the Miami Heretics opened with a 250-164 win against Cloud9 New York on Colossus Hardpoint. New York drew level with a 6-1 victory on Den Search and Destroy before Miami closed out the match with wins on Den Overload (6-2) and Den Hardpoint (250-235).

The Heretics' Daniel "RenKoR" Isern of Spain was selected Match MVP after recording 86 kills and a plus-21 kills-deaths differential. Jose "ReeaL" Castilla of the all-Spanish team had a match-high 92 kills and a plus-14 K-D. Jonathan "Nejra" Pabo'n of Puerto Rico was the lone Cloud9 player with a positive K-D differential (79-77).

The Los Angeles Thieves swept the Vancouver Surge, winning 250-156 on Hacienda Hardpoint, 6-5 on Hacienda Search and Destroy and 8-0 on Den Overload.

Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez of France was the Match MVP, pacing the Thieves with a match-high 77 kills and a plus-28 K-D differential. American teammate Thomas "Scrap" Ernst had 64 kills and a plus-16. No Surge players had a positive K-D differential.

OpTic Texas had a poor start, falling to Toronto KOI 250-177 on Den Hardpoint. But Texas responded with wins on Gridlock Search and Destroy (6-3) and Exposure Overload (4-3). Toronto stayed alive with a 250-208 victory on Sake Hardpoint before Optic took a 6-5 win on Den Search and Destroy to capture the match.

OpTic's Brandon "Dashy" Otell, a Canadian/Lebanese player, was the Match MVP, posting 92 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential for OpTic Texas. Ronald "Abe" Abraham of the United States paced Toronto with a match-high 100 kills and plus-18 K-D differential.

The Riyadh Falcons opened with a 250-124 win on Colossus Hardpoint, only for G2 Minnesota to pull even on Gridlock Search and Destroy, 6-3. It went back and forth, with the Falcons taking a 4-3 win on Exposure Overload, then Minnesota winning 250-138 on Gridlock Hardpoint. Riyadh took the match with a 6-4 victory on Den Search and Destroy.

McArthur "Cellium" Jovel of the United States was Match MVP with 93 kills and a match-high plus-23 K-D differential for Riyadh. Teammate Amer "Pred" Zulbeari of Australia had a match-high 95 kills and a plus-16 K-D. Kyle "Kremp" Haworth of the United States paced G2 Minnesota with 91 kills to 90 deaths.

Sunday's matches

--Vancouver Surge vs. Miami Heretics

--Toronto KOI vs. G2 Minnesota

--FaZe Vegas vs. Carolina Royal Ravens

Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying standings, with match record and map differential:

1. Los Angeles Thieves, 5-0, +8

2. Riyadh Falcons, 4-1, +3

3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-2, +4

4. OpTic Texas, 3-2, +5

5. Boston Breach, 3-2, +2

T6. FaZe Vegas, 2-2, +1

T6. G2 Minnesota, 2-2, +1

T8. Carolina Royal Ravens, 2-2, 0

T8. Miami Heretics, 2-2, 0

10. Toronto KOI, 1-3, -5

11. Cloud9 New York, 0-5, -9

12. Vancouver Surge, 0-4, -10

--Field Level Media