LA Thieves win battle with OpTic Texas for CDL Stage 4 Minor title

The Los Angeles Thieves jumped out to a big lead then held off OpTic Texas' comeback to capture the grand final 4-2 on Sunday in the Call of Duty League's Stage 4 Minor.

Both teams advanced to the grand final with 3-0 sweeps in the semifinals earlier Sunday -- Texas downing the Paris Gentle Mates and Los Angeles ousting FaZe Vegas.

All 12 CDL teams competed in the tournament, which rewarded $20,000 and 30 CDL points to the champion Los Angeles Thieves. The single-elimination bracket was seeded based on teams' standing following the Stage 3 Major. All matches were best-of-five until the grand final, which was best-of-seven.

Los Angeles opened the grand final with wins on Scar Hardpoint (250-104), Den Search and Destroy (6-1) and Den Overload (4-1) before OpTic Texas rallied. Texas had the edge on Gridlock Hardpoint (250-248) and Hacienda Search and Destroy (6-2). The Thieves closed out the match with a 5-4 victory on Scar Overload to avoid a seventh game.

France's Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez of the Thieves was selected Match MVP with 132 kills and a plus-26 kills-deaths differential. No OpTic Texas player had a positive K-D differential.

Earlier, OpTic Texas swept Paris Gentle Mates in one semifinal with dominant outcomes on Hacienda Hardpoint (250-78), Gridlock Search and Destroy (6-3) and Den Overload (6-0).

American Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro of OpTic Texas was selected Match MVP with 69 kills and a plus-29 kills-deaths differential.

Los Angeles swept FaZe Vegas, winning 250-244 on Hacienda Hardpoint, 6-0 on Sake Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Scar Overload.

American Jeremiah "Nium" Harrison of Los Angeles was Match MVP with 65 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential.

Call of Duty League's Stage 4 Minor prize pool

1. $20,000, 30 CDL points -- Los Angeles Thieves

2. No money, 20 CDL points -- OpTic Texas

3-4. No money, 10 CDL points -- Paris Gentle Mates, FaZe Vegas

5-8. No money, no CDL points -- Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI, Vancouver Surge, G2 Minnesota

9-12. No money, no CDL points -- Carolina Royal Ravens, Cloud9 New York, Miami Heretics, Boston Breach

--Field Level Media