OpTic, FaZe advance to winners final of CDL Championship

Field Level Media|published: Sat 18th July, 03:12 2026

YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year.

OpTic Texas and FaZe Vegas advanced into the winner's final while Toronto KOI and the Los Angeles Thieves were the first teams eliminated in the second day of competition at the 2026 Call of Duty League Championship in Las Vegas on Friday.

This is the final event and the world championship of the Black Ops 7 competitive season.

Eight of 12 teams qualified for the CDL Championship in the regular season from Dec. 5, 2025 to June 28, led by first-place OpTic Texas (40-12, +69).

The format is a double-elimination bracket, with all matches best-of-five except for Sunday's grand final, which is best-of-nine. There is a $2 million prize pool, with the winning team taking home $800,000.

In the matchups of teams who won their opening matches on Thursday, FaZe Vegas swept the Riyadh Falcons 3-0 and OpTic Texas beat the Paris Gentle Mates 3-1.

FaZe completed its sweep with a 250-192 Scar Hardpoint win, a 6-5 Sake Search and Destroy victory and a 5-3 Scar Overload clinching win. Chris "Simp" Lehr of FaZe led all players with 75 kills and a plus-17 kill-death differential in the runaway victory.

OpTic and Paris split the first two games of their match, with OpTic winning 250-183 on Scar Hardpoint before the Gentle Mates responded with a 6-4 Den Search and Destroy triumph. OpTic put the match away from there, though, pulling out a 5-4 Scar Overload win followed by a 250-127 Colossus Hardpoint clincher. Cuyler "Huke" Garland led OpTic with 90 kills and a plus-24 K-D differential.

In Friday's elimination matches, the Miami Heretics ousted the Toronto KOI with a 3-2 win while G2 Minnesota outlasted the Los Angeles Thieves 3-2.

Toronto opened a 2-1 lead with a 6-3 Gridlock Search and Destroy win followed by a 6-0 Den Overload shutout after Miami won the opening game 250-167 on Colossus Hardpoint. Miami rallied from 2-1 behind a 250-210 Gridlock Hardpoint triumph followed by a 6-4 Den Search and Destroy win in the winner-take-all fifth game. Adrian "MettalZ" Serrano of Spain had a match-high 109 kills for Miami, finishing as the only member of the team with a positive K-D differential (plus-14).

Minnesota pulled off an even more impressive comeback against Los Angeles. After the Thieves jumped ahead 2-0 on a 250-249 Sake Hardpoint nail-biter and a 6-2 Gridlock Search and Destroy triumph, Minnesota rallied with a 6-1 Den Overload win, a 250-149 Hacienda Hardpoint victory and a 6-4 Sake Search and Destroy win in the final game. All four Minnesota players had a K-D differential of minus-one or better, but Kyle "Kremp" Haworth led the charge with 109 kills and a plus-20 K-D.

The stage will be set for Sunday's grand final on Saturday with five more matches which will lock in the finalists.

Saturday's schedule:

Elimination Round 2

Riyadh Falcons vs. Miami Heretics

Paris Gentle Mates vs. G2 Minnesota

Winners Final

OpTic Texas vs. FaZe Vegas

Elimination Round 3

Elimination round 2 winners face off

Elimination finals

Elimination Round 3 winner vs. Winners final loser

Call of Duty League Championship prize pool