Thieves nip Royal Ravens in CDL Major 3 qualifying

Field Level Media|published: 04/27/2024, 5:47am EDT

The Los Angeles Thieves pulled into a tie for first place in qualifying for the Call of Duty League's Stage 3 Major, rallying past the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-2 on Friday.

The Thieves improved to 3-0, tied with the idle Atlanta FaZe for the top spot in the qualifying standings. The Royal Ravens slipped to 2-2.

In the day's only other match, the Los Angeles Guerrillas (1-3) cruised to a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Rokkr (1-3).

All 12 CDL teams will play seven qualifying matches ahead of the Stage 3 Major, scheduled for May 16-19 in Toronto. Every team will advance to the double-elimination tournament, with the qualifying matches determining seeding.

Each qualifier win is worth 10 points. The prize pool for the tournament (money and CDL points) has yet to be announced.

The Toronto Ultra won the Stage 1 Major in January. The Atlanta FaZe won the Stage 2 Major in March.

On Friday, the Thieves opened with a 250-175 win on Karachi Hardpoint before the Royal Ravens took Rio Search and Destroy 6-2 and Highrise Control 3-2. Los Angeles bounced back to capture 6 Star Hardpoint 250-139 and Highrise Search and Destroy 6-2.

The Guerrillas topped the Rokkr 250-213 on Rio Hardpoint, 6-3 on Invasion Search and Destroy and 3-1 on Karachi Control.

Qualifying continues on Saturday with three matches:

--Boston Breach vs. Los Angeles Guerrillas

--Toronto Ultra vs. Carolina Royal Ravens

--Minnesota Rokkr vs. Los Angeles Thieves

Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying standings (points, match win-loss record, map win-loss differential):

1. Atlanta FaZe, 30 points, 3-0, plus-8

2. Los Angeles Thieves, 30 points, 3-0, plus-3

3. OpTic Texas, 20 points, 2-1, plus-4

4. Toronto Ultra, 20 points, 2-1, plus-2

5. Carolina Royal Ravens, 20 points, 2-2, plus-2

6. Seattle Surge, 20 points, 2-1, even