Thieves, Surge improve to 2-0 at CDL Stage 4 Major qualifying

The Los Angeles Thieves and Seattle Surge notched sweeps Sunday to be the first teams to reach 2-0 at Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying.

The Thieves swept the Boston Breach and the Surge took down the Minnesota Rokkr to move into a tie for first at the end of the first week of qualifying. In Sunday's other matches, the Atlanta FaZe rallied to beat the New York Subliners 3-2 and the Vegas Legion defeated OpTic Texas 3-2.

All 12 teams taking part in qualifying will make the Major 4 bracket, to be held June 27-30 in Burbank, Calif. Seeding will be determined by the qualifying matches, which run through June 23.

The tournament will have a double-elimination format, with all matches best-of-five until the grand final, which is best-of-seven. The winner will get 100 CDL points and the runner-up gets 75. The prize money has not been announced.

On Sunday, the Thieves took down the Breach 250-181 on Vista Hardpoint, 6-4 on Rio Search & Destroy and 3-1 on Highrise Control. Daniel "Ghosty" Rothe racked up 63 kills on a plus-22 kills-to-deaths differential for Los Angeles.

The Surge beat the Rokkr 250-159 on 6 Star Hardpoint, 6-5 on Rio Search & Destroy and 3-0 on Invasion Control. All four Surge players finished with positive K-D differentials, led by Cuyler "Huke" Garland (57 kills, plus-12).

The FaZe dug out of a pair of one-map holes against the Subliners. After New York won 250-208 on Vista Hardpoint, Atlanta eked out a 6-5 win on Invasion Search & Destroy. The Subliners won 3-2 on Karachi Control, but the FaZe answered with a 250-242 squeaker on Karachi Hardpoint before winning 6-4 on 6 Star Search & Destroy to settle the match.

Zack "Drazah" Jordan totaled 109 kills on a plus-7 K-D to lead Atlanta.

The Legion started with a 250-139 win on Sub Base Hardpoint, but OpTic evened things with a 6-5 win on 6 Star Search & Destroy. Vegas moved ahead with a 3-2 result on Highrise Control, and Texas again had a response with a 250-208 win on Vista Hardpoint.

The final map was Karachi Search & Destroy, and the Legion scored a 6-3 win to decide the match. Giancarlos "oJohnny" Carrasco led Vegas with 97 kills and a plus-24 K-D.

Qualifying continues Friday with three matches:

--Seattle Surge vs. New York Subliners

--Minnesota Rokkr vs. Miami Heretics

--Atlanta FaZe vs. Carolina Royal Ravens

Stage 4 Major prize money and CDL points

T1. Los Angeles Thieves, 20 points, 2-0, plus-4

T1. Seattle Surge, 20 points, 2-0, plus-4

3. Atlanta FaZe, 10 points, 1-0, plus-1

T4. OpTic Texas, 10 points, 1-1, plus-2

T4. Toronto Ultra, 10 points, 1-1, plus-2

T6. Los Angeles Guerrillas, 10 points, 1-1, even

T6. New York Subliners, 10 points, 1-1, even

T8. Vegas Legion, 10 points, 1-1, minus-2

T8. Minnesota Rokkr, 10 points, 1-1, minus-2

10. Miami Heretics, 0 points, 0-1, minus-3

11. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0 points, 0-2, minus-2

12. Boston Breach, 0 points, 0-2, minus-4

--Field Level Media