Thieves surge through lower bracket, beat OpTic in CDL Major 3 grand final

After losing their playoff opener, the Los Angeles Thieves reeled off five straight wins, culminating in a victorious battle over OpTic Texas on Sunday in the grand final of the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major in Atlanta.

Los Angeles won the best-of-seven final 4-3 to earn $150,000 and 100 CDL points. OpTic Texas, which had advanced to the final with a 3-2 win over Toronto KOI earlier Sunday in the upper-bracket final, collected $90,000 and 75 points.

All 12 CDL teams began play on Friday along with four outside qualifiers in the double-elimination opening round, split into four groups. The group champions and second-place teams advanced to the playoffs which started on Saturday.

Matches were all best-of-five until the best-of-seven grand final on Sunday.

The Thieves' path began with a 3-2 setback to FaZe Vegas in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. That dropped them to the first round of the lower bracket, where they dispatched GS Minnesota 3-1. A 3-0 sweep of the Riyadh Falcons in the quarterfinals matched them up with FaZe Vegas in Sunday's lower-bracket semifinal, which Los Angeles won 3-1.

A 3-0 sweep of Toronto KOI in the lower-bracket final advanced the Thieves to the grand final and a meeting with OpTic Texas.

OpTic opened with a 250-219 win on Colossus Hardpoint before Los Angeles responded with victories on Raid Search and Destroy (6-3) and Den Overload (8-3).

Texas surged ahead with wins on Den Hardpoint (250-242) and Scar Search and Destroy (6-4), only for the Thieves to win the final two maps, 5-4 on Scar Overload and 6-2 on Den Search and Destroy.

Jeremiah "Nium" Harrison of the United States was the Match MVP for Los Angeles with a match-high 130 kills and a plus-13 kills-death differential. Brandon "Dashy" Otell of Canada paced OpTic with 124 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential.

OpTic Texas defeated Toronto KOI 3-2 in the upper-bracket final earlier on Sunday. Texas won 250-152 on Gridlock Hardpoint, then Toronto drew even with a 6-1 win on Raid Search and Destroy.

The back-and-forth continued, as OpTic won 5-4on Exposure Overload, then KOI triumphed 250-212 on Scar Hardpoint. Texas won 6-2 on Scar Search and Destroy to capture the match.

OpTic's Otell was Match MVP with 83 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential. Tobias "CleanX" Jonsson of Denmark paced Toronto with a match-high 106 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential.

Toronto KOI dropped down to the lower-bracket final, where they were swept 3-0 by the Thieves. Los Angeles won 250-93 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-4 on Den Search and Destroy and 4-0 on Den Overload.

Harrison was Match MVP with 59 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential. American Joseph "JoeDeceives" Romero was the only Toronto player not in negative numbers, as he was even with 51 kills and 51 deaths.

Los Angeles began the day with a 3-1 victory over FaZe Vegas in the lower-bracket semifinal. The Thieves started strong with wins on Gridlock Hardpoint (250-245) and Den Search and Destroy (6-4) before Vegas stayed alive with a 5-4 win on Den Overload. LA closed out with a 250-164 victory on Den Hardpoint.

The Thieves' Thomas "Scrap" Ernst of the United States was Match MVP with 87 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential. Chris "Simp" Lehr of the United States paced Vegas with 84 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential.

Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major prize pool, with money winnings and CDL points

1. $150,000, 100 -- Los Angeles Thieves

2. $90,000, 75 -- OpTic Texas

3. $50,000, 60 -- Toronto KOI

4. $30,000, 45 -- FaZe Vegas

5-6. $15,000, 30 -- Paris Gentle Mates, Riyadh Falcons

7-8. $7,500, 15 -- Miami Heretics, G2 Minnesota

9-12. no money, no points -- OMiT, Carolina Royal Ravens, Boston Breach, Cloud9 New York

13-16. no money, no points -- Vancouver Surge, Huntsmen, Project Notorious, ROC Esports

--Field Level Media