5 players to watch during the CDL 2021 Stage 3 Major Dexerto \/ Call of Duty LeagueThe Call of Duty League enters 2021\u2019s Stage 3 Major and, while the cash is nice, CDL placement points are growing pivotal. With $500,000 on the line, five players hold the keys to their teams\u2019 CDL Champs hopes. Last week, we locked in on five difference-makers whose performances could dictate their rosters\u2019 futures: Colt \u2018Havok\u2019 McLendon, Cuyler \u2018Huke\u2019 Garland, Makenzie \u2018Mack\u2019 Kelley, Matthew \u2018FormaL\u2019 Piper, and Jacob \u2018Decemate\u2019 Cato. Of those, three couldn\u2019t level up \u2014 including the two debuts \u2014 as Huke, Decemate, and FormaL all went winless during the Dallas Home Series. But the other two, Mack and Havok, went undefeated, posted 1.1-plus K\/Ds, and surged into the Stage 3 Major\u2019s Winners bracket. This week, Major brackets have been determined, but $500,000 and the chance to qualify for CDL Champs await. From vets showing renewed promise to younger players hopeful to bounce back, here are the five x-factors to watch during the Stage 3 Major. Indervir \u2018iLLeY\u2019 Dhaliwal (Dallas Empire) The X(eo)-Factor A running narrative that has only amplified since Huke\u2019s relocation, iLLeY\u2019s play seems to dictate the Empire\u2019s. While Tyler \u2018FeLo\u2019 Johnson\u2019s play, in replacement of Huke, has obviously been pivotal \u2014 last week proved just how vital iLLeY\u2019s play can be. In an 0-3 loss to the Florida Mutineers, iLLeY dropped an 0.7 K\/D. In the next match, a 3-1 win over the Minnesota ROKKR, he had a 1.0. As the pattern indicates, the Empire win games when iLLeY produces. That will be worth monitoring as Dallas meet the Atlanta FaZe in Winners Round 1. Cesar \u2018Skyz\u2019 Bueno (Florida Mutineers) Diamond hands He invested in his game, but those stocks were shaky for much of the season. Now, with Havok beginning to produce, Skyz appears to have regained his momentum and his 2020 MVP-nominee form. Last week, Skyz posted a 1.52 K\/D during Florida\u2019s sweep of the Empire and a 1.26 in their 3-2 over the Los Angeles Guerrillas \u2014 both team-highs. That was enough to get the Mutineers into a WR1 matchup with the Thieves, but the superstar investment will determine how far they can go. Sean \u2018Seany\u2019 O\u2019Connor (London Royal Ravens) Sean the Beamer In 2020, it was Sean the Builder. In 2021, it was Sean in Shambles until the popular Scotsman earned a new moniker during the Dallas Home Series: Sean the Beamer. After relentless inconsistencies and roster changes, the Royal Ravens brought in Alex \u2018Zaptius\u2019 Bonilla to help their pacing issues. After some time in flux, that change seems to be paying off \u2014 as a fluid London dismantled the Seattle Surge 3-1. In that match, Seany dropped a team-high 1.15 K\/D. Now, the Royal Ravens look to continue that momentum (on the back of Seany\u2019s straight shot) against the Paris Legion in Losers Round 1. Carlos \u2018Venom\u2019 Hernandez (Los Angeles Thieves) Pacing, pacing, pacing Perhaps no role is as impacted by roster changes as the submachine gun, as Venom and Thieves fans learned after bringing in Huke. The fast-paced sub\u2019s season has been streaky, but ultimately effective, but there were visible struggles alongside a new star acquisition. In a 1-3 loss to an upsurging New York Subliners, Venom posted a team-low 0.74 K\/D. That\u2019s an ugly number, but his role is dependent on pacing. If the Thieves are going to outduel the Mutineers and make a Stage 3 Major run, LA needs to figure out their pacing so Venom and Huke can regain their footing. Dylan \u2018Envoy\u2019 Hannion (OpTic Chicago) Time to regain (pt. 2) Things haven\u2019t been pretty for OpTic Chicago. Over the past two weeks, OpTic have lost three consecutive matches \u2014 with the most recent being a brutal sweep at the hands of Atlanta. And, speaking of brutal, Envoy posted a\u20260.47 K\/D during that loss. To be fair, OpTic was playing on Atlanta servers due to a CDL operational issue, so the loss (and stats) were likely worse than they would have been normally. Envoy has acknowledged that FaZe were the better team anyway, but everyone recognizes that bad ping means worse results. OpTic already needed to regain, but now they start the Stage 3 Major in the Losers Bracket. Facing either the Guerrillas or Surge in Losers Round 2, Envoy and Chicago will need to bounce back in a major way \u2014 especially if they get better ping this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
5 players to watch during the CDL 2021 Stage 3 Major Dexerto \/ Call of Duty LeagueThe Call of Duty League enters 2021\u2019s Stage 3 Major and, while the cash is nice, CDL placement points are growing pivotal. With $500,000 on the line, five players hold the keys to their teams\u2019 CDL Champs hopes. Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}