Toronto Ultra\u2019s Cammy targets 2022 CDL title: \u201cNow that we\u2019ve come so close, that\u2019s obviously the goal\u201d Call of Duty LeagueDespite what many would call a successful season, the Call of Duty League\u2019s Toronto Ultra, and their MVP-candidate AR\/Flex Cameron \u2018Cammy\u2019 McKilligan, aren\u2019t satisfied. They\u2019re turning their sights to winning it all in 2022. \u201cWhat did he just do?,\u201d screamed caster Joseph \u2018MerK\u2019 DeLuca. \u201cShow me his POV now!,\u201d replied his co-caster, Clint \u2018Maven\u2019 Evans. No one inside Los Angeles\u2019 Galen Center could believe what they had just seen. Cammy, Toronto Ultra\u2019s 22-year-old AR, had just executed a flawless and vital ace against Atlanta FaZe in the 2021 CDL Championship Grand Final. FaZe were leading the series 4-2 and winning the match-point search and destroy map 3-2 when Cammy pulled off the unbelievable 1v4. While FaZe would go on to win the championship series 5-3, the moment was Cammy\u2019s highlight of the season. \u201cI was just like, \u2018Oh my god, what have I just done?\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe it myself,\u201d the Scotsman told Dexerto in an exclusive interview. Good, but not good enough for Cammy Most people would call the Toronto Ultra\u2019s 2021 season a success. Of the five majors that made up the 2021 Call of Duty League season, the Ultra finished in the top-3 at four of them. After a seventh-place finish at March\u2019s Stage 1 Major, Toronto bounced back by winning April\u2019s Stage 2 Major. The team then had back-to-back third-place finishes in Stages 3 and 4 before taking second in the Stage 5 Major. They ended the season with a second-place finish at the Call of Duty League Championship. Cammy had a fantastic season, finishing as a top-15 player in most statistical categories, earning an MVP nomination, and greatly increasing his stock as a top player. \ud83e\udd47 Major II \ud83e\udd49 Major III \ud83e\udd49 Major IV \ud83e\udd48 Major V \ud83e\udd48 CoD ChampsThat is a successful season in our books. Heads are held high going into season 3. Thank you, Ultra fam for all the love. See y’all on Vanguard \ud83d\udc9c#StrengthInTheNorth #CDL2021 pic.twitter.com\/MdfqbGgCFC \u2014 Toronto Ultra (@TorontoUltra) August 22, 2021 However, the season left Cammy wanting more from 2022. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call it successful. We only won one Major. We had two second-places, and no one wants to finish second.\u201d The second of those runner-up finishes was particularly tough as it came in the CDL Championship Grand Final against Atlanta FaZe. With the series played in a best-of-nine format, Ultra took the first map but proceeded to drop the next three as the momentum swung heavily in favor of FaZe. The two sides traded wins on the fifth and sixth maps to put FaZe up 4-2. Cammy\u2019s 1v4 heroics were part of a comeback victory on map seven that held FaZe at championship point and forced a map eight. With FaZe picking the map, they went to their trump card: Apocalypse. It was a map that they had struggled on early in the season but they had fought their way back to a winning record coming into the pivot map eight. Another upside? Toronto had played just five rounds on the Laos-based map all season. Ultra took an early lead but FaZe slowly reeled in their opponents on the back of stellar play by McArthur \u2018Cellium\u2019 Jovel, eliminating the deficit and taking what ended up being a comfortable victory. \u201cAfter the Finals, everyone was pretty upset,\u201d Cammy said, \u201cWe had gone into the championship match with everyone expecting FaZe to win. We were definitely the underdogs. That didn\u2019t bother me, it was whatever. But after the loss, we were all pretty bummed. We just couldn\u2019t get it done.\u201d Despite the disappointment, he was able to take some positives out of the 2021 season. \u201cOverall, I\u2019d say I\u2019m just happy with how we gave it our all, and how we improved throughout the season. It was tough, underperforming in that first major. But no one gave up, everyone kept coming back to do the best that we could.\u201d The right roster for a championship There were no surprises when Toronto announced their 2022 roster on September 14. The Ultra will field the same roster they did in 2021 \u2013 Cammy, Ben \u2018Bance\u2019 Bance, Tobi \u2018CleanX\u2019 J\u00f8nsson, and Jamie \u2018Insight\u2019 Craven. It\u2019s a lineup that has proved its worth in the CDL. European Call of Duty players have long been seen as inferior to their American counterparts, so much so that they held just eight of the 48 starting spots on 2021 rosters. But the Ultra has shown what an all-European roster can achieve. Read More: Cammy: \u201cStop ignoring European talent\u201d – They are one of only a handful of teams who have not made any roster changes, alongside the defending champions FaZe and a Minnesota ROKKR team looking to step into the title contention conversation. For Cammy, roster consistency is absolutely vital for Toronto\u2019s long-term success. \u201cI feel like our team is one of the few teams that you can\u2019t make changes with at all without throwing everything off,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom the coaches to the players, everyone plays an important role in what we do, and it\u2019s just important that we keep the team together for long as long as possible\u201d. There are obviously advantages to keeping the roster together. Ultra are a proven force in the league, with strong team chemistry and cohesion. By keeping the team together, they can focus on improving their known weaknesses, rather than having to adapt to a new player\u2019s style. Read More: How to play the Vanguard beta – In Cammy\u2019s eyes, that improvement needs to come in the form of repeating their 2021 performance. \u201cI feel like everyone gave their all, and feel like we just need to do the same again. Honestly, we just need to keep at what we\u2019re doing and hope it works out for us again\u201d A look at Ultra\u2019s stats across the season gives credence to that philosophy. There was no glaring weakness in their 2021 season \u2014 they were fairly consistent across all aspects of the game. Their only obvious statistical weak point was Hardpoint, where they recorded a 52% win rate across 90 rounds. The thing that really stymied the Ultra was simply an inability to win when it mattered most. They made deep runs in most of the season\u2019s Majors but failed to deliver in the biggest matches. The best example of this was at the Stage 3 Major. They were one map away from the Grand Final, leading 2-0 against Dallas Empire. However, the Ultra would drop three maps in a row to lose the match and finish the Major in third. But there was one other factor that plagued the Ultra throughout the season: FaZe. FaZe the focus, but respecting everyone The Atlanta FaZe dominated 2021. They won three of five Majors, plus the CDL Championship, and went 7-1 against Toronto. The only time Ultra was able to overcome the eventual season champions was in the Grand Final of the Stage 2 Major. \u201cObviously, FaZe are the team to beat next year,\u201d Cammy conceded. \u201cThey have a really strong team and if we want to win the championship, they are probably the team we will have to beat to do it.\u201d However, while FaZe may be the team to beat in 2022, they are not the only team Toronto will potentially have to contend with for the title. Reports continue to circulate about Dallas Empire\u2019s potential superteam if their rumored merger with OpTic goes through. A possible reunion of Clayster and Crimsix in New York would once again place two of the all-time greats on the same roster. Both the LA Thieves and LA Guerrillas have announced rosters that could see them enter the title race in 2022. According to Cammy, the strength of next year\u2019s rumored rosters mean that Toronto is preparing for any team to potentially contend alongside them. \u201cI think there are no teams that can be taken lightly, there\u2019s going to be a lot of competition this year,\u201d he said. \u201cI know everyone says that at the start of the year, but this year I feel a lot more teams are going to be switched on and from what I\u2019m hearing, a lot of teams are going to be quite good this year.\u201d The focus may shift as the season plays out. After all, Toronto stumbled out of the gates in 2021. But preparing for everyone is the best way to avoid being blindsided early in the season. A tough year and a welcome break \u201cIt\u2019s been a really stressful year. Probably because we knew what we were capable of, we just didn\u2019t want to get complacent,\u201d Cammy said. \u201cIt felt like every day in scrims there was some small argument, which I feel was good for the team because that sort of thing is [good for a team]. It stops you from slipping, it stops you from getting complacent. But it\u2019s been tough to be away from home for a whole year\u201d. With the league primarily based in America, the season is a year-long commitment for the European players. Bance and head coach Mark \u2018MarkyB\u2019 Bryceland both left fianc\u00e9es back in Europe for the season. Everyone left friends and family in the middle of a global health crisis that made the world feel a whole lot smaller. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t affected me too much, I\u2019m not the sort of person who goes out a whole lot,\u201d Cammy said. \u201cBut things here in Canada have been a lot stricter than over in Europe, as far as I know.\u201d But the unprecedented circumstances have only served to bring the team closer together. \u201cWe have really good chemistry as a team\u2026 and we\u2019re just there for each other. We\u2019d go out for walks at night after scrims. We\u2019d hang out. It was just important that we be a team in and out of the game\u201d. With the offseason well underway, the team have gone their separate ways for the time being. \u201cEveryone is kind of doing their own thing right now,\u201d Cammy said. \u201cBen and Mark left right after the season ended. I think it\u2019s good \u2014 it\u2019s been a long year and everyone is happy for some time off\u201d. Read More: 2022 CDL Rostermania – Cammy spoke to Dexerto two days before he flew home to Scotland. Aside from the time off, there were a few things that he was looking forward to. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to a home-cooked meal from my mum,\u201d he said. He was also looking forward to reconnecting with his Europe-based friends as the Vanguard season gets underway. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be nice to play with my friends in Europe. With time zones and ping, it\u2019s not really something we can do while I\u2019m in Toronto\u201d. Cammy hasn\u2019t had the chance to play much of Vanguard, the next game in the storied franchise, yet. However, he is confident about the game, based on what he has seen so far. \u201cNormally, when I play the betas and stuff, they can feel a little clunky. I\u2019ve only played two maps, but it felt pretty smooth in terms of the movement and stuff,\u201d Cammy said, \u201cSo I\u2019m hopeful. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see what the maps are like because I feel that\u2019s what makes or breaks the game\u201d. Toronto Ultra in 2022 Cammy has a very clear benchmark for the next season of the CDL. \u201cI think the obvious thing that everyone\u2019s going to say is winning Champs. Now that we\u2019ve come so close, that\u2019s obviously the goal.\u201d In 2021, Toronto proved that they could compete with the best teams in the league. Their decision not to make roster moves in the off-season shows the organization\u2019s confidence in who they have signed. It also points to there not being a specific weak link, no underperforming member of the squad who cost them during the season. However, 2022 may prove to be the ultimate test of Toronto\u2019s ability to contend for a title with its current roster. Expectations will be high and it\u2019s down to Ultra to prove they have what it takes to be the CDL\u2019s third champions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toronto Ultra\u2019s Cammy targets 2022 CDL title: \u201cNow that we\u2019ve come so close, that\u2019s obviously the goal\u201d Call of Duty LeagueDespite what many would call a successful season, the Call of Duty League\u2019s Toronto Ultra, and their MVP-candidate AR\/Flex Cameron \u2018Cammy\u2019 McKilligan, aren\u2019t satisfied. They\u2019re turning their sights to winning it all in 2022. \u201cWhat […]<\/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-31960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31960","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=31960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}