CDL Toronto Major 5: Prize, stream, teams, Champs implications

Ant Stonelake

Ant Stonelake

Let’s talk about 6ix, baby, let’s talk about CDL Major 5 in Toronto.

The final Call of Duty League Major of the MW2 season is here. The CDL circus is headed back to Toronto for Major 5, where all eight of the League’s Championship Weekend spots will be secured.

Toronto also hosted CDL Major 3 last season. Photo via Toronto Ultra.
Toronto also hosted CDL Major 3 last season. Photo via Toronto Ultra.

Five teams have already guaranteed their place in Vegas next month but for the four teams on the Champs bubble, this event means absolutely everything.

Format

The format of the Toronto Ultra Major 5 is the same as a regular CDL Major event. Eight teams start in the upper bracket based on seeding from three weeks of online matches.

The bottom four teams enter the Major on the lower side, effectively making the tournament one-and-done.

CDL Major 5 Bracket

Four matchups are already confirmed for the CDL Toronto Major 5 event.

  • OpTic Texas vs Florida Mutineers
  • Boston Breach vs Minnesota ROKKR
  • Atlanta FaZe vs Las Vegas Legion
  • Toronto Ultra vs New York Subliners

Vegas Legion have drawn the short straw here with a Round 1 matchup against the ever-impressive FaZe. Florida Mutineers have a chance to renew their LAN rivalry with OpTic despite being out of the running for a place at Champs already.

Hometown team Toronto Ultra will take on New York in their first match at the Major. If last year's Toronto Major is anything to go by the support will come in its droves for the Canadian outfit.

Teams starting in the lower bracket

The bottom four teams from the Major 5 qualifiers will all start in the lower bracket at Major 5. London Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge, LA Guerrillas and the current Major Champions LA Thieves will be starting in the lower bracket.

Each of those teams will face a team that loses in the first round of the upper bracket.


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Prize

$500,000 is on the line in the CDL Toronto Major 5 tournament. This will be won by the teams that finish in the top eight at the event.

Losing in LR1 means that you will walk home with nothing. Here's a breakdown of how the prizing works for the Major.:

  • 1st: $200,000
  • 2nd: $120,000
  • 3rd: $80,000
  • 4th: $40,000
  • 5-6th: $20,000
  • 7-8th: $10,000

Champs race

The race for the last three spots at Champs is incredibly tight. Boston Breach, Seattle Surge, Minnesota ROKKR and Las Vegas Legion are all fighting to be the last three teams at the event. It feels wrong that one of them will have to miss out on the biggest tournament of the year but that’s just the way things are in Call of Duty esports in 2023.

Vegas Legion are the sentimental favourite to qualify for Champs. Photo via CDL.
Vegas Legion are the sentimental favourite to qualify for Champs. Photo via CDL.

Vegas, having drawn FaZe in the first round of the upper bracket, seem to be in a precarious position but if they can somehow secure a miracle win against a franchise they have never defeated, then they’ll be well on their way to an event in their home city.

Boston Breach and Seattle Surge start the weekend in the strongest positions in the table but with Surge starting in LR1 in Toronto, things could get very interesting, very quickly.

CDL Toronto Major stream

As usual, the Call of Duty League will be available to watch on both Twitch and YouTube. The officially Call of Duty Twitch channel will broadcast the event.

Matches start on Thursday, May 25 at 1:30 EST and will run all weekend starting at the same time each day.

That's all you need to know ahead of the Toronto Major 5 CDL event. Be sure to stick to Esports.gg for all the latest news from the event.