LA Thieves trouncing of OpTic Texas was at the forefront of the action on Day 2 of CoD Champs

Day 2 of the 2022 Call of Duty World Championship brought with it plenty of excitement with Atlanta FaZe and LA Thieves progressing to the Winners Bracket final and the New York Subliners and Toronto Ultra surviving early elimination bouts. It was also a day of as misery as we forced to say goodbye to the Boston Breach and London Royal Ravens at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The first match of the day saw the New York Subliners taking on the London Royal Ravens. After suffering a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Seattle Surge, the Ravens were in dire straits. Although they had looked good in an online capacity, their inconsistency on LAN were on show yet again. As for the Subliners they were looking to bounce back from their match with Atlanta FaZe, which saw the Tiny Terrors pull off an incredible reverse-sweep.

London got off to a hot start in this match as they took the Gavutu Hardpoint 250 - 214. With Byron "Nastie" Plumridge putting up a very respectable 1.43 K/D on the map. And they managed to follow it up with a seriously dominant 6 - 2 win on Desert Siege SnD to take a 2 - 0 lead in the series. With Nastie continuing to thrive off of his hot start in Map 1. It seemed like London were firmly in the driving seat. yet despite having their backs up against the wall, the Subliners would not go quietly into the night.

New York finally got going in the match as Paul "PaulEHX" Avila and Paco "Hydra" Rusiewiez combined on Gavutu Control to take the map 3 - 1. Which they followed up with an equally dominant 250 - 174 win in Berlin Hardpoint to tie the match at 2 - 2. It seemed as though the Ravens had completely collapsed in this series, who had totally lost all of their early game momentum. Which proved to be the deciding factor in this match as New York collapsed upon the UK team once more, to take Berlin SnD 6 - 4 and complete the reverse-sweep.

With this win the New York Subliners move on to face OpTic Texas in the second elimination round. Whereas this is the end of the road for the London Royal Ravens this season, as they bow out of Champs with a Top 8 finish.

The second match of the day featured a clash between Boston Breach and Toronto Ultra in the first round of elimination matches. Boston came out the losers of their close-fought match with the LA Thieves, whereas Toronto had fallen to the might of OpTic Texas in their first round matchup. Though both teams had suffered defeat early in this tournament, Ultra were still by far the favorite to win this particular matchup. With their solid teamwork and their strong performances in Search & Destroy carrying them throughout this season it seemed like everything was leaning in Ultra's favor.

Toronto got off to a good start with a solid 250 - 170 win on Tuscan Hardpoint. Then things took a surprising turn as Boston struck back with a resounding 6 - 0 win on Desert Siege SnD; with Dylan "Nero" Koch finishing with a whopping 4.50 K/D on that map. It looked as though Breach might be able to chain their success in SnD into the Berlin Control for Map 3, with Anthony "Methodz" Zinni having a fantastic series overall. But Ultra responded well as they managed to grind out a 3 - 2 win to retake the lead in the match. And after another solid performance from all four players, Toronto Ultra went on to take the Berlin Hardpoint 250 - 218 to close out the match 3 - 1.

With this win Toronto Ultra keep their tournament hopes alive and well. They now move on to face Seattle Surge in the second elimination round, which should be a tightly contested match. Unfortunately this also marks the end of Boston Breach's inaugural season as they bow out of CoD Champs with a Top 8 finish. Not bad for being the new kids on the block.

Following on from the two elimination matches we saw Atlanta FaZe taking on their age old rivals Seattle Surge in the third match of Day 2. Headlined by the recent crowning McArthur "Cellium" Jovel and Amer "Pred" Zulbeari as League MVP and Rookie of the Year respectively, this match had the makings of another highly captivating matchup. And it truly delivered on that front.

The match got going on Tuscan Hardpoint which was a scrappy affair from start to finish. A map which ended in a truly dramatic fashion as Surge managed to snatch the map away from FaZe 250 - 248 after two insanely clutch plays from Mackenzie "Mack" Kelley and Pred respectively. FaZe managed to bounce back with another incredible showing in Search & Destroy as they took Berlin 6 - 2. Which they followed up with an equally impressive 3 - 1 win on Tuscan Control.

FaZe looked as though they were going to put an end to proceedings in Berlin HP. But once again Surge managed to rally back into the map off the back of another moment of brilliance, this time from "Sib" as they managed to take the map 250 - 244; forcing the match into the fifth and final map. Tuscan SnD proved to be an exciting contest as Surge were able to match FaZe blow for blow on this map. It was a tension packed map, but in the end FaZe's prowess in SnD took center stage once more as they managed to claim victory on Tuscan 6 - 5 and win the match 3 - 2.

With this win Atlanta FaZe are heading to yet another Winners Bracket final match this season. There they will be facing the high-flying LA Thieves, which will likely prove to be a tough match for FaZe who look to reach their third CoD Champs final in a row.

The final match of Day 2 provided us with arguably the most anticipated matchup coming into Champs; LA Thieves versus OpTic Texas. Although they got off to a rough start in their first match against Boston Breach, Thieves were still the slight favorites in this matchup based on the head-to-head record.

Things looked interesting from the get-co with the Map vetoes as Gavutu Hardpoint and Gavutu Control managed to sneak into the pool. A map which had previously favored LA Thieves early in the season. And it was clear to see why nobody wants to play this map against them as Thieves decimated Optic to win Gavutu HP 250 - 58. This hot streak continued into Berlin SnD for the most part as Thieves managed to take that map 6 - 4. Which gave them a commanding 2 - 0 lead in the series.

OpTic were in need of a miracle on Gavutu Control if they had any hope of getting back into this match. But given that OpTic were 0 - 2 on that map since Stage 4, versus Thieves 4 - 1 record on it, this seemed like a tall order for the Greenwall. This proved to be the case from start to finish as OpTic struggled to gain any semblance of map control against Thieves, who were having their way with their opponents.

With this win LA Thieves move on to the Winners Bracket final where they will square off against Atlanta FaZe. And with both teams firing on all cylinders thus far in the tournament, it is anyone's guess as to who will come out on top. Though it is safe to say we won't be seeing Gavutu again for a while.

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