Call of Duty Rec League: Week 4 Review
The Fall Season for the first (and only) CW/MWII in the Call of Duty Rec League is already halfway over. There’s been some surprises, story lines, and a lot to look forward to as we close out these last few weeks.
It’s important to note that playoffs this season are working a bit differently this season as Mixed is essentially integrated with Premade due to the nature of running the league with two different Call of Duty titles. Even though every team will be making playoffs, standings are still important and can have a major impact on how far a team is able to go.
But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. How did Week 4 go for the featured teams, and what is there to look forward to in Week 5?
Tuesday Matches (9/12)
LA Dweebs vs Chicago Hunted (Gold)
The LA and Chicago game had a lot on the line as both teams were 2–1 heading into the week with both teams looking like solid contenders.
In the Hardpoint, LA Dweebs held the lead for most of the game but Chicago never let it get too far out of reach, keeping the score mostly within half a hill’s score. Chicago did briefly take the lead towards the end of the first P4 and the start of P5, but LA Dweebs retook the lead thanks to some big kills from Splatterboy and Spectre and did not look back for the rest of the game, as LA took the first map 250–221.
The SND on Moscow was a similarly story, and Chicago was looking ready to put their map loss behind them after starting off the first round with a bang.
The following rounds would not be that decisive, as both teams continued to trade blows and neither side having a 2 round lead at any point of the game. In Round 10, with the score at 5–4 in favor of LA, it was looking like they would steal a second map from Chicago after an important first blood from Splatterboy. However, the kill was quickly traded by JOKR on to Spectre which allowed another opening for Pixel to take out Splatterboy, leading Chicago to a 3–2 life advantage on the A bomb site. With the bomb site now openly available to plant, Chicago instead pushed past the bomb site and were able to catch Deucer off guard before finishing the round and forcing a Round 11.
For Round 11 with Chicago on offense, it looked like the play call would be a slow push to the B bomb site which LA had not defended well all game. Once JOKR made a push to statue, he was able to get the opening blood onto Quake who was sitting top mid. With the cross now clear, that was all Chicago needed to get the bomb down and close out the round to win 6–5 and set the series score to 1–1.
Going into the Control on Garrision, both teams were eyeing the important go ahead round, and LA Dweebs immediately had a plan on offense to split both Control points which worked to perfection as Chicago had no answer which led to an easy round 1 victory for LA. In Round 2, Chicago tried a similar play to LA to split both Control points and, while it did not work out as well as it did for LA, Chicago were still able to get the B Control point early before rallying and regrouping to take the A control and even up the score at 1–1.
With LA back on offense, the Dweebs decided to switch things up a bit making more of an A presence but this time Chicago was ready for it. While LA were able to capture B thanks to some important kills from Spectre, it was not enough to rally the A point in their favor, with Chicago Hunted now up 2–1 in the map. Round 4 came down to the wire with Chicago, with Sleepy leading the charge, needing just 1 tick to take the map on the A point. However, LA was able to hold off and stagger most of the Chicago players forcing a round 5. With Chicago on defense, LA couldn’t find their rhythm for most of the map and, despite taking a point early, couldn’t close it out as Chicago goes up 2–1 in the series.
The second hardpoint on Checkmate was not as close as the first hardpoint. Initially looking like it would be a close content, LA Dweebs began pulling away after both teams hit 100 points despite Pixel leading the lobby in kills. LA Dweebs would go on to win to map 25–184 and forcing a decisive game 5. We haven’t seen many of those on stream this season!
While many of the rounds were close in terms of kills and number of players, Standoff really looked like it was LA’s map to lose as Chicago didn’t have many answers with LA not being afraid to get aggressive even up the middle on defense. With LA Dweebs setting the pace for the whole map, Chicago failed to adjust as LA won the SND 6–3 and therefore the series with a 3–2 victory.
Seattle Sloths vs Minnesota Floppr (Silver South)
Seattle vs Minnesota was another game that had important playoff implications and, while both teams were only 1–2, given that both teams had a number of players that have been in and around the CRL for a number of seasons.
The series started out with Checkmate HP and while the match had a few scrappy moments, it was not a close map as Minnesota dominated much of the map. With that said, the bright spot for Seattle was the performance of Disarray who managed to finish the game with the most kills in the lobby with 28. Seattle just barely managed to avoid joining the highly exclusive 100 point club.
The SND on Express was initially close, as both teams traded rounds to have the score at 2–2 largely thanks to plays by Cnk. However, as the match progressed it seemed like Minnesota really slowed things down and played at a much slower pace mostly focusing on going for early picks before making important plays, which allowed them to win the remaining rounds with relative ease as they took the SND 6–2, going up 2–0 in the series.
The Control on Raid was looking like it was going to be another blowout victory for Minnesota Floppr as they started out with two decisive round victories in large part thanks to Floofbot and VerZity, with Seattle’s only hope being a reverse sweep.
For a while, it was looking like a reverse sweep was going to happen. Jimz started the round on a tear earning streaks on defense and forcing a Round 4. The offensive round was much the same as Seattle opted to do a split push which initially caught Minnesota off guard. While Minnesota did stop the couple initial pushes, they overcommitted to the B site which allowed Seattle to spawn close to A who easily took the site. Later into the round, Seattle was able to swarm the B point thanks to a mortar from Jimz and an important two piece from Disarray, which allowed Seattle to cap the B point and force a Round 5, with Seattle on defense. Minnesota, however, quickly capped the B point which gave them plenty of time to capture A. Seattle’s defense held strong for the vast majority of the round, with lives at one point being 7–7 with no A ticks. Minnesota finally managed to break through due to a long flank coming in from Wayzy, which caught Seattle of guard. Minnesota held the point and hung on for a 3–2 victory in Control and taking the series 3–0 for the sweep.
Wednesday Matches (9/13)
London Royale w/ Cheese vs Minnesota Floppr (Silver North)
Both London and Minnesota had similar records and map percentage, so this match was looking to be hotly contested as playoff seeding was on the line. This was the only match on stream for the night.
Starting on Hotel Hardpoint, both teams traded opening blows in the first P1 with neither side gaining much of a positional advantage until London won the rotation to P2 and earned themselves close to 50 points on that hill alone. Unfortunately for London, this would prove to be their sole bright spot of the map as Minnesota would win the majority of rotations in large part due to aggressive pushes from Reelz and Kerb. Despite that, Flaky for London has a phenominal game finishing with 25 kills which was the most in the entire lobby. However, Floppr would end up taking the map in dominant fashion 250–148.
With Floppr up 1–0, the series shifted to Fortress SND. Unlike the first map, this one would come down to the wire. London began on offense and got the bomb down quickly due to aggression from Flaky, but better positioning and a well timed retake led Minnesota to take the first round. In Round 9 with London on offense, it was Flaky again being aggressive for his team picking up an easy 3 kills en route to a 5–4 map score. It was looking like London was setting the pace for the whole map until the following round when Minnesota were able to slow things down and rotate bomb sites in order to force a Round 11.
In Round 11 with Minnesota on offense, London were immediately caught off guard with two quick deaths which they were not able to recover from, as Minnesota won the decisive round and went up 2–0 in the series. Despite the score, it was clear the following maps could go either way.
Moving back to Hotel on Control, London started out on offense with a full rush onto the A point. While they were able to grab two ticks, an overcommitment from Floppr led to London spawning close to the B point and grabbing another two ticks, with neither point fully captured. However, London quickly regrouped and captured A followed shortly by B in order to go up first. Minnesota started out their offensive round much differently than London, starting out with a strategic B push which slowly worked to perfection. The rotation to A was not much different as, after a quick regroup, Minnesota was able to capture the point largely due to a misplay by London, which evened the map score at 1–1.
While London did try a similar play on offense as they did in Round 1 towards the B point, it was not as successful as they had hoped, and did not achieve any opening ticks. Meanwhile, the kills were almost all in Minnesota’s favor largely due to great positioning as they were able to win on defense and go up 2–1 in the map. In Round 4, the Floppr had no answer for Flaky who went on a tear in order to do as much as he could for London. However, by limiting key contributions from the rest of the team, Minnesota were able to capture both points on offense thanks to an important flank from Tranquil and win the series 3–0. Despite the final series score, it was a close contest all around.
Thursday Matches (9/14)
New York Subpar vs Florida Puppeteers (Bronze)
It was a battle for the top of Bronze with both teams being undefeated going into this matchup. Starting off on Embassy Hardpoint, the first hill was as scrappy as it can usually be expected. However, that would prove to be an outlier as the rest of the hills went almost singlehandedly in New York’s way in large part thanks to the 34 kills dropped by RobertM. Florida attempted a late rally but the deficit was still too large as New York took the map 250–179.
Shifting over to Asilo SND, the Florida Puppeteers started out on offense and, despite an early death, were able to get the bomb down on the A bomb site without much of an issue. However, New York were able to quickly surround the bomb site and get kills from a distance which allowed a successful retake to take the first round. Florida would take the next round thanks to some great positioning from Knightfall and Maverick to even the score at 1–1, but New York would not drop any more rounds, led by Teej with 9 kills.
Control on Hotel would not prove to be much of a different story. Florida started out on offense and quickly went to work capturing the A point but did not get close to the B point with New York focusing on kills from a range and aggressive defensive pushes by PsychotikPig and Brendy. Proxi was a bright spot for most of the game for Florida, but it was not enough to avoid the sweep at New York would take the map and the series in a 3–0 fashion.
New York Subpar vs Sasky Shotgunners (Silver South)
This was another match of undefeated squads as both teams were looking to continue momentum at the halfway point of the season. Starting out on Hotel Hardpoint, New York Subpar took an early lead and held onto most of the time until the first restaurant hardpoint where Sasky would briefly hold a lead of their own by about 20 points. Starting on the next set of hills, New York Subpar took the lead again going into the second P2 which they would not relinquish. It was a back and forth contest for the entire map with Xpired and Tedbear being big standouts for New York and Sasky respectively, however by winning key rotations and breaking hills quickly, New York were able to steal away map 1 by a score of 250–212.
With Sasky starting out on offense in Fortress SND, they would need to send an early message which is exactly what they did, grabbing the opening pick thanks to some team nades and the bomb plant which allowed them to secure the first round. Afterwards, it was mostly back and forth with neither team creating a gap. In Round 9 with the score tied 4–4, Simplee went huge for his team with 3 kills to make it a 5–4 score, and New York would close it off a round later on offense with a score of 6–5 as Xpired dropped 11 kills. Despite the fact that the series score was 2–0 in favor of the Subpar, it was clear that Sasky was making these maps close and that the series may not be over for them.
Hotel Control essentially proved that. With New York starting on offense, they were quickly able to capture the A point but had no answer for the positioning of Sasky getting no B ticks in the process allowing Sasky to grab the early Control lead. Sasky’s first offensive round had them quickly capturing the B point with dex being left to defend all by himself and it didn’t take long for them to capture A, with Sasky already up 2–0 in the map. In Round 3, facing their first map loss, New York began to heat up and took the two rounds taking advantage of positioning and miscues from Sasky to even it up. However, it was Sasky who would get the last laugh as New York was unable to capture a single point in the final round to go down 2–1 in the series with Sasky avoiding the sweep.
For lack of better words, Map 4 on Embassy Hardpoint was not close as Sasky seemed to strike gold, blowing out their opponents with a score of 250–127 with New York’s only lead for the entire game was 2–1 on the very first hill. Sasky easily evened up the series score and we had a Map 5 on our hands.
Sasky began Asilo SND on offense and decided to start out with a little bit of a wild card play, wrapping the bomb past A control and getting the bomb down on the B bomb site and successfully winning the round. Sasky would pull ahead with a commanding 3–0 lead until New York were finally able to respond in an important offensive round to keep them in the game, but RTFCod would go huge for Sasky in the following rounds, finishing with 10 kills and completing the reverse sweep for his team 3–2.
Looking Ahead To Week 5
Tuesday
Toronto Falters vs Sydney Dingoes (Bronze — BOCW)
Both Toronto and Sydney are looking solid heading into their Week 5 matchup sitting at 3–1 records. Toronto lucked out this week by not having Moscow to play, which is a map they have struggled with this season. If Sydney is hoping to take this series again, they’ll have to forget their past loss against the same team.
Score Prediction: Toronto Falters 3–1 Sydney Dingoes
Boston Burgers vs Dallas Flat Tires (Silver South — BOCW)
Dallas technically has the edge here with an extra win despite both teams having a 25% map record, but it’s essentially neck and neck regardless. Boston has had many close games and despite what their record says, I like their odds against Dallas, although I think this may be a series where whoever takes the first map likely wins the series.
Score Prediction: Boston Burgers 3–2 Dallas Flat Tires
Wednesday
Sasky Shotgunners vs Florida Puppeteers (Silver North — MWII)
Sasky has yet to be swept this season which is always a bonus, meanwhile Florida has had their fair share of blowouts and tight matchups. It’s a recipe for success, but I think that Sasky may prove to be a bit much for them. We’ll see though.
Score Prediction: Sasky Shotgunners 3–1 Florida Puppeteers
Atlanta Dazed vs Paris Letdown (Silver North — MWII)
There isn’t a whole lot to dislike about this Atlanta team. While they lost their opening matchup in Week 1, they’ve essentially put that behind them and dominated the rest of their opponents. The key to a Paris victory will likely require them to steal a respawn, which is not going to be an easy task.
Score Prediction: Atlanta Dazed 3–1 Paris Letdown
Thursday
Minnesota Floppr vs Chicago Hunted (Silver South — MWII)
Chicago luckily avoids most maps they’ve had issues with all season long,. However, this Minnesota team is a bit of a mystery as their wins have been to teams that are no longer in the league. We’ll have to see if anything crazy happens here, but I doubt it.
Score Prediction: Chicago Hunted 3–0 Minnesota Floppr
LAG vs Manitoba Mallards (Gold — MWII)
It has been a little bit of a troubling season for Manitoba as they seem to have performed inconsistently at times, although they did almost pull off a surprising victory last week against a solid Maui Chums squad. Take that for what you will. I have Manitoba in the upset here.
Score Prediction: Manitoba Mallards 3–2 LAG
