Atlanta FaZe take down LAT to win Major 2 in Call of Duty League after Methodz announces retirement

Tom Starkey
Cold War Champions Atlanta FaZe have finally resumed winning ways,
clutching up to beat Los Angeles Thieves (LAT) in a thrilling 4-2 best of 7. The
long-awaited victory comes after a trophyless season in Vanguard saw them
drop their main assault rifle player – Arcitys – in place of veteran Slasher, at
the start of this year.
Major 2 also saw a number of records broken, both in individual player kill
records and viewership numbers, as well as the shock mid-tournament
retirement of Call of Duty legend Methodz. Find out everything you need to
know below!

The road to the trophy

Major 2 was far from a certainty for the FaZe, who were taken to a game 5 by
Major hosts Boston Breach in round 1 of the competition on Friday. The team
definitely evidenced a full regain in round 2, steamrollering top team Toronto
Ultra 3-0 before beating a hot Minnesota Rokker 3-2 in round 3.
Meanwhile, LAT began Major 2 in the worst possible way, being reversed
swept by OpTic Texas in the first round to begin their journey to the final in the
loser bracket. However, the team went on an impressive loser bracket run
which saw them take down Florida Mutineers, last Major champions New York
Subliners, Ultra, OpTic Texas, and Rokker before finally running out of steam in
the final.
While OpTic Texas did make it to championship Sunday with a top 4 finish,
they’ll be disappointed overall, after being booted out of the winning bracket
in a brutal 3-0 by Rokker which led to them having to replay a LAT team out for
revenge.
Also disappointed will be Toronto Ultra, who were beaten by both finalists 3-0
to end their competition early on Saturday. But it was Rokker who surprised
everyone with a top 3 finish, proving they are one to watch for Major 3.

Methodz retires from Call of Duty

In an unexpected turn of events, Methodz – who played as the main assault
rifle during Major 2 for hosts Boston Breach – announced his retirement mid-
broadcast immediately after being kicked out of the tournament by OpTic in
round 2.
Call of Duty analyst TacticalRab said, “while it was a bit of a shock, it might
have been expected as there was talked previously about a poor performance
from Boston at this Major meaning that Methodz would be dropped for team
substitute Beanz.”
TacticalRab also commented on the retirement speech he made, which
veteran Methodz ended by saying ‘the future is green’.
“While Boston Breach has green in their logo, Methodz has long been linked
with eSports heavyweights OpTic Gaming and I expect him to make a move to
that organization in a content role.”

Record viewership in danger?

A fantastic weekend of Call of Duty action, which saw a record 300k viewers
across the main channel and watch parties on streaming platform Twitch,
ended on a sour note after the event when rumors began circulating about the
league considering resigning a broadcasting exclusivity deal with YouTube (YT).
The 3-year mega-deal between YT and the Call of Duty league was first signed
in 2019 when the league launched, but it wasn’t renewed at the start of this
season.
The move, which is not unpopular with some viewers due to the better
functionality and wider availability of broadcasts on the YT platform, does
create an issue on the topic of watch parties.
Since his retirement, OpTic Gaming’s Scump – arguably the face of competitive
eSports gaming before his retirement just last month – has seen viewership on
his watch party reach over 100k alone via Twitch. Should a deal with YT be
signed, unless an agreement was made with popular watch parties such as
Scumps, it could mean a significant decline in viewership of the league.
We will keep you up to date on this as it develops.