The roster for this new team will feature Saudi players Roxas, Exnid, KingAbody, and KHHX, who most recently competed at the Esports World Cup, finishing in the top 16.

Lewis “LewTee” Todd, the coach of the Falcons, expressed his excitement and gratitude for the opportunity, acknowledging the challenges ahead but emphasising the team’s potential and the support of an entire region behind them.

The Falcons’ entry into the CDL marks the end of the Legion’s run, which began as the Paris Legion in 2019 before relocating to Las Vegas in 2022.

THE FALCONS ARE UNLEASHED!

We’re ready to dominate the @CODLeague
— @VegasFalcons #FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/dqU9hikt3q

— Team Falcons (@TeamFalconsGG) August 21, 2024

The Legion had a lacklustre performance throughout its tenure, never quite making a significant impact in the league.

In addition to the Falcons’ entry, rumours are swirling about further shake-ups in the CDL.

Esports organisations like Fnatic and Gen.G are reportedly in talks to replace the Carolina Royal Ravens and Los Angeles Guerrillas.

Fnatic, which last competed in Call of Duty esports in 2017, and Gen.G, which had a strong presence in 2019, are both potentially returning to the scene.

Meanwhile, the future of Boston Breach is uncertain, with reports suggesting that their parent company, Oxygen Esports, may cease operations despite earlier denials.

These developments come amid broader changes within the CDL, following mass layoffs at Activision Blizzard and shifts in how the league is managed.

As the transition to the upcoming Black Ops 6 season approaches, the Call of Duty esports landscape appears to be on the cusp of significant transformations, with more roster and franchise changes expected in the coming weeks.

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Seattle Surge and Las Vegas Legion last met in the second week of Call of Duty League 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, when Las Vegas won on map five. It was a chaotic game, with the teams going back and forth until the Legion closed out the series with 6-4 on Search & Destroy – 6 Star.

Across their final games of the qualifiers last week, both squads looked shaky, struggling to find traction before heading to Burbank. And considering neither is particularly efficient on LAN, we can expect another closely contested game.

A bet on over 4.5 maps isn’t a terrible choice, but we prefer Las Vegas Legion at outsider odds.

Toronto Ultra are the second favourites to win CDL 2024 Major 4 with Call of Duty betting sites, and that’s not surprising considering how dominant they were in the qualifiers. They lost their first game against Seattle Surge but then collected six victories, including a 3-2 win against Atlanta FaZe and a 3-0 sweep of OpTic Texas.

Los Angeles Guerrillas barely finished the qualifiers inside the top eight, scraping in with a 3-4 record thanks to the complete collapse of Las Vegas Legion in the third week. This was also the Guerrillas’ tied-best placement in an online stage this season, which says a lot about where they stand.

There’s not a single reason to believe Toronto Ultra can lose this game. They’re consistent, efficient in beating lesser teams, and have already beaten Los Angeles Guerrillas three times since January.

New York Subliners ended CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers with a disappointing 4-3 record, which includes a 2-3 loss to Atlanta FaZe in the opening week. On paper, the Subliners held on well in that match, but it’s important to note that FaZe didn’t perform like themselves on that day.

Since then, the Subliners have looked somewhat shaky, especially towards the end of the qualifiers, with a close five-game victory against Minnesota R?KKR and a loss against Los Angeles Thieves.

Atlanta FaZe had a slow start to CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, but they quickly found their rhythm and showed much cleaner performances in the final four games of the stage. Their Control still needs a lot more work, and it could be a weak spot New York will take advantage of.

So, while we can give the Subliners a map, anything more seems unlikely.

In what should be the closest game of the day, Los Angeles Thieves meet Miami Heretics for the fourth time this season. Two of those clashes ended in favour of Miami, but the Thieves won the only LAN match between the two.

Both sides won four games during CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers and performed similarly well. But the Heretics had a tougher schedule, and their only three defeats came against OpTic Texas, Toronto Ultra, and Atlanta FaZe.

This should be a competitive series, and even though Los Angeles Thieves deserve some recognition for their solid showing at the last LAN, Miami Heretics shouldn’t be priced as underdogs.

Esports betting tips

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Seattle Surge suffered their second loss of Call of Duty League 2024 Major 4 last Sunday against Las Vegas Legion. In contrast, the Miami Heretics picked up their third victory of the stage against the Carolina Royal Ravens in a fairly one-sided series.

Both teams are 3-2 heading into this match, and they’ve both had their moments over the last three weeks. The Seattle Surge have shown higher highs, whereas Miami Heretics have seemed more stable with dominant wins against weaker teams and tough losses against superior squads.

The last two meetings between Seattle Surge and Miami Heretics extended to five maps, and considering their form, there’s a good chance we’ll see another close affair.

Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra are guaranteed a top-eight finish this online stage, but there’s still pride on the line as the two CDL title contenders clash for the sixth time this season.

Of the five meetings, Toronto Ultra have won all but one — during CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers — which includes a close 3-2 victory in the winners’ finals at the previous Call of Duty League Major. So not only have Toronto Ultra beaten FaZe online, but they’ve also proven to be the better team on LAN.

Even though Toronto Ultra have not accomplished as much as FaZe this season, they’re one of the few teams that can cause Atlanta FaZe problems. Admittedly, FaZe have looked much more potent over the last three weeks of CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers, but this doesn’t justify them being priced as such big favourites. Value is with Toronto Ultra.

Las Vegas Legion have been very up and down so far in this online stage. They lost against Toronto Ultra in the first week, then picked up three wins against New York Subliners, OpTic Texas, and Seattle Surge, but lost their most recent outing against Los Angeles Guerrillas.

This confirms what was already known: the Legion are highly volatile, although capable of causing upsets.

The Los Angeles Thieves have not been as inconsistent with their showings. They have beaten teams they were expected to but also crumbled against Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra last week — although the Thieves showed some resistance, namely on Hardpoint and Control maps.

Las Vegas Legion have shown high highs this online stage, but they’re not to be trusted when expected to do well. They’re also 0-2 down in the head-to-head with Los Angeles Thieves, which makes backing Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe and co. an easy choice.

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Boston Breach are by far the worst-performing team in the Call of Duty League (CDL). They’re on a streak of 10 consecutive losses and have not won a match since March. Over that stretch, Boston Breach have managed to force their opponents to five maps in seven series but that doesn’t mean they were ever close to winning a game.

Seattle Surge are doing quite well and on a opposite trajectory to the Breach. Surge have won four of their last five series, which includes two against Toronto Ultra and Minnesota R?KKR in the first week of the qualifiers.
There’s not much to analyse here. Even though Seattle Surge are not one of the top title contenders, they’re significantly stronger than Boston Breach, who don’t seem capable of beating anyone.

New York Subliners had a weird run through the first week of CDL 2024 Major 4 Qualifiers. They barely made it past Carolina Royal Ravens and then had a shaky showing against Atlanta FaZe on Sunday.

Las Vegas Legion ended last week with a 0-3 loss to Toronto Ultra and a surprise 3-2 victory against OpTic Texas. The Legion are now 2-2 with their newest addition, Giancarlos “oJohnny” Carrasco, and have shown some improvement – but still have a long way to go.

New York Subliners are the better team with a much higher ceiling than the Legion. But they’ve not looked as polished and unless they step up, we could be in for a competitive game on Saturday.

Los Angeles Thieves had to grind out a game-five victory against Los Angeles Guerrillas in their opening CDL 2024 Major 4 Week 1 match. But then found more success against Boston Breach, who they swept aside without any issues.

Carolina Royal Ravens lost both of their matches last week against Los Angeles Guerrillas and New York Subliners, which isn’t too inspiring. They looked terrible against the Guerrillas and didn’t show much more against the New York Subliners – putting them in a questionable spot ahead of a very tough schedule.

Los Angeles Thieves already beat Carolina Royal Ravens twice this season, both times on map five. This time, it should be no different, but considering how shaky the Royal Ravens looked last week, the Los Angeles Thieves should be able to win with a bit more to spare.

Esports betting tips

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Los Angeles Thieves finished the Call of Duty League 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers in fourth place and looked set to make a splash on LAN. But the Thieves failed to make it far in Toronto, suffering an early second-round exit against Miami Heretics.

Losing to Heretics isn’t that worrying, but the Thieves also had an iffy showing against Boston Breach in round one, suggesting they might not be as good as they seemed a few weeks back.

Los Angeles Guerrillas are not as much of an enigma. While you could rank them above Boston Breach, anything more is too optimistic. Still, the Guerrillas are much more efficient online and are 3-1 up in the head-to-head against the Thieves, who haven’t shown enough recently to earn the tag of -333.33 favourites.

Toronto Ultra are the clear third-best team in the league, behind Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Texas. They had some distinct issues over the first three stages of the season, namely with Search & Destroy, but even that doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

In CDL 2024 Major 3, Toronto Ultra managed to grind out some great wins on Search & Destroy and showed great consistency on respawns, earning them a silver medal and a ticket to the CDL Championship.

Las Vegas Legion exited CDL 2024 Major 3 in the first round, which marked their worst LAN result of the season, but that was expected after what they showed in the qualifying stage.

Legion took a map in two of their three meetings with Ultra this season, but they’re now in worse form, whereas Toronto Ultra are improving. A 3-0 sweep seems likely.

Miami Heretics placed fifth-sixth at CDL Major 3, which is a massive improvement on their consecutive 9th-12th finishes in the first two LAN events. That result didn’t come easy, but Miami Heretics earned it with solid performances against the Las Vegas Legion and Los Angeles Thieves.

Their only loss of CDL 2024 Major 3 came against OpTic Texas, who beat them 3-1 in the third round of the lower bracket. That doesn’t sound too inspiring ahead of this fixture, but we can’t ignore Miami Heretics’ recent improvement.

By winning CDL 2024 Major 3, OpTic Texas earned the tag as the strongest CoD team in the league. They’re still 20 points short of catching up to FaZe in the season standings, yet their improvement since the second stage is noticeable.

It’s very difficult to doubt OpTic Texas and their chances to defeat Miami Heretics. Still, there’s a very good chance they drop a map — as OpTic typically do online.

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Las Vegas Legion have won one series this Call of Duty League split, but even that was against Los Angeles Guerrillas in the opening week. Since then, the Legion haven’t shown much, with five back-to-back losses against Los Angeles Thieves, OpTic Texas, Seattle Surge, Atlanta FaZe, and New York Subliners.

Boston Breach have accumulated five defeats, losing to Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR, Los Angeles Guerrillas, OpTic Texas, and Los Angeles Thieves. Results-wise, the Breach look as bad as the Legion, and the eye test confirms it.

Eric “Snoopy” Pérez has been playing better recently and is a big reason Boston Breach are decent on Control. Still, they are 0-9 in Search & Destroy, and their Hardpoint is hardly better than the Legion’s.

This should be a scrappy game, and it might just go the distance.

Minnesota R?KKR have to win on Saturday to end the stage in the top eight. The same applies to Carolina Royal Ravens, who also have a 2-4 record, albeit with a better map differential (-2) compared to R?KKR (-9).

Both sides belong in this stage’s bottom tier, and there aren’t many reasons to feel optimistic about the Royal Ravens. Yet there are even fewer reasons to back Minnesota R?KKR in this contest.

The Royal Ravens have had a few decent showings over the first four weeks. They took Search & Destroy from FaZe and nearly won on Hardpoint last week, having done the exact same thing against Toronto Ultra earlier in the stage.

Even though the Royal Ravens have many things to work on, they’ve shown some glimpses of greatness. The same can’t be said for Minnesota R?KKR, who have so far played only one decent game — a reverse sweep against LA Thieves in Week 3.

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Despite placing third in CDL Major 2, New York Subliners haven’t looked great in CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers due to some teamwork issues. They won against Minnesota R?KKR in the first round but then lost to Carolina Royal Ravens, Seattle Surge, and Atlanta FaZe.

Las Vegas Legion’s only highlight of the split was a five-map series against Los Angeles Thieves, but even that should’ve ended in a 3-0 sweep for the Thieves. Since then, the Legion have lost to OpTic Texas and Seattle Surge, both 0-3.

It’s hard to trust New York Subliners in the state they’re in. But it’s even more difficult to believe in the Las Vegas Legion and their ability to win the series.

Atlanta FaZe are in cruise control heading into the fourth week of CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers. After claiming the second Major of the season, they are already guaranteed a top-eight finish having won all four games of the split.

Last week, Atlanta FaZe crushed the struggling New York Subliners in four maps. That followed wins over two other two contenders, Toronto Ultra and OpTic Texas, in the opening two weeks. FaZe still have some work to do, namely on Highrise – Control, but that may be their only weakness.

Carolina Royal Ravens showed some improvement early in the qualifiers but then crumbled in Week 3 with defeats against Los Angeles Thieves and Toronto Ultra. While results like that don’t make the Royal Ravens one of the bottom CDL teams, they prove that James “Clayster” Eubanks and his crew aren’t ready for FaZe.

Los Angeles Guerrillas are priced as huge underdogs for their series against OpTic Texas, and this is not an overreaction. OpTic are clearly one of the top two teams in the CDL, whereas the Guerrillas are tipped to end this stage outside the top eight.

Los Angeles Guerrillas have won two series over the three weeks, but they’ve only beaten two struggling teams in Boston Breach and Minnesota R?KKR. OpTic Texas, on the other side, have lost only to Atlanta FaZe.

As the CoD esports betting odds suggest, this should be a one-horse race.

Esports betting tips

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While Los Angeles Thieves needed five maps to beat Las Vegas Legion last Sunday, it could have easily ended in three. It marked their third victory over a six-game stretch, which includes one concerning loss against Los Angeles Guerrillas in the second Call of Duty Major.

Miami Heretics defeated Boston Breach last week, bouncing back from two 0-3 defeats against OpTic Texas and Carolina Royal Ravens in CDL 2024 Major 2. With that, the Heretics showed they are still ready to fight, but their showings over the last month have left a lot to be desired.

Los Angeles Thieves still have a lot of work to do, but they’re stronger than their recent record would suggest. Besides the few defeats against their city rivals, LA Thieves haven’t been losing against any teams outside of the top four. Expect that trend to continue.

Las Vegas Legion ended the first week of CDL 2024 Major 3 Qualifiers with a 3-0 sweep of Los Angeles Guerrillas and a 2-3 defeat against Los Angeles Thieves. Even at CDL 2024 Major 2, the Legion produced mixed results, beating Seattle Surge and losing to Toronto Ultra and Carolina Royal Ravens.

Consistency isn’t the Legion’s strong suit, but they look much cleaner than they did in the first stage. They’re decent on Hardpoint and can be competitive on Search & Destroy as long as they don’t play on Invasion.

OpTic Texas are undoubtedly one of the league’s top CoD esports teams. They’re 18-7 on the season, although five of those losses came against Atlanta FaZe. Still, it’s important to note that OpTic often drop maps, as they’ve managed just four clean sweeps, and even a few of those came close to extending to one more map.

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Las Vegas Legion have made significant progress during CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers, ending the online stage in fifth place with a 5-2 record. They rounded out the qualifiers with a solid week, beating Seattle Surge and Carolina Royal Ravens.

The Legion have proven themselves as one of the more consistent bottom-eight teams in the league, but it remains to be seen how they’ll do against the top contenders in Miami.

Toronto Ultra are one of the top-four teams in the CDL, but like Atlanta FaZe, they’ve not looked good on Search & Destroy. On respawns, Toronto Ultra tends to take care of business, but so does Las Vegas Legion, so the winner of this match is not as clear as the CoD esports betting odds might suggest.

Las Vegas Legion can be a bit inconsistent and has a lower ceiling than Toronto Ultra. However, out of the elite four teams, Toronto Ultra are also the most flawed, so it’s not entirely unlikely for the Legion to take a map or two on Thursday.

Boston Breach finished CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers 3-4, with defeats against Atlanta FaZe, OpTic Texas, Las Vegas Legion, and the New York Subliners. They secured a nice 3-0 victory against Seattle Surge in the final round of the qualifiers, but besides trashing weaker sides, the Breach haven’t looked amazing.

Boston Breach already lost this match in the second week of the online stage quite badly. The Subliners have since not slowed down, so expecting the rematch to go differently seems too optimistic.

New York Subliners are a stronger side, and they’re up against a team that doesn’t have the talent to compete for top spots, nor is Boston Breach a very good LAN squad. We can expect another quick 3-0 on Thursday.

Miami Heretics secured a spot in the winners’ bracket by the skin of their teeth. They were 0-5 ahead of the penultimate round of the online stage and then won their final two series against Carolina Royal Ravens and Minnesota R?KKR. But even that doesn’t count for much.

Miami Heretics have given us very little to feel excited about, and their rough losses against any team above them in the standings prove that the Heretics aren’t ready to produce a deep run on LAN.

OpTic Texas completed online qualifiers with a perfect 7-0 record and a 68% map win rate. This puts them on top of the list of serious CDL 2024 Major 2 title contenders, even though they had to grind out game-five victories against the Subliners and Toronto Ultra.

OpTic Texas is known for choking on LAN and is still capable of crashing out of CDL 2024 Major 2. But it’s tough to believe they’ll struggle to beat Miami Heretics.

Like the Las Vegas Legion, Los Angeles Thieves have shown immense improvement during the online stage. They ended the qualifiers in sixth place with a 4-3 record and only three losses against Atlanta FaZe, OpTic Texas, and Toronto Ultra. On the other side, the Thieves picked up wins against Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR, Los Angeles Guerrillas, and Las Vegas Legion.

Los Angeles Thieves performed well against any team below them, but they have not looked good on control throughout the online stage, which seems to be their biggest weakness.

Atlanta FaZe suffered a shocking loss against Los Angeles Guerrillas on Sunday, which might not mean much in the greater picture; however, it highlights that FaZe are still not at 100%. They posted good results in the qualifiers, but Atlanta FaZe haven’t looked comfortable on Search & Destroy.

Atlanta FaZe should win, but Los Angeles Thieves should be able to take a bite out of them.

Esports betting tips

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Carolina Royal Ravens enter the final week of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers with a bag of mixed results. They have so far lost against Boston Breach, OpTic Texas, New York Subliners, and Miami Heretics, while their only two victories came against Los Angeles Guerrillas and Seattle Surge.

With a 2-4 record, Carolina Royal Ravens need just one win to secure a top-eight finish, and while they should be able to accomplish that, Royal Ravens have only looked good when facing bottom teams.

Las Vegas Legion are 3-2 and in a good spot before the second CDL Major, but they have had a fairly easy schedule so far, so their record might be a bit misleading. Las Vegas Legion have some clear weaknesses and have only looked somewhat decent on Hardpoint.

Las Vegas Legion’s price on this match is very close to what we’re getting on their match against the Seattle Surge, which doesn’t sound right. Carolina Royal Ravens are stronger than Surge and are a solid value bet at +138.

Minnesota R?KKR and Miami Heretics picked up their first wins of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers last week against Seattle Surge and Carolina Royal Ravens, respectively.

Miami Heretics haven’t looked good across the last four weeks, but we must respect what they showed against the Royal Ravens on Search & Destroy and on Control. Whether that was a sign of improvement is unclear, but Miami Heretics have the talent to do well.

Minnesota R?KKR defeated Seattle Surge on Saturday, but that’s hardly worth celebrating. More impressive were their three map-five losses against Los Angeles Thieves, Boston Breach, and Toronto Ultra across the first three weeks of the stage.

Miami Heretics and Minnesota R?KKR look fairly even. Heretics have a better map record on Hardpoint (12-11) than R?KKR (12-17) and have performed better on Search & Destroy with 8-11 compared to 10-14. R?KKR have a better record on Control with 10-7 to 7-8.

This could be a close game, but Miami Heretics shouldn’t be priced as underdogs.

Los Angeles Thieves have found some traction recently and are 3-2 ahead of the final week of CDL 2024 Major 2 Qualifiers. However, they’ve only beaten Miami Heretics, Minnesota R?KKR and Las Vegas Legion, so they might not be ready to face Toronto Ultra head-on.

Toronto Ultra lost to OpTic Texas on Sunday, when they won Hardpoints but got humiliated on Control and both Search & Destroy maps with a combined record of 1-15. That loss highlighted Toronto Ultra’s map pool problem with Search & Destroy, which Los Angeles Thieves could take advantage of.

The two Search & Destroy maps Toronto Ultra lost against OpTic were Karachi and Terminal, which happen to be two maps the Thieves are good on. So, there is a reason to believe the Thieves can do some damage.

Even on Control, Toronto Ultra aren’t great, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Thieves do some serious damage on Saturday.

Esports betting tips

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