It is crunch time in the Call of Duty League season with the final Major of the year just over the horizon.

Major Five will be hosted by Toronto Ultra later in May but before then the 12 teams which make up the Call of Duty League will compete in the Major Five qualifiers. 

This will involve each side playing five qualifying games each to determine the seeding for the main event. 

Major Five will be the last chance teams have to secure CDL points ahead of the end-of-season Call of Duty Championship. 

The Championship will take place in Las Vegas in June and only the top eight teams in the overall Call of Duty League standings will qualify with spots still up for grabs heading into Major Five. 

The first batch of qualifiers were held on Friday with Atlanta FaZe, OpTic Texas and Toronto Ultra all running out winners. 

Here is a look at the next batch of qualifiers taking place on Saturday, including Minnesota ROKKR vs London Royal Ravens, Las Vegas Legion vs New York Subliners and Minnesota ROKKR vs Boston Breach.

Punters should not rush to back a Minnesota side in need of points

Major Five will be particularly crucial for Minnesota ROKKR, who went into the qualifiers in eighth place in the overall Call of Duty League standings, meaning they hold the final Call of Duty League Championship berth. 

They are, however, only on 150 points overall with Las Vegas Legion only 20 points behind them going into these qualifiers, so they will be feeling the need for points. 

On Saturday they have two shots at glory with London Royal Ravens first up before a clash with Boston Breach later in the day but it is hard to be too optimistic about Minnesota given their recent qualifying performances. 

In qualifying for Major Three, Minnesota ROKKR finished with a shocking 0-5 win-loss record and, while that was slightly improved at Major Four, they were still on the back foot, losing three of their five matches. 

In the main event in Major Four, they could only reach the third round of the lower bracket, so they have not exactly been lighting up the Call of Duty League and punters should not rush to back them at 2/5 against London Royal Ravens. 

In the most recent Major, the Royal Ravens pushed Minnesota close in a 3-2 defeat and a bet on over 4.5 maps could be worthwhile at 7/4.

Legion could cause problems for the Subliners

Las Vegas Legion are knocking on the door for a place in the top eight in the Call of Duty League and they could make an impression against New York Subliners on Saturday. 

Major Four did not go according to plan for Legion, who were beaten 3-0 by the Subliners in the upper bracket before losing their subsequent match 3-2 against Florida Mutineers in the lower bracket. 

But while the Major itself was underwhelming, Legion impressed in qualifying with a 4-1 win-loss record, putting them level with Los Angeles Thieves, Seattle Surge and the Subliners themselves. 

There is more unpredictability about the qualifiers and Legion certainly have plenty to play for, so they are worth a bet at +1.5 on the match handicap at 11/10.

Related Esports News

Esports: Friday MSI Play-In match previews

Esports: CS:GO Brazy Party final

ROKKR and Breach could be tough to split

Minnesota ROKKR's second match on Saturday is a bit tougher as they prepare to take on Boston Breach. 

Breach have not won a Major themselves in 2023 but they are just above ROKKR in the overall Call of Duty League standings and are on course to feature at the end-of-season Championship. 

Breach failed to make it beyond the first round of the last Major's main event but in fairness opened with two tough fixtures against OpTix Texas and Toronto Ultra and they took maps off each of them. 

They went 2-3 in their last Major qualifying campaign - the same as Minnesota - and there may not be a lot between these sides. 

Over 3.5 maps could make appeal to some at 4/11 but for a bit more value, opt for Minnesota at +1.5 on the match handicap at 8/11 if you expect there to be less between these sides than the prices suggest.

bet365 News Team

• • 
  •