Burbank in California plays host to the Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major this week and it promises to be a cracker.
Following a four-week stint of qualifying matches, the 12 teams from the Call of Duty League are all readying themselves for the next Major with a prize pool of $375,000 up for grabs.
The fourth Major of the season will once again feature a double-elimination bracket with the top eight teams from qualifying starting in the winners' bracket and the other four sides starting in the losers' bracket and at risk of elimination from the start.
Matches will be played in an initial best-of-five format until the final, when it will be best-of-seven.
Carolina Royal Ravens had been due to host the Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major but chose to withdraw from hosting duties earlier in the year, so this Major will take place on LAN with no live audience.
But it still promises to be a cracker, especially as three different teams won the first three Majors of this year's Call of Duty League campaign.
There have been three different winners of Call of Duty League Majors this year and each of them will attract attention in the betting for the Stage 4 Major.
OpTic Texas are unlikely to be the pick of many after the team went 1-6 in an underwhelming qualifying campaign.
But it was the reverse for other Major winners Toronto Ultra and Atlanta FaZe, who both finished with 6-1 records in qualifying.
Of course any team could come out of nowhere and forge a title challenge but it looks as though this will be a battle between Ultra and FaZe.
And at odds of +175, Toronto Ultra are worth a wager to win the Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major.
Ultra lost 3-2 to Seattle Surge in their first Stage 4 Major qualifier but bounced back with six successive wins in response.
As part of that run, they even beat title rivals Atlanta FaZe 3-2 and they wrapped up top spot in qualifying, giving them top seed, with a 3-0 win over OpTic Texas.
In that final game there was a terrific performance from Danish ace Tobias "CleanX" Jonsson, who posted 71 kills, and he could be influential in this tournament.
There are reasons to get behind FaZe but their recent defeat to Ultra tempers enthusiasm and given the prices, Toronto are the best bet.
A final between Atlanta FaZe and Toronto Ultra is a strong possibility, certainly as far as the betting is concerned, but New York Subliners represent value at +250 to crash the part and make the final.
Outside of the big two, the Subliners have been one of the more impressive Call of Duty League teams recently.
They were one of five sides to finish with a 4-3 record during Stage 4 Major qualifying but it is worth noting they were also the only team to defeat Toronto in that same run.
They are fourth in the 2024 Call of Duty League overall standings, winning 20 of their 32 matches this season, and they could once again be there or thereabouts.
In the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major, New York Subliners showed plenty of promise with a run to the semi-finals of the losers' bracket before bowing out with a narrow 3-2 defeat to OpTic Texas.
The decline of OpTic Texas during Stage 4 Major qualifying has weakened the competition and there is a big jump between New York Subliners at +650 and OpTic Texas at +1000 in the Stage 4 Major betting.
For that reason, the Subliners look the most likely to reach the final away from the big two.
Atlanta FaZe | -110 |
Toronto Ultra | +175 |
New York Subliners | +650 |
OpTic Texas | +1000 |
Seattle Surge | +1600 |
LA Thieves | +2000 |
Miami Heretics | +2500 |
Las Vegas Legion | +5000 |
LA Guerrillas | +10000 |
Carolina Royal Ravens | +25000 |
Minnesota ROKKR | +50000 |
Boston Breach | +50000 |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.