Atlanta FaZe can claim No. 1 spot with Florida series win

The Call of Duty League returns with eight teams competing in the Florida Mutineers' home series beginning Friday. The other seven teams competing in the May 8-10 event are the Toronto Ultra, New York Subliners, Minnesota Rokkr, Paris Legion, Atlanta FaZe, Optic Gaming L.A. and London Royal Ravens.

The FaZe reached the finals of the Chicago Huntsmen home series last month, losing 3-1 to the Dallas Empire, and are favored entering the Florida series. Dallas is atop the standings with 150 points, followed by the Chicago Huntsmen (130) and FaZe (120), with the Rokkr and Mutineers tied with 100 points each. This weekend provides an opportunity for several teams to make up distance in the standings, with a big gap to the Legion in sixth place with 60 points and Ravens and Seattle Surge tied with 40. The Ultra, Subliners, OpTic Gaming and Los Angeles Guerillas each enter this week with only 20 points.

Group A includes the Ultra vs. Subliners and Mutineers vs. Rokkr, with Group B comprised of the Legion taking on FaZe and OpTic Gaming playing the Ravens. Two teams will advance from each group to the four-team, single-elimination bracket over the weekend. Ten CDL points are awarded for each match victory, with the mini-tournament winner earning another 10 points. The second-place team will earn 30 points for the weekend, with 20 points each going to the third- and fourth-placed teams and 10 points each for the fifth- and sixth-placed finishers.

The Bracket Finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. The FaZe will be looking to avenge their finals loss to the Empire in the Chicago event, and Atlanta will emerge from the weekend with the points lead if it wins the tournament.

Atlanta has been one of the teams to be from the outset of the season, but Dallas coach and general manager Raymond "Rambo" Lussier said the fact that the Fuel's Chicago win came in an online event doesn't diminish the accomplishment. "We don't really have a choice right now, and it's the same playing field for everyone. Everyone's gotta deal with the same circumstances.

"Everything counts towards the points for the end of the year, so it's a race for us to get the best seed possible." The season is being streamed exclusively on YouTube.

--Field Level Media