Mutineers brimming with confidence after weekend win

With opportunities dwindling to climb in the Call of Duty League regular-season standings while at the same time sending a message to the rest of field, it's hard to envision a better weekend than the one the Florida Mutineers just experienced. Entering Week 9 in fifth place and 20 points out of a spot that guarantees a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Mutineers not only ran the table in the Minnesota "home" series but also beat each of the top three teams in the standings to pick up their second series win and move into fourth place.

Perhaps more important, the Mutineers got a major boost of confidence entering the season's final month, leaving the players thinking much bigger now. "In my opinion, I think we're the best in the game, and we kind of showed it going through the gauntlet that we did," Florida's Ricardo "Atura" Lugo said Tuesday during a conference call with media, before noting that winning again this weekend at the Paris "home" series would help convince any doubters.

"It's going to take us to be more consistent and do it two times in a row for people to think we are the best team in the game," Cesar "Skyz" Bueno said, before adding, "I think we have the ability to beat any team on any given day." After an up-and-down run that saw them sandwich 1-2 and 0-2 showings around their first series win (Dallas in April), the Mutineers certainly proved they could beat the CDL's best last weekend.

They began the series Friday with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Huntsmen -- who entered the weekend atop the standings and against whom Florida is now 3-0 this season. The Mutineers then beat the Los Angeles Guerrillas 3-1 on Saturday to move into Sunday's championship round, where they really opened some eyes. After falling behind Dallas 2-1 in the semifinals, the Mutineers stormed back to win the next two maps, edging the Empire 6-5 on Rammaza Search and Destroy to advance to the final. Whatever momentum Florida gained in beating the third-place team in the league, it certainly carried over to the final against the second-place Atlanta FaZe. After the teams split the first two maps, the Mutineers won the next two maps in convincing fashion to win the series.

The match was viewed by many as surprisingly one-sided, but that group doesn't include the Mutineers themselves. "After beating Dallas, who we did think was the better team going into the event, I think after beating them we just knew we could beat FaZe," said Atura, who added that the Mutineers actually scrimmaged with FaZe on Sunday, before their match with the Empire. "As soon as we beat Dallas, we had so much confidence going into that (Atlanta) series."

The Mutineers will get another shot to prove they belong in the "best in the CDL" discussion, and they won't wait long to get it. Florida opens the Paris series against the "host" Legion on Friday, the Mutineers could face Dallas again the following day. And lurking in the other bracket? The FaZe, who now sit atop the standings. And while the move to fourth place puts Florida in a position to get a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Mutineers have their eyes on a top-two seed and the accompanying double bye.

"We know we have the ability to win the event," Skyz said. "We know we're (50 points behind Atlanta), but if we win another event, we still have a chance to get into the top two and get two byes." Atura added, "The guys were making jokes yesterday ... but then we were all really serious. We were like, 'Guys, listen. We just did it this week, we can do it again next week and let's go for that first seed.' ... We really want to go for that first seed regardless of how (far) ahead FaZe is. We think we can actually make that comeback and actually get first place to finish off the year."

But for now, the focus will be on this coming weekend, with Florida well aware of the potential rematch with the Dallas squad it stunned last week. "In my opinion, the biggest obstacle (to winning both this weekend and the ultimate championship) is definitely Dallas," Atura said. "We really have to look forward to Dallas this weekend."

Florida Mutineers Call of Duty League results Launch Weekend

Mutineers 3, Seattle 2 Los Angeles Guerrillas 3, Mutineers 2

Atlanta Weekend London 3, Mutineers 1

Mutineers 3, OpTic Gaming Los Angeles 1 Mutineers 3, London 2

Mutineers 3, Chicago 2 Atlanta 3, Mutineers 0

LOST IN FINAL Los Angeles Weekend

Atlanta 3, Mutineers 0 Mutineers 3, New York 1

Dallas 3, Mutineers 0 LOST IN GROUP FINAL

Dallas Weekend Toronto 3, Mutineers 2

Mutineers 3, Los Angeles Guerrillas 1 Mutineers 3, Toronto 1

Mutineers 3, Chicago 1 Mutineers 3, Minnesota 1

WON WEEKEND Florida Weekend

Minnesota 3, Mutineers 0 New York 3, Mutineers 0

LOST IN GROUP PLAY Minnesota Weekend

Mutineers 3, Chicago 2 Mutineers 3, Los Angeles Guerrillas 1

Mutineers 3, Dallas 2 Mutineers 3, Atlanta 1

WON WEEKEND Florida Mutineers remaining Call of Duty League schedule

July 19-21: Paris series (open vs. Paris) July 17-19: London series (open vs. OpTic Gaming Los Angeles)

July 24-26: Toronto series (open vs. Dallas) Call of Duty League standings through Week 9:

1. Atlanta FaZe, 200 points 2. Chicago Mutineers, 190 points

3. Dallas Empire, 170 points 4. Florida Mutineers, 150 points

5. Minnesota Rokkr, 120 points 6. London Royal Ravens, 80 points

7. OpTic Gaming Los Angeles, 70 points T8. Paris Legion, 60 points

T8. New York Subliners, 60 points T10. Seattle Surge, 50 points

T10. Los Angeles Guerrillas, 50 points 12. Toronto Ultra, 40 points

--Field Level Media