Call of Duty League contenders Toronto Ultra are keeping their skills sharp ahead of Black Ops Cold War‘s release after ending their playoffs season in fifth to sixth position in their playoffs season.
Following a close win against London Royal Ravens in a 4-5 match, Toronto Ultra took their Round 3 against the Dallas Empire late August where they lost 3-2. The matches began with a close tie from their first Hardpoint and Search and Destroy games, until Ultra maintained a lead across their third match in Domination at Gun Runner. Through close support from CleanX and pushing from Methodz, Toronto kept Empire back during the first half of their final 2020 season game.
But as Toronto Ultra pushed towards their next Hardpoint match, Dallas Empire took the lead as they maintained control over their objective and locked their entrances down. As Ultra struggled to advance, Empire members including iLLey stayed to accumulate points while teammate C6 took on an offensive formation. This is where Dallas accelerated with 250 to 107 over Hardpoint for a 2-2 overall tie on Day 3.
Piccadilly became the last point to break a tie between Dallas and Toronto. This was when Empire eliminated each Ultra member, giving them a window to take a 2-0 lead as they planted the device over their objective. The strategy for Dallas came in diving their focus in picking Toronto’s players off through a mix of sniping and direct fire at the center of the map. Despite heavy resistance from Ultra’s CleanX, Cammy and Methodz at the end of the third round, both were eliminated at close range.
Dallas continued with a 4-0 lead, eliminating Toronto’s players before the game switched sides. With Toronto Ultra in the offensive role, Cammy provided sniper suppression and helped bring his team a much-needed win against a 4-1 S&D match. After the ice was broken, Cammy continued to take advantage of Piccadilly’s scaffolding and supported Methodz towards planting the device on the objective. But both were eliminated, with Dallas taking the match point in the final round. Toronto Ultra continued with a 5-2 game, giving themselves one more chance to stay in the game until the Dallas Empire eliminated Methodz and CleanX to take a 6-2 match point.
This gave Dallas Empire the tie-breaking win at the end of their Day 3 match, advancing towards their finals and Call of Duty League Championship win against Atlanta Faze last weekend.
Reactions were strongly supportive from Toronto Ultra to Dallas Empire, congratulating them on their advancement while reflecting on their abrupt season finish.
“I wouldn’t wish this feeling on anyone,” Toronto Ultra player Anthony “Methodz” Zinni tweeted. “Put in so much time and improved drastically, only to lose to ourselves in the end. Thank you for the support this season & sorry to those weβve let down, we all wanted so much more than this.”
Methodz thanked fans for their support across the team’s biggest season to date, following a promising Round 1 against the London Royal Ravens and Round 2 over the Florida Mutineers. Despite a few lags between teams from remotely playing, London’s roster managed to maintain its lead until Toronto Ultra broke a tie on the last Hardpoint match. Toronto secured its checkpoint as they held London back, reaching the 250 goal and advancing into their second Playoffs game against the Florida Mutineers.
Following the win mid-season, Toronto Ultra player Anthony “Methodz” Zinni commented on the abrupt connection problems for London earlier in August and hoped things would improve for how League matches continued to be managed over the internet. Of course, LAN connections and high-profile matches in person are still on ice as Call of Duty teams worldwide are playing away from the stadiums this year. But Methodz and the team are also keeping their strategies locked in – something the team hopes will solidify Toronto’s place in the League during its first year in the Playoffs.
“I think we want to iron out games a little more smoothly, like in our win we had some close maps that could have been not so close if we did a few things differently,” Methodz said in a press conference earlier this week, ahead of their first London match. “I I think for our mental – it’d be nice to close them out a little bit earlier and really just iron everything out and make it so we make as little mistakes as possible because obviously this is a tournament where you know the smallest mistake can cost you.”
The team said they were also “surprised” by how support from the 6ix was just as consistent.
“I’ve never had anything like it before until this year,” Toronto Ultra player Cameron “Cammy” McKilligan said, calling it an encouraging reception from the city during their challenging season. “And obviously throughout the whole year, even though we’ve been struggling or doing well, like the support from the fans has been unreal. And then obviously, getting some good gas from them is always the best thing ever.”
Cammy also tweeted out for London following their game as the internet connections became a bigger threat for teams across their Search & Destroy and Hardpoint rounds. It was also the second instance for interruptions to hit the Royal Ravens during their intense moments. These drops in connection would cause unintended glitches, including all team members freezing in the map or a complete crash which sends players back to the Modern Warfare‘s menu. Tobias Juul “CleanX” JΓΈnsson also took to Twitter with his Toronto Ultra teammates, but ending on a bittersweet Good Game message.
“I still feel like we’re one of the teams that are very overlooked,” CleanX stated in the conference, adding Toronto’s late start in the Call of Duty League also meant fitting in with other existing competitive teams. “Compared to the top six were like, who’s won more events than we have. But definitely feel like people are starting to look at us as a more competitive team then before the event win.”
The team representing the 6ix have also secured $300,000 in winnings from the 2020 CDL playoffs season. Toronto Ultra will continue as League contenders during the next playoffs, as the release of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War changes the tournament yet again. This would give the team a new playing field, along with different offensive and defensive strategies based on weapons. The team tuned into Warzone for the live reveal, which happened as an in-game event over Modern Warfare‘s battle royale mode.
Following the announcement, Toronto Ultra also confirmed Cammy would be returning to the team’s 2021 lineup as they play for CDL under Treyarch’s latest title. Leading the team as head coach is Mark Bryceland, who would also be back to give the team some pointers during training and research from other team tactics.
Recently, Activision announced the Call of Duty League would be bringing back their four vs. four format for Black Ops Cold War, pitting quads against each other across its game modes. Toronto Ultra reacted with excitement after their team played with five members over the 2020 Playoff season. This puts Cammy with three other members as they take on four other opponents over 2021 CDL.
Of course, this year’s Call of Duty League was done remotely for teams amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The remote connections were also an issue for teams playing live, while many of the matches were interrupted. It’s unclear whether or not Black Ops Cold War‘s implementation for CDL will have the same issues, as the worldwide pandemic continues to maintain social distancing and travel restrictions. This also leaves live events and stage-tournaments to uncertainty, while the second annual CDL eSports tournament continues into 2021. Toronto Ultra is currently 7 out of 12 in the overall CDL standings.
