In the COD League Dallas Homestand, it was an exciting Sunday of competition with the Minnesota Rokkr and Florida Mutineers meeting in the Finals. Each team had to overcome tough opponents in the Chicago Huntsmen for Florida and the hometown Dallas Empire for Minnesota. Of course, all of this was done in an online-only environment due to the impact of COVID-19 aka coronavirus.
Minnesota entered the day with a lead over Florida in the points table and they established themselves as the team to beat early on. The series started off competitive with Minnesota clutching out the first Hardpoint on Piccadilly. Florida initially jumped out to a lead, but the Rokkr climbed back into the match, re-took the point, and held on to it late when Florida made a desperate push at the end. It appeared as if we were in for a tight contest between the two teams.
Sally @silly702 is here to play! @ROKKR take the Azhir Cave Hardpoint 250-241.
SnD on Piccadilly https://t.co/oKMZKln6l8#ROKKR | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/exCrc1TSxl
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 13, 2020
From that point, though, it was anything but a close competition. The Florida Mutineers entered the Dallas Homestand as underdogs, but when they play the way they did from this point forward it’s hard to not consider them a dangerous darkhorse in future tournaments. They started off with an absolutely dominant 6-2 victory in Search and Destroy. It wasn’t even one of those matches where the final score appeared more lopsided than the how the games actually played out. Florida was frequently in the lead, applying pressure, and hardly ever had to clutch out victories.
Florida @Mutineers show off their offensive power with a 6-2 SnD win
Map 3 https://t.co/oKMZKln6l8#FearTheDeep | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/EdTKdefnEn
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 13, 2020
At that point, Florida had found its groove and Minnesota was showing some visible frustration. The broadcast gave a glimpse into the comms of Minnesota during this matchup and it was clear that it was feeling the pressure Florida was putting on it. The Mutineers cruised to victory and entered map four with a commanding looking 2-1 lead and a chance to win the entire tournament on Map 4.
Florida @Mutineers capture the Domination 194-117 and are knocking on @ROKKR's door with a 2-1 series lead.
Hardpoint on Gun Runner is next! https://t.co/oKMZKln6l8#FearTheDeep pic.twitter.com/pOgW8fHlnl
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) April 13, 2020
This would have been an incredible opportunity for Minnesota to retake the momentum and force the series into a winner take all Map 5, but Florida made sure that didn’t happen. The Mutineers immediately won the initial skirmishes to take a commanding lead and midway through the game they had accumulated a 100 point lead, as it became very apparent that Florida was going to cruise on its way to its first homestand tournament victory of the season.
CHAMPIONS
Damn it feels good to be a Mutineer #FearTheDeep pic.twitter.com/CePuxbjDjt
— Florida Mutineers (@Mutineers) April 13, 2020
Florida had an early slip up on Map 1, but from that point on it was all Mutineers. They dominated the final and we’ll see if they can turn this momentum into a mid-season rise up the table.
Written by: Uproxx