The Call of Duty League (CDL) season for 2026 is about to begin its penultimate event, Call of Duty Champs, on Thursday, July 16th, and with that I’d like to give a quick summary of the season so far, along with a preview, and predictions, for what’s known as “The Big One” of Call of Duty Esports.
Throughout the season there have been four consensus top teams, with each winning a Major, a big in-person tournament set throughout the season, and being a top four seed going into CoD Champs. I believe these teams have the highest chance of taking the world title and achieving the ultimate goal of a Call of Duty professional, hoisting the CoD Champs trophy.
The Major I Champions, Paris Gentle Mates, have undoubtedly had the most chaotic season of the major winners, making a two-man roster move after a dismal Major III performance. This change saw the surprising departure of star player Travis “Neptune” McCloud, and Dylan “Envoy” Hannon, for the monster SMG player from Toronto KOI, Joseph “JoeDeceives” Romero, and Minnesota Rokkr’s own Justice “Estreal” McMillan who both slid in alongside the duo of Daunte “Sib” Gray and Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe. With many skeptics of the roster change, Paris showed promise during Major IV, with the support of a rowdy French crowd behind them the entire weekend, ending up with a 3rd-place finish, falling to eventual winners OpTic Texas. This Gentle Mates roster has the potential to finish anywhere at Champs, but having the firepower of Ghosty, JoeDeceives, and Sib with the playmaking ability of Estreal, this team could return to form and come out with a first world championship for all 4 players.
Major II Champions FaZe Vegas, with a roster of entry player Jovan “04” Rodriguez, the Belgian Beast of Jordan “Abuzah” François, CDL villain Zack “Drazah” Jordan, and one of the best CoD players of all time, Chris “Simp” Lehr, were somewhat surprise winners of Major II after lackluster online matches and a very unimpressive 3-1 loss to an OpTic Texas team they would go on to beat after reaching the Grand Finals through the losers bracket. They’ve been competitive the rest of the season, with consecutive 4th place finishes at Major III and IV, but they haven’t quite reached their peak. However, it’s very hard to count out Simp whenever Champs rolls around, due to his takeover ability and incredible talent, he could decide to carry this FaZe team all the way to another world championship.
Major III Champions Los Angeles Thieves struggled to start their CDL campaign, placing 5th/6th at Major I and looking unconvincing in online play. They then went on to drop organization legend Kenneth “Kenny” Williams, and promoted Jeremiah “Nium” Harrison, who has since become the frontrunner for the annual Rookie of the Year award, securing Major III MVP honors and a first tournament win alongside an all-star trio of the Frenchman Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez, the always aggressive Thomas “Scrap” Ernst, and clutch player Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris. LA Thieves returned to the Grand Final at Major IV, only to lose in 7 games, rather than go back-to-back. The Thieves look poised to make a run at CoD Champs, with only one team standing in their way.
Major IV Champions, and back-to-back CoD Champs winners, OpTic Texas are back on top in the CDL. After three 2nd-place finishes, in Majors I, II, and III, OpTic fans believed they would always be silver surfers, until it was their turn to come from the losers bracket, falling against the LA Thieves, only to beat a feisty Paris Gentle Mates team in the Losers Finals, eventually coming out on top and lifting the Parisian’s trophy against the Thieves. The OpTic roster of Major IV MVP Brandon “Dashy” Otell, Cuyler “Huke” Garland, Mason “Mercules” Ramsey, and Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro looks to secure a second consecutive CoD champs as a roster, and a third in a row for the duo of Dashy and Shotzzy, which would undoubtedly cement the pair as two of the greatest Call of Duty players of all time, and this OpTic roster as a dynasty, something the esport has only seen a handful of times, with Complexity in the early 2010s, OpTic Gaming from 2014-2017, and Atlanta FaZe in the early years of the CDL. If the rest of the season is to be believed, OpTic have been the most consistent team all season, making every Major Grand Final, and should have a leg up on the rest of their competition, but this team has struggled to get over the line all year, except for their recent Major IV victory.
Predictions:
For this section I will be giving out my predictions for placements, tournament MVP, season MVP, Rookie of the Year, and All-Star Teams, since those awards will be given out during CoD Champs.
Season MVP: Simp
Rookie of the Year: Nium
First-Team All-Stars: Dashy, Scrap, Simp, Huke
Second-Team All-Stars: Mercules, Abuzah, JoeDeceives, Shotzzy
CoD Champs Placements:
- 8th – Minnesota Rokkr: The Rokkr were good enough to make it into Champs, but unfortunately I don’t believe they’ll be good enough to make any surprises happen.
- 7th – Riyadh Falcons: After making the move of dropping “Pred” for challengers player “Alluka” on the eve of the biggest tournament of the year, Falcons will unsurprisingly fall out of the competition the first chance they get.
- 6th – Paris Gentle Mates: Although they were Major I Champions, the Mates will fall short of any dreams and aspirations of becoming champions.
- 5th – Miami Heretics: Miami will fall early to OpTic in round 1, but bounce back with a win until they inevitably fall in their next match.
- 4th – Toronto KOI: This team always manages to sneak into places they don’t belong, and even with the loss of their ace JoeDeceives to Paris Gentle Mates, standout rookie “Kips” and organization staple “CleanX” will take them to a surprising top 4 finish.
- 3rd – FaZe Vegas: FaZe will steamroll the rest of the competition before going out with a whimper to two teams that have been better than them nearly all year.
- 2nd – Los Angeles Thieves: The Thieves will fall just short against a fine-tuned OpTic roster, and will look to get revenge and cap off their year with a victory at the Esports World Cup.
- 1st – OpTic Texas: The Green Wall will stand tall once again and conquer Call of Duty for a third straight year in a row, making Dashy and Shotzzy two of the greatest players to ever grace the esport.
CoD Champs 2026 MVP: Shotzzy.
After Champs is over, there will be one more tournament, the 2026 Esports World Cup, for Call of Duty and then the season will end, with a wild rostermania seemingly on the horizon. Call of Duty Champs begins Thursday, July 16th.