The Call of Duty League is heading to Boston for Major 1 this weekend, giving most of our rookie class their first taste of professional LAN experience.
Heading into the Major, Breaking Point has updated our rankings for the Rookie of the Year race! The seven rookies have been ranked based on their performances from the opening qualifier split. These rankings are bound to change after the Major, but this piece serves to give insight into how the season has gone so far.
Storylines to watch
After a slow start for the MW3 rookie class, many have found form on the next patch after the holiday break. With the qualifiers now over, we find three of our rookies in the Upper Bracket to start the LAN tournament. Estreal will face off against the top-seeded Atlanta FaZe to start off the tournament. Lynz has just as tough of a task, facing the reigning world champions New York Subliners in the second match. Then, finally, Abuzah will take on the Toronto Ultra who won a Major last season and made the grand finals at the CDL Championship. All three rookies will have extremely tough matchups, but these matches will give a good sense as to where they stand against top-level competition.
The Rookie Ladder
1) Isaiah "Gwinn" Gwinn - Carolina Royal Ravens
Team Record: 1-6 Series Record, 7-20 Map Record, 10 CDL Points
Next Match: Friday, January 26th vs TBD [Lower Bracket Match]
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 21 vs. LA Thieves
Gwinn’s best performance of the season came in the final match for Carolina of the qualifiers. He finished with a 1.34 overall KD in the matchup, with the most damage by an SMG with 15,832. He wasn’t great in SnD, but he was a monster in respawns. Gwinn had a 1.58 KD in Hardpoint behind a 57-36 stat line with a 30-15 performance on Sub Base. In Control, the rookie SMG went 28-19 (1.47 KD) with 4,829 damage, 7 tiers captured, and a 1.88 attacking KD. Even though the team will be starting in the Lower Bracket at Major 1, Gwinn looks to only be getting better as the season moves along.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.08
Slayer Rating: 79.4
aKD: 1.10
TES: 58.9%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.10
Kills per 10 minutes: 22.9
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 56.3
Damage per 10 minutes: 4018.6
SND
KD: 0.80
Kills per round: 0.63
ADR: 151.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 30.0%
Control
KD: 1.19
Kills per 10 minutes: 19.7
Caps per ATK Round: 1.8
Damage per 10 minutes: 3666.6
2) Thomas "Lynz" Gregorio - Minnesota RØKKR
Team Record: 3-4 Series Record, 14-14 Map Record, 30 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs New York Subliners at 3:00 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 14 vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
After a 0-4 start to the season, Lynz and company turned the qualifiers around to finish 3-4 and qualified for the upper bracket start to Major 1. Lynz was a major reason for their success, stepping up after the holiday break. His best series was against the Royal Ravens, where the Frenchman finished with a 1.44 overall KD. Lynz had a positive KD in each mode, with a 1.43 in Hardpoint, 2.50 in SnND, and 1.28 in Control. Search and Destroy saw him at his best with 10 kills, 1,516 damage dealt, and he went 2-0 in opening duels. Fans can expect Lynz to continue growing as he grows more accustomed to the CDL pacing.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.06
Slayer Rating: 76.0
aKD: 1.07
TES: 58.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 0.98
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.6
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 34.5
Damage per 10 minutes: 3977.0
SND
KD: 1.05
Kills per round: 0.72
ADR: 150.9
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 45.5%
Control
KD: 1.18
Kills per 10 minutes: 18.9
Caps per ATK Round: 1.4
Damage per 10 minutes: 3290.7
3) Eric "Snoopy" Pérez - Boston Breach
Team Record: 2-5 Series Record, 12-16 Map Record, 20 CDL Points
Next Match: Friday, January 26th vs TBD [Lower Bracket Match]
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Dec. 17 vs. Toronto Ultra
The Boston Breach rookie has had a rollercoaster of a season but has improved his consistency in respawns while still hitting the high peaks in SnD.
His best series of the Major 1 qualifiers was against the Ultra before the holiday break. He finished the series at 1.40 overall KD with lobby-highs in kills (66), KD (1.40), Slayer Rating (110.58), and SnND KD (2.25). He had a positive KD in every single mode while having a 1.33 respawn KD. Like Gwinn, Snoopy and the Breach will start in the lower bracket at Major 1. Even with the unfavorable starting position, this tournament will give Snoopy an excellent LAN experience going into the rest of the year.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.00
Slayer Rating: 82.0
aKD: 1.05
TES: 57.2%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.00
Kills per 10 minutes: 22.6
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 47.6
Damage per 10 minutes: 4084.0
SND
KD: 1.22
Kills per round: 0.83
ADR: 155.8
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 63.6%
Control
KD: 0.93
Kills per 10 minutes: 18.6
Caps per ATK Round: 1.8
Damage per 10 minutes: 3762.6
4) Justice "Estreal" McMillan - LA Guerrillas
Team Record: 2-5 Series Record, 9-16 Map Record, 20 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs New York Subliners at 1:30 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 19 vs. Minnesota Rokkr
The Guerrillas began the year on the wrong foot, receiving a lot of disrespect going into the year. They started slow but competed hard in every match, and the team has clicked since the holiday break. They finished the qualifiers 2-5 with a 9-16 map count but clinched the eighth seed to start in the upper bracket at the Major.
Estreal proved himself this stage, but his best performance was against Minnesota. He ended the series with a 1.28 overall KD and was the only player on LAG above a 0.96. Estreal did the most damage in Control, where he went 30-20 (1.50 KD) with a lobby-high 5,158 damage, 4 tiers captured, and a 2.10 attacking KD. The Major may be harsh for the team as they face Atlanta in round one, but it will offer great experience for Estreal going deeper into the season.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.01
Slayer Rating: 74.0
aKD: 0.94
TES: 57.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.00
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.2
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 58.3
Damage per 10 minutes: 3819.4
SND
KD: 0.70
Kills per round: 0.52
ADR: 109.1
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 33.3%
Control
KD: 1.16
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.1
Caps per ATK Round: 2.5
Damage per 10 minutes: 3765.3
5) Jordan "abuzah" François - Seattle Surge
Team Record: 3-4 Series Record, 13-16 Map Record, 30 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs Toronto Ultra at 4:30 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 13 vs. Miami Heretics
The Surge were one of the highlight stories to begin the season, as they started 2-0 with strong wins against LAT and Boston. The squad fizzled out a bit but still finished 3-4 and clinched the seventh seed going into Major 1. Sadly for them, they’ll face the Ultra in round one, but anything can happen on LAN. Abuzah started a bit slow as he got used to running the SMG, although he hit his stride near the tail-end of the qualifiers.
Against the Heretics, Abuzah finished with a 1.31 overall KD in a Game 5 thriller, which ended up being a very important series victory. Over the series, he went 20-10 in SnD (2.00) with 1.11 kills per round, 204.6 ADR, and had double-digit kills in both maps. With more matches and practice, expect Abuzah to only continue to get stronger as the season progresses.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.00
Slayer Rating: 76.1
aKD: 1.07
TES: 56.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 0.97
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.1
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 73.1
Damage per 10 minutes: 3768.3
SND
KD: 1.35
Kills per round: 0.86
ADR: 160.8
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 47.6%
Control
KD: 0.94
Kills per 10 minutes: 16.9
Caps per ATK Round: 1.6
Damage per 10 minutes: 3255.2
6) Evan "Purj" Perez - Las Vegas Legion
Team Record: 1-6 Series Record, 9-20 Map Record, 10 CDL Points
Next Match: Friday, January 26th vs TBD [Lower Bracket Match]
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 13 vs. OpTic Texas
There has been a lot of growing pains for both the Las Vegas Legion and Purj so far in Modern Warfare 3. The Legion finished with a 1-6 series record, the 12th seed heading into Major 1, and is currently on a six-series losing streak. Purj has a 0.83 overall KD with a 0.80 in Hardpoint, 0.94 in SnD, and 0.84 in Control. He has gotten better with each series, but his slow start hurt his overall numbers.
The best series so far for Purj was against OpTic Texas, which was his sole series with an even KD this year. Purj went 38-37 (1.03) in Hardpoint with 4,200 damage per 10 minutes and 79.0 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes. Then in SnD, the rookie had a 14-13 stat line (1.08 KD) with 0.88 kills per round and 183.7 ADR. If his respawn play can start hitting higher levels, Purj can help lift the Legion to higher levels in the coming splits.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 0.83
Slayer Rating: 63.6
aKD: 0.86
TES: 55.1%
Hardpoint
KD: 0.80
Kills per 10 minutes: 16.8
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 72.2
Damage per 10 minutes: 3455.2
SND
KD: 0.94
Kills per round: 0.65
ADR: 175.6
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 57.1%
Control
KD: 0.84
Kills per 10 minutes: 15.6
Caps per ATK Round: 1.8
Damage per 10 minutes: 3523.7
7) José "ReeaL" Manuel Fernández - Carolina Royal Ravens
Team Record: 1-3 Series Record, 3-11 Map Record, 10 CDL Points
Next Match: TBD
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Dec. 10 vs. Las Vegas Legion
ReeaL would be slightly higher on this list if it weren’t for visa issues that have sidelined him for the foreseeable future. The Royal Ravens have already confirmed he is out for Major 1, with TJHaly continuing to fill in.
ReeaL’s best individual series in the opening two weeks of qualifiers was against the Las Vegas Legion. The Spaniard had a 1.24 overall KD in the series. His best mode was easily Hardpoint, where ReeaL finished the two hardpoints 44-28 combined (1.57 KD) with 128.0 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes. His role made his slaying difficult, as he was the primary objective player in all three modes. When ReeaL returns to the starting roster, fans can expect him to start fighting back up the ladder.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 0.86
Slayer Rating: 68.6
aKD: 0.76
TES: 52.8%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.09
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.6
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 86.7
Damage per 10 minutes: 3549.1
SND
KD: 0.59
Kills per round: 0.49
ADR: 108.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 31.8%
Control
KD: 0.72
Kills per 10 minutes: 14.7
Caps per ATK Round: 1.4
Damage per 10 minutes: 2699.7
