It’s time for the first Call of Duty League LAN of the year, as the CDL is heading back to Boston for Major 1!
Entering the Major, Breaking Point has updated our rankings for the SMG Player of the Year race. Players are ranked based on their performances from the first qualifier split heading into the Major. These rankings will surely change post-Major, as LAN play will show which teams have the best teamwork, but this piece serves to give great insight into how the season has gone so far!
Storylines to watch
The biggest matchup for Round 1 of the Major is the rematch between OpTic Texas and Miami Heretics. One of the biggest changes to the Ladder was Pred falling to sixth, which was an extremely hard decision, but with eight or nine SMGs playing at a very high level currently, it was a move that had to be made. This series will see these two star SMGs battle yet again. The previous matchup saw MettalZ lead Miami to a 3-0 victory with a 1.47 overall KD while Pred finished with a 0.77 KD. The biggest difference came in the Control. Pred went 14-20 (0.70 KD) with 3,245 damage, 0.56 KD on the attacking side, and 0.82 KD on the defending side. MettalZ, on the other hand, finished 27-17 (1.59 KD) with 4,246 damage, 1.70 KD on the attacking side, and 1.43 KD on the defending side. This rematch will give OpTic a chance to get revenge while giving the Heretics another chance to prove that they are a top-four team in the CDL.
The SMG Ladder
1) Chris "Simp" Lehr - Atlanta FaZe
Team Record: 7-0 Series Record, 21-5 Map Record, 70 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 23rd vs LA Guerrillas at 1:30 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Dec. 10th vs LA Thieves
Simp has been on a terror this season, dropping big numbers consistently across all three modes. His form has led the Atlanta FaZe to a perfect 7-0 series record over the Major 1 Qualifiers, becoming the first team to ever go 7-0 in the qualifiers. Simp’s best individual performance came against the LA Thieves in the opening weekend. The star SMG led the lobby with a 1.38 overall KD with 11,589 total damage. Chris was great in all three modes, but his best map performance was in Control. During the Invasion Control, Simp had a 1.56 KD with 6,522 damage, 1.46 attacking KD, and 1.64 defending KD. It highlighted his ability on the AR, showing that he is one of the best flex SMGs in the League.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.20
Slayer Rating: 82.9
aKD: 1.19
TES: 60.6%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.25
Kills per 10 minutes: 23.6
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 69.3
Damage per 10 minutes: 4289.0
SnD
KD: 1.21
Kills per round: 0.79
ADR: 162.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 59.3%
Control
KD: 1.12
Kills per 10 minutes: 18.3
Caps per ATK Round: 2.6
Damage per 10 minutes: 3395.9
2) Tobias "CleanX" Juul Jønsson - Toronto Ultra
Team Record: 6-1 Series Record, 18-6 Map Record, 60 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs Seattle Surge at 4:30 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 12th vs Seattle Surge
CleanX continues to climb the ladder with a consistently high level of play each series. As an entry SMG, it is insane to play at a high pace and yet still have a positive KD in every single game mode. His best mode is SnD, where CleanX has a 1.38 KD on the season with 0.85 kills per round and a 55.0% win rate in opening duels. Arguably his best single series performance was against the Seattle Surge. The Dane finished with a 1.33 overall KD in the series with 9,770 total damage over 3 maps. CleanX tied the single map KD in SnD, going 8-1 to set an 8.00 KD. Tobi followed that map with a 29-22 (1.32) performance in the Control with 5,454 damage and 1.60 KD on the defensive side. It was a signature series for CleanX, and he’ll look to continue this form going into Major 1.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.10
Slayer Rating: 89.0
aKD: 1.14
TES: 60.0%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.13
Kills per 10 minutes: 24.7
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 54.2
Damage per 10 minutes: 4506.9
SnD
KD: 1.38
Kills per round: 0.85
ADR: 165.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 55.0%
Control
KD: 1.01
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.0
Caps per ATK Round: 0.9
Damage per 10 minutes: 3981.6
3) Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez - New York Subliners
Team Record: 6-1 Series Record, 18-11 Map Record, 60 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs Minnesota Rokkr at 3:00 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Dec. 16th vs Las Vegas Legion
The reigning MVP of the Call of Duty League continues to be one of the best players so far in Modern Warfare 3. HyDra has been playing well going into Major 1, having a 1.03 KD or better across all three game modes. Even though the past two series haven’t been great individually, his series against the Las Vegas Legion was electric. Paco finished the match with a 1.68 overall KD, leading the lobby. His KD splits were amazing, having a 1.53 in Hardpoint, 2.00 in SnD, and 1.71 in Control. When HyDra is at his peak, he is one of the hardest kills in the league. Going into the Major, Paco will look to regain the LAN form and bring home another championship for New York.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.11
Slayer Rating: 81.2
aKD: 1.09
TES: 58.9%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.19
Kills per 10 minutes: 22.8
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 44.7
Damage per 10 minutes: 4002.6
SnD
KD: 1.06
Kills per round: 0.71
ADR: 128.8
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 37.1%
Control
KD: 1.03
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.2
Caps per ATK Round: 0.9
Damage per 10 minutes: 3677.0
4) Adrian "MettalZ" Serrano - Miami Heretics
Team Record: 5-2 Series Record, 18-8 Map Record, 50 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs OpTic Texas at 6:00 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 19th vs OpTic Texas
The Heretics continue to shock the CDL as they finish the qualifying stage with a 5-2 series record and with the 4th seed heading into Major 1. After losing two straight after the holiday break, they rebounded with sublime 3-0 victories over OpTic Texas and LA Guerrillas. MettalZ has been a big proponent of Miami’s success. Against OpTic Texas he had his best series of the qualifying stage. The Spaniard ended the series leading the lobby in overall KD (1.47), SnD KD (3.00), SnD kills per round (1.13), ADR (207.9), Control KD (1.59), and Control attacking KD (1.70). This performance showed that he can compete against the best and that Miami is for real heading into the first Major of the season.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.07
Slayer Rating: 80.3
aKD: 1.09
TES: 58.9%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.06
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.7
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 71.9
Damage per 10 minutes: 4216.6
SnD
KD: 1.16
Kills per round: 0.81
ADR: 147.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 40.0%
Control
KD: 1.05
Kills per 10 minutes: 19.1
Caps per ATK Round: 1.0
Damage per 10 minutes: 3579.5
5) Dylan "Envoy" Hannon - Toronto Ultra
Team Record: 6-1 Series Record, 18-6 Map Record, 60 CDL Points
Next Match: Thursday, January 25th vs Seattle Surge at 4:30 pm EST
Best Performance of the Qualifier: Jan. 12 vs. Seattle Surge
Toronto has been one of the scariest teams of the season since they signed Envoy to the starting roster. He fit perfectly with the other pieces of the team, freeing up the slayers in CleanX & Scrap to be aggressive and take fights. His performances have been very consistent, with his peak coming against the Seattle Surge in Week 3. In the series, Envoy led the lobby in overall KD with a 1.37. He did the most damage in map 3, the Invasion Control. On the map, Dylan had a 1.67 KD behind a 35-21 stat line with a lobby-high 6255 damage. He was a thorn for the Surge while on defense, finishing 22-9 on the defensive side for a 2.44 KD. This level of play is the reason Envoy is the only player on both the SMG Ladder and Objective Player Ladder going into Major 1.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.06
Slayer Rating: 76.2
aKD: 1.04
TES: 59.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.03
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.1
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 94.9
Damage per 10 minutes: 3868.4
SnD
KD: 0.92
Kills per round: 0.60
ADR: 132.6
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 46.7%
Control
KD: 1.13
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.9
Caps per ATK Round: 1.4
Damage per 10 minutes: 3870.4
