While the Majors leading up to this moment have often been about the crowd, the Call of Duty League Championship is all about prestige. This is the final event of the Call of Duty competitive season, where the top eight teams fight for the title of world champion.
The tension was in the air from day one. In a true double-elimination format (no lower bracket seeds like in Majors), every CDL Champs series was played on the big stage in front of the Call of Duty audience, unlike some of the Majors that had overlapping series played behind the curtain.
You could also see the stakes in the gameplay—more rapid movements, snappy aim, quick rotations, and shooting the dead bodies after winning a round. In a mode like Overload, you’d often see intense tugs of war right next to the site, where one team desperately tries to score while the other is doing everything it can to stop that. On maps like Raid and Hacienda, players would make more use of water and use cheeky spots to get a drop on the enemy.
Attending CDL Champs 2026, Ethan “Fifakill” Pink highlighted that you could feel the energy, and Vegas definitely played a part in that. “Vegas, the city in general, brings a certain aura, certain energy to that Championship final. And the stage, the setup, the crowd, everything’s just out perfectly,” Fifakill said.
Fifakill highlighted that gameplay this year, in particular, was out of the ordinary, with many individuals popping off and having world-star moments. “And I think that is driven by the fact that it is Champs. People are taking bigger risks for bigger rewards that maybe they wouldn’t do earlier on in the year,” he added.
Champs this year had its fair share of storylines, starting with an unexpected reverse sweep by G2 Minnesota, eliminating LA Thieves, one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Right after, G2 got eliminated by Paris Gentle Mates, who in turn got eliminated by Riyadh Falcons in the third elimination round.
Despite losing 1:3 to OpTic Texas in elimination finals, Falcons ended up among the top three teams at this event, which isn’t something many expected. The clear favorites were OpTic, FaZe, Gentle Mates, and Thieves. Luckily, the former two got plenty of spotlight.
First, the teams had a showdown in the winners finals, where FaZe won 3:2. After beating Falcons, OpTic set the grand finals to be a rematch to remember. This was their second showdown in the grand finals this year, following Major II in Birmingham. This time, though, there was no revenge from the elimination bracket’s team. FaZe secured the world champion title by winning the series 5:2, with casters shouting “Sh*t on!”
Comms from the Winning Moment of #CDL2026 Champs 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8MC71b3CNC
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) July 21, 2026
Coming out of Paris, where the overwhelming majority of fans supported Gentle Mates, Champs had a nice split between the crowd. There were plenty of people supporting both OpTic and FaZe in the grand finals, greeting every highlight with applause and roars.
While the stakes were high, Champs still felt lacking in delivering the true feel of the season’s finale. When you look at production and the arena, it’s almost indistinguishable from a regular Major. The only way you could tell it’s Champs is when there’s the Champs graphic on the screen.
Season MVP and Rookie of the Year award announcements were also buried in the schedule, despite being important highlights. Both were revealed on Friday, without any build-up or many people in the arena. There were likely plenty of online viewers, but it could’ve been a more memorable moment ahead of the grand finals, especially with LA Thieves sweeping both awards.
Because of how team-hosted events work in CDL, it’s hard to say what the main reason behind these drawbacks is. The venue has likely been up to FaZe, while CDL provided the broadcast. Still, the league needs a bit more involvement with Champs to make it stand out compared to the rest of the season.
