The Call of Duty League 2021 campaign is coming up, but before the Cold War Black Ops professional season starts, there will be a list of exhibition matches called the Kickoff Classic – here’s everything you need to know about this pre- season.
- The exhibition event takes place from January 23 to 24, to be held online
- All 12 teams will be present; some powerful confrontations decided by the fans
- OpTic Chicago & LA Thieves will clash after offseason brand changes
Before its highly anticipated second season, the CDL is hosting its first Kickoff Classic – a pre-season event that will see all 12 teams play a single exhibition match in preparation for the regular season.
To make things even more interesting, the league got involved with fans to organize some of the high profile matches, including OpTic Gaming vs LA Thieves and Dallas Empire vs New York Subliners.
The Kickoff Classic is taking place over two days – January 23-24 – and will be played online, which will likely be the case for most, if not all, of the 2021 tournaments.
The CDL Kickoff Classic is a pre-season screening event before the regular 2021 season.
CDL Kickoff Classic: Stream
Due to the partnership of Call of Duty League with YouTube, the event will be broadcast live exclusively on the CDL YouTube channel, which we will incorporate here when the event approaches.
CDL Kickoff Classic: schedule and scores
Saturday, January 23
| Match | PST | Husa | GMT (United Kingdom) | AEDT (AUS) |
| Dallas Empire vs New York Subliners | 12:00 | 15:00 | 8:00 pm | 7 am (January 24) |
| LA Guerrillas x Seattle Surge | 1:30 PM | 4:30 pm | 9:30 pm | 8:30 am (January 24) |
| Atlanta FaZe vs Florida Mutineers | 15:00 | 6:00 pm | 23:00 | 10:00 (January 24) |
Sunday, January 24
| Match | PST | Husa | GMT (United Kingdom) | AEDT (AUS) |
| London Royal Ravens vs Paris Legion | 12:00 | 15:00 | 8:00 pm | 7:00 AM (January 24) |
| Toronto Ultra vs Minnesota ROKKR | 1:30 PM | 4:30 pm | 9:30 pm | 8:30 am (January 24) |
| OpTic Chicago vs LA Thieves | 15:00 | 6:00 pm | 23:00 | 10:00 (January 24) |
CDL Kickoff Classic: teams and players
With this being the CDL’s first official departure in the Cold War Black Ops, there will be many eyes on the performance of all new lineups. All 12 teams had to make at least one change due to the change to the 4v4 format, with some choosing to completely redesign their teams.
As for the fights, it’s an abundance of stories. The first match will be OpTic Gaming x LA Thieves – a battle between the two renamed franchises and the next chapter of the rivalry that started in Black Ops 4.
Three-time world champion Clayster, now with the New York Subliners, will face CDL champions Dallas Empire for the first time since he was removed from his squad due to the 4v4 switch.
Watch now: The 7 best players of the 2021 Black Ops Cold War CDL season
Former Huntsman Arcitys will make his Atlanta FaZe debut against the new look Florida Mutineers, one of the best teams of the 2020 season, while Toronto Ultra and Minnesota ROKKR will add another installment to their “Battle of the North” rivalry.
| Team | Players |
| Atlanta FaZe | Simp, aBeZy, Cellium, Arcitys |
| Dallas empire | Crimsix, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY |
| Florida Mutineers | Skyz, Havok, Owakening, Slacked |
| London Royal Ravens | Seany, Alexx, Dylan, Zer0 |
| Los Angeles Guerrillas | SiLLY, Assault, Vivid, Apathy |
| Los Angeles Thieves | SlasheR, Kenny, TJHaLy, Temp |
| Minnesota ROKKR | Attach, Precision, Priestahh, MajorManiak |
| New Yorkers | ZooMaa, Clayster, Mack, HyDra |
| OpTic Chicago | Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Dashy |
| Legion of Paris | Skrapz, Classic, AquA, Fire |
| Seattle Surge | Octane, Gunless, Prestinni, Loony |
| Toronto Ultra | Methodz, Bance, CleanX, Cammy |
Make sure to follow us on Twitter, @DexertoINTEL, for live coverage of the CDL Kickoff Classic, as we will be tweeting updates on scores, clips and everything else you need to keep up with all the action.