CDL Kickoff Classic: Weekend Event Set To Launch The 2022 Season

Before the regular stage of the 2022 Call of Duty League season can commence, the Kickoff Classic has to take place. Last year, this traditional event was widely appreciated, giving fans a glimpse of the teams’ abilities ahead of the full season. Next weekend, from the 21st to the 23rd of January, every team in the Call of Duty League will compete for $30,000 and immense bragging rights. After all, winning the CDL Kickoff Classic gives a team a considerable profile advantage over the remaining eleven teams.

The three-day tournament will feature a traditional single-elimination bracket, culminating in the $30k final. Following the CDL Kickoff Classic event, fans will have little more than a week to wait until the regular stage of the 2022 season kicks off.

But are fans eagerly awaiting the commencement of the CDL 2022 season, or not?

CDL Kickoff Classic Schedule

From 17:30 EST on Friday 21st of January, the all-important games will begin. For the first time since August 2021, the world’s best Call of Duty teams will take to the stage of one of the most valuable tournaments in esports. This year, the Call of Duty League boasts a $5 million prize pool, spread out across the entire season.

Here’s the schedule for the CDL Kickoff Classic, lovingly provided by the COD League:

CDL-Kickoff-Classic
Image Credit: COD League

There are some exciting fixtures set to take place, and for the first time, we’ll be seeing the Boston team and OpTic Texas in action. Recently, OpTic Chicago and Dallas Empire merged to become OpTic Texas, a team that features the greatest talents of both original teams. Leading the charge will be Scump, widely considered the greatest Call of Duty player of all time.

Early on, we’ll get a glimpse of how teams like the New York Subliners will be performing in 2022. For this season, the Subliners will feature the incredible, veteran skills of both Clayster and Crimsix, who combined boast more than two decades of competitive Call of Duty experience.

Are You Prepared For the CDL?

Unfortunately, the flawed introduction of Call of Duty Vanguard has left fans feeling somewhat sour. There’s less excitement surrounding this year’s iteration of the CDL than there was last year, but there’s still a slight buzz doing the rounds. Thankfully, the launch of the CDL 2022 season coincides with the huge season two update coming to the Vanguard and Warzone platforms, so Call of Duty will be trending anyway.

We can imagine that Saturday will be a more popular day than Friday, with reigning champions Atlanta FaZe stepping up to play. They’ll be facing down against either Seattle Surge or the Royal Ravens, both of which failed to produce any real results last year. Furthermore, we’ll see the first outing of OpTic Texas, and the returns of Rokkr and Ultra, both top-tier teams from the 2021 season.

If you’re interested in Call of Duty League betting, you can’t miss out on the commencement of this tournament. We’re just a couple of weeks outside of the regular tournament beginning, and pretty soon, there will be everything to play for.

Grant Taylor-Hill
Grant Taylor-Hill

Since: February 12, 2021

Grant is a lifelong, multi-platform gamer with a passion for journalism and more than ten years' experience in the industry. He'll try any game once, and when he's not playing them, he's watching them, being as he is an avid esports fan.

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