This Thursday, the third Major of the calendar year, kicks off in the Call of Duty League. All eyes in Esports will be focused on Texas for the next four days as the best 12 teams in CoD battle it out to be crowned champion – and claim their share of $500,000.
Looking at the lineup for this Major, fans can expect an incredibly competitive event with plenty of Esports betting opportunities. The New York Subliners and Atlanta FaZe will enter full of confidence, with both teams having already won a Major so far this season. The Seattle Surge, however, are defending champions and No.1 seeds, while OpTic Texas have the benefit of an enormous home support base cheering on their every move. Who will reign supreme this weekend? Read on for all of our expert picks.
| Esports Tournament: | Call of Duty League 2023, OpTic Texas Major III |
| Venue: | Esports Stadium Arlington, Texas, United States |
| Dates: | Thursday 9 March to Sunday 12 March |
Those who are keen to jump straight into placing a bet on the 3rd Major in Call of Duty 2023, here are the latest OpTic Texas Major III odds from US Esports bookies:
Looking at these odds, we can see that it’s a tight race between the top five favorites. Atlanta FaZe, the most successful team in CoD history, are deservedly the bookies’ No.1 pick, with odds of 3.25 (9/4). However, not far behind them are Toronto Ultra at 4.50 (7/2) and Seattle Surge at 5.00 (4/1). Rounding out the top five are the Los Angeles Thieves and OpTic Texas, both on 6.00 (5/1).
Many sportsIn-play modeLive streaming25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsLive bettingMany sportsFast payoutsGiven that we are currently in only the third full season of the newly formed Call of Duty League, the OpTic Texas Major III will be contested for just the third time this year as well. However, it has quickly become one of the most important events in the Call of Duty calendar, making up one of the five major tournaments of the season. Of course, the major focus comes from users of North American bookies since the list of contenders is mostly of US teams.
In its inaugural edition in 2021, the title was claimed by Atlanta FaZe, who narrowly defeated the New York Subliners to collect 75 CDL points and $200,000 in prize money. Last year, however, it was the Seattle Surge who came away victorious, winning $200,000 and picking up 65 CDL points for their troubles.
Can either of these sides become the first team to win the OpTic Texas Major III twice?
The third Major of the year in Call of Duty will take on a similar format to the first two tournaments. It will be contested as an offline LAN event, hosted in North America’s largest Esports stadium, the Esports Stadium Arlington. All 12 teams will compete in what is a double-elimination bracket.
All matches will be in the standard four vs. four formats, with the best of five games for all matches until the Grand Final, which will be best of seven. Teams are once again competing for a share of $500,000.
Here’s a look at the makeup of this year’s tournament:
| Team | Qualifying Position |
|---|---|
| Seattle Surge | 1 |
| Boston Breach | 2 |
| Toronto Ultra | 3 |
| Atlanta FaZe | 4 |
| Los Angeles Thieves | 5 |
| New York Subliners | 6 |
| OpTic Texas | 7 |
| Los Angeles Guerrillas | 8 |
| Las Vegas Legion | 9 |
| London Royal Ravens | 10 |
| Florida Mutineers | 11 |
| Minnesota ROKKR | 12 |
Teams are arranged in the bracket according to their qualifying rank. As the table above indicates, Seattle Surge qualified top, alongside the likes of Boston Breach, Toronto Ultra, and Atlanta FaZe. These sides will have an advantage by getting placed in the winners’ bracket alongside teams at 5-8 places first and dropping down to the losers’ bracket if they are defeated in Round One.
The bottom four qualifiers, however, are not so lucky. They will begin their Major III campaigns against the losers of the winners’ bracket Round One games and face instant elimination if they are not successful.
Based on the latest odds for CoD, here are the best picks we suggest making ahead of the 3rd Major kicking off this week in Texas:
It’s hard to look past the most successful team in CoD history when looking to place a bet on the OpTic Texas Major III this week. The Atlanta FaZe may have only qualified fourth for this tournament; however, that doesn’t make too much of a difference – they still start in the winners’ bracket and will be full of confidence.
Their confidence comes from the fact that the last time these 12 teams came together to contest a Major, the Atlanta FaZe walked away on top. That was barely a month ago, and they’ll be looking to roll that momentum right into their campaign here in Texas. It’s a Major they’ve won before (in 2021), and as the winners of four Majors already, the Atlanta FaZe are a strong bet to win again here this weekend.
There’s nothing like home support. OpTic Texas will be playing in front of their home fans, renowned in the Esports world as ‘the Green Wall’ for their passionate cheers and ability to turn up in numbers to support their Texan team. Expect plenty of pressure to be put on opponents when they make mistakes and for OpTic Texas to gain a genuine edge through the crowd support they’ll garner.
While we think this will make a difference for Texas, and the bookies do as well, we say the safe bet here is to back OpTic Texas to make the final. It’s hard to say them going all the way and beating the likes of Atlanta FaZe, but it’s very realistic that they’ll put together a deep run here and make the final in front of their home fans.
Toronto Ultra have been consistently performing and improving over the 2023 season so far, and we say they’re a good chance of knocking over this year’s first Major winners, the New York Subliners. In qualifying, Toronto put together a strong performance to finish third, well above New York. Add this to the fact that in last month’s Major II, they were much stronger than the New York Subliners as well, and it feels as though all the momentum is in Toronto’s favor.
Back Toronto to continue their momentum of the last month and get a win over New York in Round One.
Here are the top picks we suggest making for those who are looking to bet on Call of Duty this week:
The third Major of the year in Call of Duty will bring together the 12 best teams in CDL to compete for their share of $500,000. While there are plenty of viable candidates for the title, we say the Atlanta FaZe will be too strong for the rest and will claim their second Major of the year in Texas this weekend. Follow our Esports betting tips to have an opportunity of watching the games with more joy.
