Call of Duty League Playoffs and Championship 2020: Schedule, bracket and how to watch

After starting back in January, the first rebranded Call of Duty League is set to culminate this month with the Playoffs and Championship Weekend.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has made the majority of this year’s Call of Duty League online, it’s still been a rollercoaster season with the placement of top and lower tier teams fluctuating with every home series. 

While points accumulated over the season have an impact on the starting bracket, every team still has an opportunity to take the title of 2020 Call of Duty League champions. So here’s what you need to know ahead of the playoffs.

• Read more: Call of Duty League and the gulf between developer and community

When do the Call of Duty League Playoffs start? 

The Playoffs start on Wednesday 19th August at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST, with the first match between Paris Legion and Seattle Surge. 

The Playoffs span four days until Sunday 23rd August, when the top four remaining teams will compete in the Championship Weekend on 29-30th August to decide who picks up the majority share of the prize pool.

What is the prize pool for the Call of Duty Championship?

Along with the Championship trophy, teams are also competing for an overall prize pool of $4.6 million, which will be distributed across teams as below. 

• 1st place - $1.5 million
• 2nd place - $900,000
• 3rd place - $600,000
• 4th place - $450,000
• 5th place - $300,000 (two teams)
• 7th place - $175,000 (two teams)
• 9th place - $100,000 (two teams)

What is the format?

The Call of Duty League Playoffs will be played online in a best-of-five format, in the standard rotation of Hardpoint, Search and Destroy, Domination, Hardpoint and Search and Destroy. 

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The finals however will be played in a best-of-nine format, with the team from the winner’s bracket starting the match up 1-0. You can check out the mode rotation for the finals below.

• Map 1 - Hardpoint
• Map 2 - Search and Destroy
• Map 3 - Domination
• Map 4 - Hardpoint
• Map 5 - Search and Destroy
• Map 6 - Domination
• Map 7 - Hardpoint
• Map 8 - Search and Destroy

What is the Playoffs schedule and bracket? 

The starting bracket for playoffs (Picture: CDL) 

You can check out the starting bracket for Playoffs above, which gives the top four teams in the final CDL standings (Atlanta FaZe, Dallas Empire, Chicago Huntsmen and Florida Mutineers) a pass to the second and third rounds.

You can check out the full schedule for Playoffs below. 

Wednesday 19th August

• Paris Legion vs Seattle Surge - 8pm BST/12pm PT
• OpTic Gaming Los Angeles vs Los Angeles Guerillas - 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT

Thursday 20th August

• London Royal Ravens vs Toronto Ultra - 8pm BST/12pm PT
• New York Subliners vs Minnesota ROKKR - 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT

Friday 21st August

• Chicago Huntsmen vs TBD - 8pm BST/12pm PT
• Florida Mutineers vs TBD - 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT

Saturday 22nd August

• TBD vs TBD - 6pm BST/10am PT
• TBD vs TBD - 7.30pm BST/11.30am PT
• Atlanta FaZe vs TBD - 9pm BST/1pm PT
• Dallas Empire vs TBD - 10.30pm BST/2.30pm PT

Sunday 23rd August

• TBD vs TBD - 6pm BST/10am PT
• TBD vs TBD - 7.30pm BST/11.30am PT
• TBD vs TBD - 9pm BST/1pm PT
• TBD vs TBD - 10.30pm BST/2.30pm PT

Who is favourite to win? 

Atlanta FaZe emerged top of the CDL standings in the regular season, but the competition is wide open considering all twelve teams still have a shot at making the final. 

While logic would place either FaZe, Dallas Empire, Chicago Huntsmen or Florida Mutineers as the frontrunners - there’s been plenty of upsets in recent weeks. Toronto Ultra for example beat Atlanta FaZe to take the final home series last month, while New York Subliners have also been on an upswing which saw them climb the table. 

How can I watch the Call of Duty League playoffs?

The Call of Duty League playoffs and Championship will be streamed on YouTube. 

For more Call of Duty news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our MW2 Guides & Tutorials below:

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