Toronto Ultra: 2023 Call of Duty League "ROAD TO CHAMPS"
The week of Champs is here for the 2023 Call of Duty League, with anything and everything in the cards. With the eight teams competing, every match is sure to be a banger.
One of the teams that has a tremendous chance at taking home the 2023 Championship is the Toronto Ultra. We sat down with part of the team to get a behind-the-scenes look at how they are preparing for the biggest week of the year.
Let's take a look at how Ultra's season went and what their "Road to Champs" looked like.
Major 1 — A Strong Start
The start of the season was a bit of an unknown. How will the new team gel together, and how will the highly touted rookie perform at the next level? All these questions were answered immediately with a strong round of Qualifiers.
Ultra's first match in the Winners Bracket was against the Minnesota Rokkr, where they dominated in each round. They looked like a team that was going to be there on Championship Sunday with how they were playing.
That soon ended after being derailed by Atlanta FaZe and then the New York Subliners shortly after, sending them home empty-handed.
The Subliners went on to win the Major, leaving Ultra a lot to look forward to after a promising start.
Major 2 — The FaZe Curse
Ultra would get the No.2 seed for a second straight Major, facing off against the Los Angeles Guerrillas in the first round of the Winners Bracket. After a strong Major 1 and a powerful start to Major 2, things were looking promising for Ultra's chances of making a deep run this time.
After destroying LAG, Ultra was tasked with taking down FaZe, who didn't have the greatest of Qualifiers. Unfortunately for the Canadian crew, FaZe came out swinging, sweeping Ultra 3-0. Their Major 2 run would end quickly after that, with a tournament-ending sweep from LAT.
Major 3 — The Champions
After hitting the regain and moving on to Major 3, things weren't going as smoothly as Ultra had hoped. They were beating tough teams throughout Qualifiers but were also losing games they had no business losing.
A change had to be made.
Ultra decided to move Standy to the bench to bring up Hicksy from Challengers. From the outside, it was a surprising move considering the slaying ability Standy showed throughout the beginning of the season. Once things played out, the move worked out phenomenally for the team.
Despite being a new addition to the team, Hicksy fit in well, having played with Scrap in Challengers the year prior. The two played off each other nicely, followed by the dominance of CleanX and Insight.
Ultra would go on and take the Major 3 Championship against the hometown team, OpTic Texas and were looking like the best team in the CDL.
Major 4 — A Dreadful Period
After a storybook ending to Major 3, all hell broke loose at the next Major. No one saw this coming. Ultra couldn't buy a win in Qualifiers, failing to make the Winners Bracket, going just 1-4 in their five matches.
With how talented Ultra's roster is, the Qualifiers had to be a fluke. They hit the regain button and headed into Columbus, Ohio, for Major 4 and made a respectable run through the Losers Bracket, beating Boston Breach and the Florida Mutineers.
They were unfortunately met by FaZe, who were dominant in SnD and a solid all-around team at the time. While the Major didn't end how they wanted, there was still a lot to be happy about, considering the adversity they had to overcome.
Major 5 — The Bounce Back
The Major that the entire Ultra team has been waiting all year for — the tournament that's in their own backyard.
After a disappointing Major 4, Ultra had found new life with the excitement of playing in front of their home crowd. They had a solid run during the Qualifier Stage, winning 3 of the 5 games and clinched the No.3 seed for Major 5.
They made it through the first round, beating the Subliners 3-2 but were faced with FaZe again, who sent them down to the Losers Bracket. Ultra would sweep LAT but would lose to the eventual Major 5 Champs, the Subliners.
It wasn't the result they wanted in front of their home crowd, but it did show the rest of the CDL that Major 4 was a fluke.
Champs — The Big Weekend
CleanX said it best — it's been a rollercoaster of a season. From roster changes to a Championship and through a tough period of losses — Ultra has been through it all this year.
One thing is for certain — this is a team that can compete with the best of them. There's no telling how far Ultra will go at Champs with the roster that they have. The rest of the League should be on notice.
How to Watch Call of Duty Champs 2023
Catch the Rokkr in action at Champs by checking out our full guide to the event including schedule, brackets, and more!
Zack is the Publishing Manager for Esports Illustrated. He grew up playing videos as a kid, mainly sports games and the Call of Duty series. Before his work at Esports Illustrated, Zack published content for the NFL Draft for various sites since 2017, including partner sites on FanNation and has appeared on various shows across the country and videos across the FanNation group. Outside of work, Zack enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He loves playing football and video games with his son, taking his two daughters to get their favorite treats, and binge-watching shows with his wife. Zack began covering Esports at the end of 2022, mainly covering the Call of Duty League.