Call of Duty League Major 3 preview: History for Atlanta, can Falcons finally take flight?

After two successful events, the 2025 Call of Duty League (CDL) season heads towards its third Major LAN event of the year.

From April 24th to 27th, 2025, 12 franchised teams will compete to be crowned champion and for those all-important CDL Points as attention turns towards the battle for the eight places at Championship Weekend.

But what are the key storylines and talking points for Major 3? Esports Insider takes a closer look at everything you need to know before the first shot is fired on the virtual battlefield.

All of the teams participating in the Call of Duty League’s third Major will be placed into a double-elimination bracket and play best-of-five matches until the Grand Final where a best-of-seven is played.

The action begins with top seed Los Angeles Thieves taking on the Carolina Royal Ravens, the latter of which scraped into the winner’s bracket after recording two victories during the qualifying matches.

After securing victory during the first two majors of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 season, Atlanta FaZe has the opportunity to make history by becoming one of a handful of teams to win four consecutive Call of Duty esports competitions.

Despite the team’s turbulent online form, Atlanta’s LAN form is a force to be reckoned with, and McArthur ‘Celium’ Jovel is often in the conversation for the tournament MVP award.

If Atlanta can continue its strong run of LAN form, there’s every chance the team is considered one of the very best teams to compete in Call of Duty esports.

Due to last-minute visa issues, it looked like Ben ‘Beans’ McMellon would miss out on competing at Call of Duty League Major 3. The issues were resolved in the hours leading up to the tournament, meaning the Brit would make it to Boca Raton alongside his teammates.

Toronto Ultra was one of several franchises to record a win/loss record of 4-1 during the Major 3 qualifiers, securing a place in the winner’s bracket. Having started the season with a top-six and a top-three finish at the previous two Majors, the team is slowly building towards a strong showing.

The franchise has often been on the cusp of claiming outright victory and could be one of several in contention of claiming the top step of the podium.

Vegas Falcons has struggled to find its feet among the best teams competing in the Call of Duty League since it joined for the 2024/25 season. Having aimed to showcase the skills of an all-Saudi roster, three of the original line-up have been replaced by two North American veterans and an OpTic Texas outcast.

Since Amer ‘Pred’ Zulbeari, Preston ‘Priestahh’ Greiner, and Alec ‘Arcitys’ Sanderson joined the team for the Major 3 qualifiers, the Falcons scored its first victory with a win against OpTic Texas. With the franchise finally on the board, can it carry the momentum generated online onto the big stage?

Mathematically, there is a possibility the franchise secures one of eight spots available for Championship Weekend and with plenty of CDL Points up for grabs for high placements, a strong performance could act as the catalyst for a late surge towards the top of the league table.