The Call of Duty League's Major III opened with chalk Thursday as all four top seeds won their opening-round games in Arlington, Texas.
The top-seeded Seattle Surge had the only close call, storming back for a 3-2 win over the No. 8 seed Los Angeles Guerrillas. The second-seeded Boston Breach swept the tournament host, OpTic Texas, while the fourth-seeded Atlanta FaZe swept the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Thieves and the No. 3 seed Toronto Ultra beat the No. 6 New York Subliners 3-1.
Major III includes all 12 Call of Duty League Teams and continues through Sunday. The losing sides in Thursday's action dropped into the elimination bracket, where every round is do-or-die.
The Surge opened with a 250-194 win on Embassy Hardpoint before the Guerrillas answered with a 6-3 triumph on Embassy Search & Destroy and a 3-2 squeaker on Al Bagra Fortress Control. Seattle tied it by taking Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint 250-89 and clinched the match with a 6-4 result on El Asilo Search & Destroy.
The Breach defeated OpTic in three close maps, winning 250-212 on Embassy Hardpoint, 6-5 on El Asilo Search & Destroy and 3-2 on Al Bagra Fortress Control.
The FaZe beat the Thieves 250-239 on Mercado Las Almas Hardpoint before blanking them the rest of the way -- 6-0 on Embassy Search & Destroy and 3-0 on Breenbergh Hotel Control.
The Subliners squeaked out a 250-246 win over Toronto on Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint before the Ultra took control, prevailing 6-3 on Al Bagra Fortress Search & Destroy, 3-1 on Breenbergh Hotel Control and 250-220 on Zarqwa Hydroelectric Hardpoint.
The tournament continues Friday with five matches in the elimination bracket:
--Los Angeles Guerrillas vs. Vegas Legion (Round 1)
--Los Angeles Thieves vs. Minnesota Rokkr (Round 1)
--OpTic Texas vs. London Royal Ravens (Round 1)
--New York Subliners vs. Florida Mutineers (Round 1)
--Guerrillas-Legion winner vs. Thieves-Rokkr winner (Round 2)
--Field Level Media