?Los Angeles Guerrillas won their first bout with Toronto Ultra (3-2) back in February but lost the next two in March (2-3) and April (0-3). Considering the Ultra’s improvement over the last few months and the Guerrillas’ rapid decline, it’s easy to understand why the Canadian side are priced as hot favourites to come out ahead once more.

Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov and co. are 0-3 on the stage with losses to New York Subliners (1-3), Dallas Empire (0-3), and Florida Mutineers (1-3). On the other side, Toronto sport a 2-1 record with a 2-3 loss against the Mutineers and two clean-sweep victories against the shaky Empire and London Royal Ravens.

Although the Guerrillas can be competitive, they aren’t nearly good enough for us to believe they can take down the surging Ultra. The underdogs might steal one map, but there’s an equal chance they end up getting swept, so we have to take the better odds on the favourites covering the map handicap.

?Seattle Surge have yet to find their stride and seem like a strong candidate to finish the year in last place. The Surge have managed only four wins (4-18) this season and a 33% map win rate (28-58). Things haven’t improved during CDL Stage 4 either, seeing how they are 0-3 with a 3-9 map record.

OpTic Chicago players clashed last month due to some internal disagreements, but it seems those sparks reignited the fire within the team. The Green Wall finished in seventh-eighth place at the CDL Stage 3 Major, which marked their best CDL Major placement since Stage 1 – a feat that is that much more impressive if we consider that they had to start their journey from the lower bracket.

OpTic might still be a class below the likes of Atlanta FaZe, but they’re often very effective against weaker teams. That said, Seth “Scump” Abner and his crew are still a bit inconsistent and will likely drop a map on Thursday.

?London Royal Ravens recently brought Alex “Alexx” Carpenter back to the roster, which is a move we’re not too excited about. It’s not like he – or Marcus “Afro” Reid as their newest addition – played poorly last week, but neither did anything spectacular either.

They’re serviceable, but we don’t expect Alexx or Afro to help London Royal Ravens improve by much. That’s a problem since they’re now facing one of the strongest teams in the league.

Toronto Ultra slipped in their CDL Stage 4 opener against Florida Mutineers (2-3) but quickly bounced back with a 3-0 sweep of Dallas Empire. They’re now 1-1, which is good but not good enough for their standards.

Toronto Ultra will be out for blood on Saturday, and if they manage to avoid making silly mistakes, we are giving the Royal Ravens zero to no chance of winning a single map.

?OpTic Chicago got smoked by Atlanta FaZe on Sunday (0-3) in a match that seemed like it could end in their favour before FaZe picked them apart. However, we wouldn’t put too much weight on that result, considering that FaZe usually do well against the Green Wall and are 3-0 in the head-to-head on the season.

Facing Paris Legion will be a significantly easier task for Seth “Scump” Abner and his team and a match they can’t afford to lose. OpTic are still a bit shaky and somewhat inconsistent, so we don’t expect to see a clean sweep.

Regardless, OpTic are overall a better team, and in dire need of points, so we have to trust them to secure this one with at least two maps to spare.

Los Angeles Thieves enter this match off a narrow 3-2 victory over Seattle Surge, who won both Hardpoint maps with 250-155 on Apocalypse and 250-150 on Moscow. That wasn’t the first time Kenneth “Kenny” Williams and his crew had struggled on that game mode.

Thieves are the sixth-worst Hardpoint team in the league, with a -11.56 average score and 39.58% win rate. However, that shouldn’t concern them too much, considering Paris Legion are just as uninspiring on Hardpoint maps with a -20.27 average score and 36.36% win rate.

Last week, the French side took Search & Destroy maps off Minnesota R?KKR and Atlanta FaZe, which is quite impressive, although they went on to lose 1-3 in both of those matches. Thieves are still stumbling around, but they’re at least showing improvement, whereas Paris seem to be sinking deeper and deeper with each passing week.

New York Subliners won their CDL Stage 4 opener against Los Angeles Guerrillas (3-1), only dropping the ball on S&D – Miami (2-6). On the other side, Florida Mutineers stunned Toronto Ultra (3-2) and demolished London Royal Ravens (3-0).

The Mutineers are coming into form and are quickly catching the attention of the league. If they can continue playing this way, Florida will emerge as one of the top four teams in the league, although they still need to show a bit more consistency against weaker sides.

These two CDL squads last met two weeks ago, in the second round of CDL Stage 3 Major, where James “Clayster” Eubanks and co. won 3-0. Another victory for the Subliners seems likely, but we don’t expect another one-sided affair.

?Reece “Vivid” Drost will make his debut for Dallas Empire in their clash with the London Royal Ravens, who enter the match with a debutant of their own in Marcus “Afro” Reid. With new and returning faces on each side, it’s hard to say how this one will go, but we can say for sure that the CoD betting odds don’t seem right.

Dallas Empire might be the reigning CDL champions, but they haven’t been playing well of late, and even that’s an understatement. On a more positive note, Dallas Empire looked decent in their scrims earlier this week, so perhaps we might see a resurgence in CDL Stage 4.

The big question for this match is how good is Afro, and what can Alex “Alexx” Carpenter bring to the table. Still, with the way Dallas Empire have been playing, we can imagine them struggling on Control and Hardpoint maps, so there’s a high chance we might see this game going to game five.

If you believe in Afro and Alexx, London Royal Ravens to win might be worth a shot. If not, Dallas Empire to win 3-2 is a solid option at good odds.

?We weren’t too big on OpTic Chicago mainly due to internal disagreements in the team, as noted in CDL Stage 3 Major betting preview. Still, OpTic proved us wrong by putting together a few excellent showings, and it seems like they’re on the right track once again.

Minnesota R?KKR haven’t been playing nearly as good – relative to our expectations – and got smoked by the London Royal Ravens in their CDL Stage 3 Major opener. Performances like that make it tough to find a reason to side with them over the resurgent OpTic, even though this is still a talented roster.

Although it would be very characteristic of OpTic to lose this match, we have a lot more faith in the Green Wall, mainly due to their improvement in respawns. At this price, you have to take OpTic to win with at least two maps to spare. A correct score bet on OpTic to win 3-1 might also be worth a smaller position.

?A 93.5% implied probability of winning for Atlanta FaZe seems about right, considering this is a clash between the best and the worst team in the league. These sides last met way back in February when FaZe edged out a 3-2 victory, however, we wouldn’t put too much weight on that result.

Paris as a team don’t inspire much confidence, nor do any of their players. The only team they seem to do well against are Florida Mutineers, who they beat twice in their last 10 outings. Those were also Legion’s only two wins during that stretch.

Atlanta FaZe might have had some slip-ups during Stage 3, but we are confident that a 3-0 sweep for them is far more likely than Paris Legion stealing one map. We’re going with a -2.5 map handicap bet on the two-time CDL Major champions.

?Florida Mutineers might not be one of the top-three teams in the league, but they’re easily inside the top-six. The only thing preventing us from ranking them any higher is that they don’t seem to have as much upside as some other sides.

Regardless, we like the Mutineers and their chances to impress during this stage. That is primarily due to Travis “Neptune” McCloud, who has had one of the best stretches of his career this past Major.

The question is whether their improvement will be enough to break Toronto Ultra, who have quickly proven themselves as serious CDL Championship title contenders and are also 2-0 up in the head-to-head with the Mutineers. With the form Ultra have been showing, you have to trust them a bit more to impress on Thursday, although we don’t expect another clean sweep.