?Our perception of London Royal Ravens might change depending on how well they perform on Tuesday against New York Subliners, but as it stands now, they seem to be a class below Dallas Empire. That said, Minnesota R?KKR have proved the Empire can bleed, so perhaps the British squad won’t be as scared of facing the reigning Call of Duty League (CDL) champions.

The Royal Ravens are outclassed by the Empire’s stacked lineup, but we wouldn’t sleep on Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, who is experienced and talented enough to cause some serious damage on his own. London winning at least one map is a realistic possibility and should be snapped up at these odds.

?Los Angeles Thieves boast an incredible 6-1 game record and 86% win rate in the CDL. The league newcomers have already beaten the likes of New York Subliners (3-0) and Minnesota R?KKR (3-1), which is quite remarkable no matter how stacked their squad is.

Seattle Surge lost against Dallas Empire (0-3) two weeks ago but bounced back with a narrow and somewhat underwhelming 3-2 victory against London Royal Ravens a couple of days later. Even though we believe the Surge will look much better when they form a strong synergy, they’re not at the level of LA Thieves at the moment.

?OpTic Chicago will take on Toronto Ultra in the final match of the day, which promises to be a straightforward win for the Green Wall. OpTic enter this match with a 5-3 game record compared to the Ultra’s 3-1, but we should value Chicago’s record much higher.

OpTic’s sole loss of the season came against Atlanta FaZe (2-3), who edged them by only five points in a round of Hardpoint. On the other side, Toronto’s only game of the season ended in a 3-1 upset win against Florida Mutineers that perhaps doesn’t give a true indication of the team’s strength.

This is a must-win match for Seth “Scump” Abner and company, who shouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a 3-0 result. Betting on clean sweeps is risky business so early in the season, but the long odds make it worth it. Alternatively, you can take the shorter -1.5 line on the favourites.

?Florida Mutineers enter their second fixture of the season off a humiliating 1-3 loss against Toronto Ultra, which was a match Travis “Neptune” McCloud and co. were expected to win with relative ease. Although that is a rather small sample size, it was fairly easy to spot the Mutineers’ biggest weakness: Hardpoint.

Los Angeles Guerrillas started the new season with a 0-3 loss against Atlanta FaZe, which they followed up with a narrow 3-2 victory over Paris Legion. Since the Guerrillas were expected to produce those results, it’s hard to take much from their games, although no obvious weaknesses in their play have come to light.

The Mutineers, however, have some glaring issues, so it’s hard to agree with the latest odds at Call of Duty betting sites, which imply they should win this match 84.7% of the time. This is still very early into the season, and while the Mutineers look better on paper, they’re not nearly as good as those numbers suggest.

?Toronto Ultra’s lone match of the 2021 CDL season was against Florida Mutineers, which they won (3-1) largely thanks to phenomenal performances from Cameron “Cammy” McKilligan and Tobias “CleanX” Juul J?nsson. Although one result doesn’t mean much, it seems like Toronto will retain their tag as a dangerous underdog.

Many fans expected OpTic Chicago to start the season with a 2-0 record, and while things looked good after their 3-0 sweep of Paris Legion, OpTic hit a wall in the final match of the opening week when they lost against Atlanta Faze (2-3). Regardless, it’s hard to be overly critical of that narrow loss, especially considering it came against one of the favourites to win the championship.

Esports betting sites are paying around $1.96 for OpTic to cover the map handicap, which is fairly generous considering Ultra have yet to face a tough opponent. Although we believe Ultra can do great things this season, it seems a bit too early to expect them to defeat OpTic’s stacked and experienced lineup. A smaller bet on OpTic to win 3-1 at $3.35 is also worth considering.