With the next Call of Duty League Major one month away and tickets on sale, we spoke with Toronto Ultra’s UK talent to see how they’re feeling about playing in front of home fans – and visiting family – for the first time at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto from June 2nd to 5th 2022.
Ben ‘Bance’ Bance – ‘It’ll be an unforgettable experience for my nephew who wants to be a pro’
“Much like everyone else, I’m looking forward to playing in front of our hometown fans. I have some family travelling in from the UK, including my nephew who is a huge CoD fan and wants to be a pro player so I think it’ll be an unforgettable experience.
With my family there, I want us to perform well – I definitely put extra pressure on myself knowing they’ll be in the crowd.”
Cameron ‘Cammy’ McKilligan – ‘Hearing the fans get gassed is the most satisfying thing ever’
“Major III will be the first time we have a home crowd advantage. My favourite part about playing in front of a live crowd is when you make a good play and hear the fans getting gassed at something you’ve done. It’s the most satisfying thing ever.
I’m looking forward to being in Toronto for the tournament as it’s got good vibes and a lot of great food options.”
“I’m most looking forward to seeing the Ultra fanbase showing up in full force. As a Canadian franchise with a predominantly European roster, we are very much used to having the crowd against us. I think it’ll be a lot of fun for the team to have home crowd support and fingers crossed it will work to our advantage.”
Flux, Toronto Ultra
Jamie ‘Insight’ Craven: ‘Home fan support and Toronto downtime will be great’
“The no travel aspect of hosting Major III is a big win! But bigger than that, having home fan support and being able to spend some downtime in Toronto is going to be great. I’m really looking forward to having my girlfriend at the event. It’ll be the first time she’ll see me play live in person so I expect it to be a different vibe. It’s nice knowing someone I’m so close with will be in the crowd.”
Mark ‘MarkyB’ Bryceland, head coach – ‘I’m expecting the crowd to be very loud!’
“I’m most looking forward to having massive home support at Toronto Ultra Major III. I’ve only experienced that level of support a few times in my career as a player and, since I’ve been a coach, we haven’t had a chance to play in our home market. I’m expecting the crowd to be very loud!
I’m hoping some of my friends and family can make it out for the event as it would be insane for them to see how far CoD has come since they last attended an event.”
Ryan ‘Flux’ Oldfield, analyst – ‘It means a lot my sister will be there’
“I’m most looking forward to seeing the Ultra fanbase showing up in full force. As a Canadian franchise with a predominantly European roster, we are very much used to having the crowd against us. I think it’ll be a lot of fun for the team to have home crowd support and fingers crossed it will work to our advantage.
My sister is visiting for the event. I know my family back home is very invested in our games so it means a lot that she’ll be able to see the spectacle in person. She’s super excited to visit Toronto for the first time!”
“I’m looking forward to playing in front of our hometown fans. I have some family travelling in from the UK, including my nephew who is a huge CoD fan and wants to be a pro player so I think it’ll be an unforgettable experience.”
Bance, Toronto Ultra
Charlie ‘Hicksy’ Hicks, Toronto Ultra academy and Toronto Ultra substitute
“Heading into Major III, we’re looking to retain our Challengers first place from Major II and get extra support from the Toronto fans. I’ve got a few friends travelling in for the tournament – it’ll be so good to see them after such a long hiatus.”
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In other news, Toronto Ultra’s sister organisation Mad Lions (both owned by parent company Overactive Media) recently announced the signing of Tenstar’s Valorant roster featuring UK talent.
And the UK CoD franchise, London Royal Ravens, recently announced new owners.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
