Call of Duty League team Toronto Ultra have won the 2023 Call of Duty (CoD) League Major 3 Championship in Arlington, Texas.
Their roster currently features two UK players – Hicksy (pictured above) and Insight – along with Danish player CleanX and Americans Scrap (aka Scrappy) and Standy (substitute).
The Toronto Ultra roster was recently refreshed, bringing up rookie Hicksy from his substitute position to play in his first official pro season in the starting roster.
The win saw Hicksy become the first pro player since 2011 to win a championship in their very first pro LAN tournament, joining an elite group of players including Scump (and Bobby, according to others on social media).
Hicksy also joins the likes of Shotzzy and Illey as CDL rookies to reach a grand final in their first LAN.
However, Hicksy has played other LANs in the past, including ones in the UK, but it looks like this was his first CDL LAN as a pro player on a team not coming through open qualifiers.
It was also the first championship victory for Toronto Ultra in front of a live audience at LAN.
The route to the final saw Toronto Ultra defeat the New York Subliners, Boston Breach, Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Texas in front of the home crowd. Toronto Ultra took the best-of-season final in a 4-2 win.
In addition to the team victory, Scrap, also in his rookie year, was named the tournament MVP.
The final match between Toronto Ultra and Optic Texas broke new ground, securing the highest peak viewership in Call of Duty League history with more than 335,000 tuning in, according to Esports Charts.
The tournament win brings $200,000 in prize money and 65 championship points to Toronto Ultra.
Unfortunately, for UK franchise team London Royal Ravens, they were defeated 3-2 by Optic in the first round of the lower bracket.
Winning a Major ‘incredibly gratifying’ says Toronto Ultra owners
“Winning a major championship is incredibly gratifying. This win is shared by the team and our staff and will be celebrated across OverActive,” said Adam Adamou, Interim CEO and Chief Strategy Officer at OverActive Media, owners of the Toronto Ultra CoD League franchise.
“We decided early on to invest in our teams with a focus on talent development, strong coaching, and holistic performance including physical and mental health. Our success validates our established process and the people we continue to assemble to run it.
“Additional gratitude is owed to our fans and partners. Thank you for your unwavering support.”
The team will also be hosting the Call of Duty League Major 5 tournament, which takes place between May 25th and 28th 2023.
Related article: Toronto Ultra UK CoD talent on playing in front of a live crowd in Canada for the first time at 2022 Major 3
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.
