Call of Duty League 2026 Major I bracket set

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 28/01/2026

The bracket for the first Major of Call of Duty League (CDL) 2026 has been set. The Black Ops 7 event will begin on January 29, as the CDL descends on Dallas, Texas.

The 12-team event’s bracket has been set following the conclusion of its online Qualifier, which determined the seeding.

Major II will be held at DreamHack Birmingham from March 27-29, as the Call of Duty League pursues more events outside of the US.

The Call of Duty League features events in the United States, the UK, France, and Saudi Arabia at EWC 2026.

Bracket set after online Qualifier

The qualifier saw Paris Gentle Mates end with the overall best record, going 5-2 in matches and 18-11 maps, giving them an opening match against a 3-4 record Toronto KOI.

Carolina Royal Ravens, FaZe Vegas, and Riyadh Falcons also matched that 5-2 record, with the latter two showing strong form after their relocations from Atlanta and Las Vegas, respectively.

OpTic Texas secured only a 4-3 record, despite their CDL Championship and EWC victories to end 2025.

After a strugglesome start to the beginning of 2025, the signing of Mason ‘Mercules’ Ramsey was transformative to the team.

Following a dominant EWC victory and more time together, the team were expected to push on in 2026, but had been inconsistent thus far.

Their 4-3 record gives them a place in the upper-bracket, but a more challenging path than the home fans in Texas may have wanted, with Falcons and potentially FaZe in their way.

Miami Heretics, Boston Breach, Cloud9 New York, and Vancouver Surge are seeded in the elimination bracket.

Miami Heretics and Boston Breach will feel much better, however, holding 3-4 records, losing out on the upper bracket to G2 Minnesota and Toronto KOI only through map differential.

By contrast. C9 New York and Vancouver Surge held sorry 1-6 overall records in the Qualifier, making them, by far, the worst-performing teams in the CDL 2026 so far.

Call of Duty Major I schedule, format, & prize Money

Dates: January 29-February 1

Prize pool: $365,000
First place: $150,000

Format:

• Double elimination seeded bracket
• All matches Bo5, except for Bo7 Grand Final
  

In addition to prize money, teams will also be awarded CDL Points for their placement.

The top-eight teams by CDL points following Major IV will qualify for the Call of Duty Championship in July.

Points for CDL Major I are distributed as such:

• 1st: 100
• 2nd: 75
• 3rd: 60
• 4th: 45
• 5th-6th: 30
• 7th-8th: 15
• 9th-12th: 0

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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