CDL Playoffs 2020: Everything You Need to Know
By Joe Melillo
CDL Playoffs 2020 will be a new and interesting experience, as it is both the first Call of Duty League playoff and a fully online experience.
A fully online esports championship in 2020 presents some new problems as the sport has grown significantly since its early days. There are issues of ensuring that the game is played fairly and that fans will be given enough access to the competition. While Activision has been hard at work to ensure that the inaugural CDL playoffs run smoothly, let's take a look at everything you need to know for the upcoming competition.
ENERGY: @FormaL is getting excited and keeping comms flowing for the Chicago @Huntsmen in our @ASTROGaming listen-in.#BeTheHunter | #CDLPlayoffs | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/Ng8i1ek5p0
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 21, 2020
CDL Playoffs 2020: Everything You Need to Know
The Call of Duty League Playoffs kicked off on Aug. 19 and will run until Aug. 23. Championship weekend will begin on Aug. 29, and crown a champion on Aug. 30. The event is organized into a double-elimination style bracket where the top eight teams will start in a "winner's bracket." Losing in the winner's bracket will cause a team to drop into an "elimination bracket" (where all nonwinners bracket teams will begin). Losing in the elimination bracket will end a team's playoff run. The winners of each bracket will face off for the championship.
Match Format & Map Order
Playoffs
Each playoff series will feature a best-of-five series with the following rotation:
- Map 1: Hardpoint
- Map 2: Search & Destroy
- Map 3: Domination
- Map 4: Hardpoint
- Map 5: Search and Destroy
Championship
The championship series will feature a best-of-nine series with the team from the winner's bracket getting a 1-0 lead. The rotation will be the following:
- Map 1: Hardpoint
- Map 2: Search & Destroy
- Map 3: Domination
- Map 4: Hardpoint
- Map 5: Search and Destroy
- Map 6: Domination
- Map 7: Hardpoint
- Map 8: Search & Destroy
Mr. Ice In His Veins: @AccuracyLA finds three trying to enter the B bombsite.#NYSL | #CDLPlayoffs | #CDL2020 pic.twitter.com/hmi7IzD7yl
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 21, 2020
Prize Money
The $4.6 million prize pool will be distributed in the following order:
- League Champion—$1.5 million
- Runner-up—$900,000
- 3rd place—$600,000
- 4th place—$450,000
- 5th place—$300,000 (2 teams)
- 7th place—$175,000 (2 teams)
- 9th place—$100,000 (2 teams)