Dallas Empire stumble in semifinals against hot Toronto Ultra, take No. 2 seed into playoffs

Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro knew what the Dallas Empire needed to do to get past the Toronto Ultra.

The 19-year-old told The Dallas Morning News Saturday evening that hardpoint maps would stand between Dallas, which lost a 3-1 semifinal match to Toronto on Sunday, and another Call of Duty League tournament finals appearance.

The Empire fell short in the two hardpoint maps against Toronto. It wasn’t a devastating result considering Shotzzy’s team secured the No. 2 seed for champs in August, but it wasn’t what they wanted.

Dallas wanted the top spot. It wanted redemption in a Toronto home series rematch with Atlanta, which swept Dallas 3-0 Saturday afternoon.

Dallas Empire players were not made available to The News Sunday afternoon, though they made sure to share their thoughts on social media.

The Empire had similar struggles against Atlanta as they did against Toronto. The hardpoint maps went down to the wire in both matchups, but the Empire’s opponents made the clutch plays as the final seconds ticked down.

“When we lost to (Atlanta) it just came down to the clutch moments,” Shotzzy said on Saturday. “We are really good at those clutch moments, but they were playing perfectly. Next time around you’ll see better gameplay and we will come out with a different fire.”

The Empire entered the Toronto home series hotter than any team in the league after going on a 12-1 map tear in the London home series and winning a third home series in the CDL’s inaugural season.

Dallas won’t carry that same momentum into champs, which starts on Aug. 19, after its loss to Toronto. The Ultra were playing their best Call of Duty of the season, breaking individual CDL records and wiping the Empire at the end of maps.

Toronto star Anthony “Methodz” Zinni anticipated a hot finish for himself and his team when he spoke with The News on July 6, explaining that some teams may mail it in in the final weeks of the regular season.

That wouldn’t be Methodz.

“Speaking personally, the fire is still there. I think that is a mistake a lot of players will make. They will lose that fire going into the biggest tournament of the year,” Methodz said. “A lot of teams at the bottom of the pack have either won or gotten really close to winning against these top teams. If you look at the standings you would think Atlanta FaZe would blow out every single team at the bottom of the standings, and I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”

While FaZe did go 9-0 before the home series finals, torching each team in their path to reach the title match against Toronto Sunday evening, Toronto rose to the occasion. The Ultra won the first hardpoint map against Atlanta, culminating in a 3-2 match win.

The Empire had a lot to fight for considering a Toronto home series win would’ve sealed the No. 1 overall seed for champs over Atlanta.

There was extra motivation for the Ultra, too.

Toronto needed a strong run just to get into the top eight of champs, keeping it out of the single-elimination matches in the biggest tournament of the season.

The silver lining for Dallas, other than a critical top-two seed, is that its players know where the most work is needed. The Empire will almost certainly take a closer look at their hardpoint play, but also their mental state.

Ian “Crimsix” Porter said the Empire entered Friday’s match against the Florida Mutineers, the now-No. 3 seed for champs, without the necessary energy.

He shared a similar sentiment on Twitter after the loss to Toronto — this time it wasn’t about energy.

CDL teams will have 25 days between Sunday and the start of champs. Dallas has seen its best practice weeks develop into monstrous tournament runs. Atlanta could say the same.

The Empire have serious title hopes, and won’t accomplish them without playing their best Call of Duty yet.

Atlanta is playing at the highest level of any team in the league.

If Sunday was any proof, the Empire could fall to a No. 8 seed at champs if they don’t bring their confidence.

Find more Empire stories from The Dallas Morning News here.