With the Atlanta crowd cheering as loud as possible, the first competitive Call of Duty game of the day between the Minnesota Rokkr and the Paris Legion was on track to be the biggest yet. If only it stayed that way.

Round One

The first round of the match was a standard game of Hardpoint, at the popular Gunrunner map. Minnesota Rokkr’s Alexx got the first kill, and pushed forward to keep a more than twenty point distance against the Paris Legion. However, in the blink of an eye, the score was 28-18. Here, Paris took the lead after a strong offensive. Then, Minnesota battened down the hatches, kept their defense strong, tying the game for a short while… as the Paris Legion took a more than thirty point lead against the Rokkr.

The Legion pushed through the Gun Runner trains, but the Minnesota offense were ready. With their apt defense, they took the lead away from Paris. As the two teams battled over control of the shipping containers, the Legion took the lead away from them with absolute force… and with thirty seconds left, despite Minnesota’s building offensive, there was no contest. The Paris Legion took the win, 250-211.

Round Two

The Minnesota Rokkr needed to keep their guard up, as well as keep Denz out of the multi-kill spotlight. Meanwhile, with Paris faltering out of the gate, they needed to stay much more consistent during the second round of Search and Destroy. With great surprise, KISMET was the first player to get eliminated for Paris despite his usual offensive strategy. For the rest of the round, Minnesota continued to clean up kills around the map, taking a win in the first round to make it a 1-0 game. Alexx, a key player in this round, racked up kills for Minnesota with ease but ended up getting shot later down the line.

This round was essentially a waiting game for Paris, maintaining both sides of the map to secure their first-round win, making it a 1-1 game. You could feel the tension building between these two teams, as well as the anticipation of the Atlanta crowd growing. With less than thirty seconds left in the game, Shockz scored the first blood for Paris. As time flew by, Paris secured Point A of Search and Destroy, as well as the rest of the round.

Teams switched sides, but the tension was still palpable between the both of them. Paris’ Loqua went down quick. Minnesota’s Denz barely stayed still, waiting for a chance to kill his opponents. Minnesota took the round win, tying the match up at 2-2. Paris edged forward with a strong offensive in the early parts of the fifth round, with Rokkr’s Asim dying almost instantly… the rest of the round, however, was completely in Minnesota’s favor, with Minnesota maintaining a pair of back to back wins over the Paris Legion, making it a 4-2 game in favor of the Rokkr.

GodRx was on a five-person killing spree in the sixth round, and the Legion began to play like absolute garbage. Sloppy and unkempt, Paris, carried by Denz for most of the match, bounced back in the seventh round. They scored a lead as well as built towards a ninth-round win. Would it happen? With a 5-3 win in Minnesota’s favor, Silly and Asim were the heart and soul of the Minnesota Rokkr offensive, and as KISMET fell, no one else could get back up and score for the Legion. The Rokkr won the round, tying the game at 1-1.

Round Three

The third round, a game of Domination, was a surefire send-off of tense team violence. In it, Minnesota confidently held the line against the Paris Legion. The Rokkr kept a very solid lead against their rivals, with a more than forty point lead over a shaky, unstable Paris group offensive. Looking over the stats, it was absolutely abysmal, particularly for Denz, who was one of the few players that had more kills than personal deaths in this Domination round. Assault destroyed his competition, aiding his team to secure a first-round win with ease (as well as substantial kills).

Minnesota’s kill count continued to grow as high as their point distance between their floundering Paris rivals, with Paris losing by a more than sixty point lead. Minnesota shot down their opposition with a careful offensive, despite Paris’ Louqua and Denz scoring some terrific multi-kills. Minnesota absolutely dominated the Warehouse, keeping a seventy point lead with a minute on the clock. The Rokkr took away the win, with relatively no pressure whatsoever going into the next round, with Paris losing steam. God Rx was definitely the round MVP, going 30/18 in the game. The score stayed rocking with Minnesota keeping the lead, 2-1.

Round Four

In the fourth round, a game of Hardpoint, all signs pointed to Minnesota walking away with yet another win as they maintained a more than twenty point lead at the start. Paris picked up offensively as they dragged bodies through the cave, but the Rokkr stopped them right in their tracks. They took control right away from any signs of strength the Paris Legion had.

With a more than sixty point lead, Minnesota continued to dominate their competition. Then, with twenty-five seconds left in the round, all they had to do was maintain their more than fifty point lead over the Legion. Now with a fifty point lead, there were no signs of a Paris comeback anywhere at all. They were distraught as well as destroyed. In addition, the Rokkr showed no signs of letting their guard down. They obliterated any challenge thrown their way in the final minute of play.

Denz was the only player for Paris to maintain more kills than deaths for his team. But a lead change, by some absolute miracle, came together towards the end of the round. With less than ten points between them, Paris finally held the lead over Minnesota during a smoke grenade heavy battle in the middle of the Azhir cave. The match turned to a fifteen point lead in Legion favor, but Minnesota took back the lead within twenty seconds of time. The Rokkr shot down any attempt of competition, as well as scored a ten-point lead. Silly continued to score multi-kill after multi-kill as the Minnesota Rokkr took the round win right from under Paris. They ended the game at 3-1.

The Minnesota @ROKKR get their first win on the road, they take down a tough @ParisLegion squad in a 3-1 result! #ROKKR pic.twitter.com/uV9vLWSFHC — Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) February 22, 2020

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