Atlanta FaZe just secured a 3 – 0 victory over Toronto Ultra to push one step forward at the CDL Madrid Major. The massive victory forced Ultra into the elimination bracket to square off against the Royal Ravens – their last chance at staying in the running.
Following the sweep of a match, I sat down with Atlanta FaZe’s Tyler ‘aBeZy’ Pharris and McArthur ‘Cellium’ Jovel to talk about their nine-game win streak, playing more aggressively this season, and how they bounced back from a rough start.
‘I Was Underperforming’
Atlanta FaZe didn’t have the cleanest start to the 2025 CDL season. The squad suffered a 0 – 3 loss in a qualifying stage for the first time since May 2023. That decisive defeat was handed down by the Carolina Royal Ravens, a team that has been on fire so far in 2025.
From there, FaZe lost three matches back-to-back-to-back before taking a break and turning things around. Presently, the team is on a near-historic nine-match win streak, almost refusing to drop a map in any series.
I caught up with Cellium and aBeZy to chat about the change-up:
Cellium: For me personally, I was underperforming really badly. There were a lot of internal team talks about how we play the game and how we think about everything, and I think it definitely helped us improve over the break. Everyone is on the same page now and we trust each other.
aBeZy: We had a team talk after the break, leading after the Falcons match that we won. We put everything on the table and after that, we’ve just been firing on all cylinders. Like he said, we just trust each other in every situation that we’re in and we’re just frying.
The talk turned to a recent comment made by Drazah, who wasn’t present for the chat. He’d previously said that ATL would take on ‘anyone, anytime’, suggesting the strategy had now turned to aggression. I asked aBeZy and Cellium if that was the case:
aBeZy: Yeah, 100%. I don’t think it matters who we play. I feel like if we’re playing at our best, I feel like no one can beat us.
Cellium mirrored that sentiment, echoing with the claim: ‘I just think we’re the best team right now, by a mile.’
For the third time in two days, I asked the Call of Duty League pros what they thought about the crowds supporting the tournament here in Madrid. Thus far, OpTic Texas and LA Thieves have agreed that the EU crowds are on another level compared to NA, and that was supported by the Atlanta FaZe guys:
aBeZy: I think EU crowds are insane … Even this crowd is crazy.
Cellium: Both times I’ve went to Europe so far, it has been amazing. I would use the EU crowd is insane.
Atlanta FaZe now pushes into the winner’s final against the LA Thieves, which is set to take place tomorrow evening. The loser of that match will be pushed down into the elimination bracket for a final chance to go forward, and they’ll be taking on either Toronto, Carolina, Miami, or Minnesota.
For more coverage of the Madrid Major, check out my interview with LA Thieves’ Scrap and Ghosty.
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