?Los Angeles Guerrillas have been long regarded as a CDL playoffs gatekeeper, and they lived up to that name. They are at 100 CDL points heading into the fifth stage of the season with a 8-20 series record, which sits them 100 points behind Minnesota R?KKR and 70 short of reaching the final spot leading to the 2021 CDL Championship.

Although the Guerrillas have had some flashes of greatness this season, they are not as good as the top-eight teams, so we can’t be overly optimistic about their chances to impress on Friday. What’s more, R?KKR usually do well against the bottom teams.

It’s hard to make a strong case for Guerrillas here, and it’s difficult to say whether their recent roster changes will work out the way they hope. If everything falls into place for Guerrillas, we might see them keep the clash close and steal two maps, but realistically, there’s an equal chance that they get swept.

?Talent-wise, there is not a lot to separate these two CDL teams, but it’s not difficult to spot which of the two rosters have had more success on the season. New York Subliners enter this bout with 310 CDL points, which is good for a fourth-place in the 2021 CDL regular-season standings; meanwhile, the Thieves are at only 180 CDL points.

The CDL community has been down on New York of late, largely due to their losses to R?KKR (0-3) and Dallas Empire (1-3) in the recent Major. However, we have to take into account that the Subliners were swapping out their players at the time and were trying out something new.

Subliners might have had a few iffy showings, but when this team has all their ducks in a row, Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez and co. can be extremely good. This might sound like a hot take, but Subliners are a top-three team in the league, and it’s only a matter of time before they show it.

You can’t go wrong with a bet on New York Subliners to win 3-1, but considering how poorly the Los Angeles Thieves have been playing of late, a 3-0 seems just as likely.