The New York Subliners defeated the Seattle Surge to win the CDL Major I with a 4-1 victory in the Grand Finals, becoming the league's first major champions of the 2023 season.

Hotel Hardpoint would serve as the location for the first map of the series in the best of seven match, and it would end up being a tremendously entertaining map. Seattle was only two points short of the 250 they needed to take a 1-0 lead, but they were unable to maintain possession for those elusive final milliseconds.

After Seattle's team was wiped out, New York took advantage of the opportunity and scored the necessary 250 points to grab the lead and establish the tone for the remainder of the series.

Second Map

New York capitalized on its momentum to take the lead early in the Mercado Search and Destroy. The Subliners appeared to be in charge after going up 5-2.

In a crucial two-vs-two position, the Subliners iced up and found a way to close off the SnD and grab a huge 2-0 lead. Seattle did fight back to make it a 5-4 map count.

Third Map

The third map of the series saw back-and-forth play, with each side exchanging offensive round victories before moving on to a round five. The Surge were happy to concede the B point in exchange for their lives in preparation for a fierce confrontation at the A point.

It was then a massacre between the two CoD teams.

The point was being attacked by every player, and trade kills were frequent. Before Pred and his comrades flew in to temporarily remove New York from the point, it seemed as though they were going to stack it. In the best-of-seven series, Kismet found himself a huge two-piece that opened up the point and let his teammates to flood the point and win a huge map, giving New York a three maps to 0 series lead.

Fourth Map

For the fourth map, the show went back to Mercado with New York attempting to eliminate Seattle in the Hardpoint.

Once more, the map was one of back and forth, with neither team willing to yield a single inch. It was exactly what one would anticipate from a championship game: two outstanding teams dealing blows one after the other in an effort to win the trophy.

Seattle was only four points from 250 when they needed to disrupt a New York setup, which put them in a familiar scenario. However, in contrast to the first map, the Surge were able to overwhelm the Subliners to get the break and enter the game.

Fifth Map

The series returned to Embassy for another significant Search and Destroy as it turned the page, this time with Seattle experiencing some momentum for the first time.

The Subliners side were completely tuned in despite losing the previous map, and the entire map felt like a formality for New York to win the championship. With a commanding 6-2 victory, New York won their first title since their founding in 2020.

Following the 2022 season, New York parted ways with a number of players, including Crimsix, the winningest player in competitive Call of Duty history, and Clayster, a three-time world champion. Only a few of HyDra's dirty laundry was exposed after the 2022 season, but there were many questions raised about their work ethic and favoritism within the company. However, HyDra appeared to be the best player in the world and the Subliners appeared to be the best squad in the game during the first major of the season.

Their mental toughness is seen in their capacity to properly manage and persevere in the face of difficulty. They got off to the worst possible start, losing 3-1 to the Toronto Ultra and 3-0 to the Vegas Legion. From there, they went on to win the CoD championship.

However, following that, New York came out swinging and defeated the Minnesota ROKKR, Florida Mutineers, exacted revenge on Vegas, and also defeated the Atlanta FaZe and Surge on their way to the trophy.