The Call of Duty League returned this past weekend as a fully online event. This included all of the growing pains and interesting stuttering across the map that one would expect from COD online, but also a surprise winner in the Florida Mutineers. Here are a few takeaways from this weekend.
Sum up this weekend's matches in one word.
Arda Ocal: Thanks. Because they happened. Everyone put in effort, whether it was the players playing the matches under conditions they might not necessarily like, the talent casting from home, the production crews working double time trying to put on a good show for the viewers and dousing fires live during broadcasts. It's a big lift and extremely difficult with lots of moving parts. I forgive every hiccup, every technical snafu, every glitch. For this weekend, that's my word: thanks.
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Emily Rand: Unlucky.
I use "unlucky" a lot in a figurative sense rather than an estimation of my actual luck. Didn't win a gunfight? Unlucky. Had a terrible teammate? Unlucky. So understand that when I say "unlucky" here, I say it with all due respect to the Call of Duty League team (especially the myriad technical staff behind the scenes who we rarely see) for bringing us the league this past weekend and at future online events.
But damn was this weekend unlucky. The amount of server delay. The rubber-banding across the map. That hilarious clip that Minnesota RØKKR coach Brian "Saintt" Baroska posted from Obaid "Asim" Asim's point of view of Paris Legion's Zach "Zed" Denyer glitching through the door, also unlucky. Modern Warfare already had its in-game issues (looking at you, hardpoint spawns) but to add online server issues on top of that?
Unlucky.
Just how good are the Florida Mutineers?
Ocal: I think people have been sleeping on them, including me. Much of my focus has been on the big fish, the Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and Minnesota types of the world. Even when Florida made a final already, nobody was truly talking about them making the final of this tournament, let alone winning it! But here they are, champions of the first weekend in the "online" era. I think they have done enough to become the team to beat in CDL, at least for now. All four of their wins this weekend were 3-1 victories, and they were competitive throughout. The curious part of me wonders, with this team winning a weekend without Preston "Prestinni" Sanderson, what is next for him in his career? Does he stay with Florida or go to another team?
Rand: I didn't believe in Florida when they beat the Chicago Huntsmen in Atlanta, and I didn't believe in them this past weekend either, especially not after their showing in Los Angeles at the last LAN event. Whether it was Prestinni or Maurice "Fero" Henriquez starting for the team, I had them middle-of-the-pack either way, albeit with a slightly different in-game playstyle. Fero seems to fit really well with this team, and Colt "Havok" McLendon routes and rotations were great. I know a lot of people will continue to doubt Florida because of the online issues at this tournament, but I won't be one of them. Now their next challenge will be consistency.
What do you think went wrong for the RØKKR, and what do they do to adjust and beat Florida next time like they have done to Atlanta and now Dallas?
Ocal: They still have that "inevitable" glow about them. They are tied for 2nd in the standings after this weekend, they made the final again, it just feels like they have at least two tournament wins in them. I think Coach Brian "Saintt" Baroska has a very smart mind for the game and is able to bring his team together and lead them to victory. By the way, this team still performed amazing this weekend: Adam "GodRX" Brown had a 1.41 KD on Hardpoint with almost a 60% engagement success.
Rand: At risk of echoing the broadcast, I think Florida prepared for Minnesota really well. Their map vetoes in the finals were smart, forcing MN onto Piccadilly for Search and Destroy and St. Petrograd domination. It's not the sole reason why Florida won -- they also just had stronger rotations all around -- but it was another part of their victory that showed preparedness.
Speaking of preparedness, adjusting after a loss is something the RØKKR have done extremely well. In this same tournament, we saw them adjust and beat the Dallas Empire, who they narrowly lost to in the Los Angeles final. Previously, the RØKKR had narrowly lost to Atlanta in Atlanta, and then adjusted to beat Atlanta in Los Angeles to face Dallas in the final. I'm not worried about the RØKKR, and I think they'll definitely win at least one event this year.
Who is your player of the weekend?
Ocal: Fero. Most overall elims this weekend with 477, most on Hardpoint also with 305, second-highest KD in Hardpoint (1.21) and Domination (1.44). He had a 63.9% True Engagement success in Domination as well. For a guy who wasn't even signed to a team at the start of the season, then joined Florida in place of a well respected top player in Prestinni, to achieve what he has achieved in such a short period of time is impressive. He has definitely earned his spot on that roster.
Rand: I'm going with a different Mutineer in Colt "Havok" McLendon. People talk about his big-brained rotations and routes - half are joking, half are serious depending on the map - but Havok was one of the main reasons why Florida was able to pull this off.
What do you think broadcast needs to improve on the most before the next weekend?
Ocal: Sure, there are minor things, like mics being hot before casters are on screen, maybe a couple tech hiccups here and there. One thing I would like to see changed is how the players act when on screen. There were some things players were doing that they wouldn't necessarily do on camera at LAN events on stage. An easy one is don't be AFK when you know you'll be on camera -- even though for a league like this we really should have every camera up, it's not like they can hide when on stage (unless it's a technical issue, then it's understandable). But like I said above, everything gets a pass from me this weekend, and now that there is a routine in place, that's when you can tighten up here and there.
.... Actually one more thing. Miles and Momo, learn to virtual fist bump. Come on, that was ridiculous. I actually blame Miles more for that one, at least Momo was trying.
Rand: I disagree with Arda. I love that the players are just chilling on stream.
For me (outside of the obvious server issues) it's definitely audio levels, which varied wildly depending on who was speaking. Some of the listen-ins were good, but others could barely be heard. At other times, casters were way too loud, and in-game audio also fluctuated. Of the things broadcast can control, this should be one of the lesser issues going into the next tournament.
The inevitable question: Do these count as chips?
Ocal: My only answer is here.
Rand: If there's one thing I want to make abundantly clear, it's that online COD is better than no COD. I think most people, including the players themselves, would agree. Additionally, if I had to pick only one thing about the COD scene that I like, it's that even if players complain a bit on social media, they generally roll with the punches regardless. This is an unprecedented and awful situation. I think the Call of Duty League could have been more efficient with ensuring teams had the resources (and the servers) to put forward a better online product.
That being said, I'm stuck here. On the one hand, I don't want to take anything away from Florida's victory. On the other hand, it's a bit specious to compare a win from this weekend to, say, a Call of Duty World League event from 2019, or even a LAN victory from earlier this year. Hopefully people can keep the different degrees of competitive integrity in mind and use them as a point of comparison without denigrating the winners of these online events.