Can Dallas Empire defend their Call of Duty League title?

As the Call of Duty League enters its 2021 season, will Dallas Empire once again win it all or will another team rise up to the challenge?

The Call of Duty League has seen some movement in the offseason and with the change from Modern Warfare to Black Ops Cold War, not to mention the transition from 5 versus 5 to 4 versus 4, we’ll likely see some major changes in the power dynamics within the league. Let’s take a look at how Dallas Empire themselves stack up and which teams could potentially threaten them.

Looking at Dallas

There’s no doubt that Dallas has retained a roster filled with superstars and strong players. With the roster being headed up by Ian “Crimsix” Porter and coached by veteran Raymond “Rambo” Lussier, the ceiling for Dallas Empire remains incredibly high. Aside from their veteran core, the Dallas Empire also boasts a myriad of young talent that will most likely continue to shine in Cold War.

Indervir “ILLeY” Dhaliwal, Cuyler “Huke” Garland and Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro have already proven themselves last year and in what we’ve seen from them so far in the Call of Duty League Kick-Off tournament in a one-sided game against the New York Subliners, they look like solid contenders once more.

Who are the challengers?

There are some teams who are looking at dethroning Dallas, with three already looking strong while the other can be seen more as a dark horse if they can get their momentum going. These teams are OpTic Chicago, Florida Mutineers, Atlanta FaZe and L.A. Thieves respectively, with the latter being the dark horse ahead of the competition.

Let’s first take a look into OpTic Chicago, who trashed L.A Thieves during the Call of Duty Kick-off tournament. OpTic Chicago probably boasts the most established roster out of any of the CDL teams as of now, featuring superstars such as Seth “Scump” Abner and Matthew “Formal” Piper. They’re backed up by Brandon “Dashy” Otell and Dylan “Envoy” Hannon, two young guns who like to play aggressively. It’ll be interesting to see if OpTic Chicago can challenge Dallas, with the stakes being even higher. Now that the OpTic brand is back where it belongs in the hands of Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, hopes (and expectations) are high.

Up next we’ll eye up the Florida Mutineers. They recently made a change to their roster that might be quite impactful as they moved Colt “Havok” McLendon to the bench and brought in Joseph “Owakening” Conley. In their first series of the season during the Kick-off tournament, the Mutineers were even able to bring Atlanta FaZe down with a heavily contested 3-2 win. The Mutineers have a roster that’s certainly interesting to watch, but it does feel like they can be a little inconsistent at times and might lack an experienced voice when things really go down. They’ll have plenty of time to prove otherwise in the upcoming season.

No longer second best?

The Atlanta Faze ended the regular season 2020 with an amazing 26-7 record and looked primed and ready to sweep through the competition until they were dealt with by their nemesis, Dallas Empire. They’d go on to lose to Dallas twice, once in the upper bracket final and once in the Grand Final, with the latter being a 5-1 showing by Dallas. Yet, Atlanta FaZe is looking for revenge.

No shortage of talent on the Atlanta FaZe roster, sporting influential names such as Chris “Simp” Lehr and Tyler “aBeZy” Pharris. Atlanta FaZe just has one of those everyone-can-outshine-everyone kind of rosters, which could get them out of a pinch at any moment. They’ll probably be one of the biggest challengers for the crown, especially as they’ve got something to prove against Dallas.

Dark horse L.A. Thieves

As L.A. Thieves enter the Call of Duty League, we can also welcome back scene legend Matt “Nadeshot” Haag. They took over the spot left by OpTic Gaming Los Angeles and look to hit hard and hit fast in their first season within the Call of Duty League. They certainly have a promising roster, that however failed to deliver in the Kick-off Classic.

With players such as Donovan “Temp” Laroda and Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat on the team, they’ve got quite some experience under their belt. It is, however, a roster that was assembled in a hurry back in November. If they can iron out the communication problems and get more acquainted later on in the season, this roster might do some serious damage and could potentially challenge the top from under the radar.

The Call of Duty League kicks off tonight at 21:00 CET, February 11. In the first match, L.A. Thieves take on Minnesota RØKKR. Join the discussion on social media or our Discord!

You can also help improve our website by submitting direct feedback!

Image Credit: Call of Duty League

 

*The listed articles are provided through affiliate links. A purchase after clicking through them supports us at esports.com as we will receive a small commission without additional cost to you.