This Call of Duty “Rostermania” period has proven to be the craziest one yet. Organizations dropped their entire rosters and, as a result, stirred up a lot of other teams. A long-time player retired. Core players were replaced. Some pros thought this was going to be a boring Rostermania, but it was far from that.
eUnited
One of the craziest changes wasn’t a change at all. Rostermania started early for eUnited on Twitter. After a 5-2 finish at Division B, players took to Twitter and Preston “Prestinni” Sanderson even removed eUnited from his bio. People thought it was all bait given the organizations baiting in the past, until the twins’ mother got involved.
Pro Player parents are getting involved 👀
(Bracks Dad, Arcitys/Prestinni’s Mum) pic.twitter.com/GUW1G0ONHv
— CDL Intel (@intelCDL) March 4, 2019
It was later revealed that the team intended to make a change, but things fell through and as a result they stayed together.
Some things changed, so no changes with us will be happening any longer. It was never Clay’s fault so please stop sending him unnecessary hate. Excited to get the team back on track and start practicing again. Putting everything that’s happened the past few days, behind us. 😁🤙🏻
— Preston (@Prestinni) March 5, 2019
eUnited is the favorite to win CWL Fort Worth because of their success at CWL Vegas and Division B. Will this impact to their chemistry ruin their run?
Excelerate Gaming
Excelerate Gaming finished 1-6 at Division B. They have been under fire since the news released about how they were treating their players. Michael “Beehzy” Said released a video detailing how the CEO tried to force the players into unfavorable contracts and threatened their league spot.
The Truth about @ExcelerateGG https://t.co/RHco7sDPrx
Keep in mind I tried to make the video as short as possible while getting the main points across. There's a lot more that I either didn't say or forgot to mention. Last 15 minutes in the juicy part. Enjoy!
— frozen raspberry lemonade (@beehzy17) March 7, 2019
Some players didn’t agree to it and were all dropped by the organization. Their confirmed roster is Cesar “Skyz” Bueno, Carson “Brack” Newberry, Eric “JetLi” Phan to help partner with Christopher “ProFeeZy” Astudillo, and Mike “Mruiz” Ruiz.
Last thing I’m posting about rostermania. Confirmation of the full Excelerate roster + coach on the WGN $50k qualifier website
Brack
Mruiz
Profeezy
Jetli
Skyz
Atura (coach) pic.twitter.com/o6662bunho— CDL Intel (@intelCDL) March 9, 2019
Mike Rufail, owner and CEO of EnvyUs, offered to help the dropped players get to CWL Fort Worth out of his own pocket after hearing the news.
https://twitter.com/hastr0/status/1103693611710009345
Midnight Esports
Excelerate wasn’t the only organization to do this sadly. Midnight Esports dropped their entire roster after a 5-2 Division A finish due to players disputing contracts that they presented. The result was the entire team except for one player being dropped and Midnight picking up a new team. Their new confirmed roster is Renato “Saints” Forza, Rasim “Blazt” Ogresevic, Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, Andres “Lacefield” Lacefield, and Devin “Llamagod” Tran. This is a dangerous team if they can keep their egos in check.
Midnight would like to announce @Blazt @Parasite @Lacefield as part of our Call of Duty roster going forward into Fort Worth and the league!!! #PurpleStorm pic.twitter.com/0SsTzaJkYx
— Midnight Esports (@GGMidnight_) March 9, 2019
Hopefully this abuse of power by Excelerate and Midnight won’t go overlooked and rules will be implemented to prevent this in the future.
GenG
Midnight’s implosion has led to roster changes elsewhere. GenG placed Michael “SpaceLy” Schmale on the bench and put Dylan “Envoy” Hannon in the starting lineup after finishing in first with a 6-1 record in Division A. This decision has faced major backlash from the community. SpaceLy was presumed to be the leader and the person who got the team together. They competed under Team Space before getting placed under Str8 Rippin and now GenG. Chance “Maux” Moncivaez had more to say on the situation in the defense of himself and his fellow teammates.
UYU
UYU has also benefited from Midnight’s blunder. After a 3-4 finish in Division A, Saul “Parzelion” Masse-Siguenza has been placed into the starting lineup, replacing Cesar “Skyz” Bueno. UYU earlier in the year replaced Tristan “Spoof” Green, who helped the team qualify, for Anthony “Methodz” Zinni, who failed to qualify. This made UYU the first organization to get on board the hate train. This recent change has been a much more well-received one. Another welcome change was the pickup of Michael “Beehzy” Said in the substitute spot.
UYU will be welcoming @Parzelion to the starting roster for Fort Worth and onwards! We would like to thank Skyz for his great work and attitude, but following a team decision backed by the org we feel this is a move that helps us stay competitive in an incredibly tough division. pic.twitter.com/O4uRsYiArN
— UYU (@UYU) March 8, 2019
Rounding out the #UYUCoD roster, we have selected @Beehzy17 to fill the sub spot heading into #CWLFortWorth. pic.twitter.com/62lPM5V1I3
— UYU (@UYU) March 8, 2019
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses didn’t see much success at Division B with a record of 1-6. This led to a roster change before CWL Fort Worth. Brice “Faccento” Faccento was dropped from the roster and has announced his retirement from competing. Faccento has been a long-time competitive player and one whose career is something to be proud of. This won’t be his exit from CoD completely. He will return to the game in some form with his advanced knowledge and length as a player. His replacement is another long-time CoD player, Dillon “Attach” Price, on loan from FaZe Clan.
I've officially retired from being a professional Call of Duty player. I will never forget the friendships and memories that came along with it. With that being said, I'm extremely excited to step outside of my comfort zone and pursue other opportunities in the esports industry!
— Brice (@BriceFaccento) March 6, 2019
A big welcome to @Attach, who joins our Call of Duty roster on loan from @FaZeClan!
We'll be competing with him starting with CWL Fort Worth next weekend, and continuing onto CWL Pro League matches afterward.
Read more here: https://t.co/Sr8LAYiHql pic.twitter.com/1gx9cH00Ym
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) March 9, 2019
Team Reciprocity
Team Reciprocity performed below expectations at Division B with a 2-5 record, but they didn’t reach far for a change. They simply put their sub Dylan in the place of Denholm “Denz” Taylor. It has been debated that Dylan “Dylan” Henderson should have been a starter in the beginning. This will be his opportunity to prove those theories true.
Roster Announcement:
Joining the #RECPack at @MLG Fort Worth in March will be @DylanCOD_. With this promotion, @DenzJT will be moved to the bench, but will still remain with the #RECPack for the future. pic.twitter.com/ZpVhDLiW7W
— Team Reciprocity (@TeamReciprocity) March 1, 2019
Enigma 6
Enigma 6 finished with a 3-4 record at Division B. This is a team made up of young guns to the CoD scene along veteran Jordan “General” General and Kade “Kade” Jones. Kade did not perform up to expectations at Division B and as a result was dropped for Martin “Chino” Chino. Chino saw immense success last year in WWII on tK but has not been able to replicate it this year. Maybe he will find his home on E6 and bring leadership and experience to the team.
Roster Move: @Enigma6Group have picked up @MJCheen in place of @Kade416. #CWLPS4 pic.twitter.com/h577ftyHby
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) March 9, 2019
Non-pro league teams
Other organizations have picked up a team for CWL Fort Worth outside of the pro league. Mazer Gaming picked up a full five with Eric “TwiZz” Servello, Tyree “Legal” Glover, Remington “Remy” Ihringer, Bullseye, and Anthony “DraMa” Padilla. Lightning Pandas replaced Joshua-Lee “Joshh” Sheppard and Alex “Alexx” Carpenter with Sam “Chain” Dineley and Billy “Hawqeh” Harris. Movistar Riders picked up Ronaldo “Wartex” Lavado. Unjustified Gaming picked up OpSuda, RobbieB3319, FA5TBALLA, JohnnyisTsunami and Turnup2ez.
What do you make of these major developments? Do you feel your favorite team’s chances of success have just gone up or down? Let us know!
