On Wednesday, Florida Mutineers player Colt “Havok” McLendon revealed the rumors are true and he’s moving to bench for the 2022 season. This comes after a report from insider @Unscriiptedd that Reece “Vivid” Drost, formerly of the rumored Washington roster, is signing with Florida. Vivid was seemingly dropped from Washington after the ownership group decided they no longer want to pursue the Chicago CDL spot.
The decision by Washington Esports Ventures has caused a ripple effect that directly impacts Florida’s plans for 2022. Now they are apparently moving Havok to the bench once again in exchange for Vivid. They’ll also reportedly release former substitute Christian “Yeez” Faircloth in a corresponding move.
Florida Mutineers to move ahead with Vivid, not Havok
Havok himself seemed to confirm the news earlier today on Twitter. He first tweeted that “everything happens for a reason” after saying he was getting on a flight. This was followed by a tweet stating that he’s looking for Challenger players/teams for the upcoming year in Vanguard.
I’m not entirely sure what’s next but I prepared myself to give this year my all and I’m not letting this or anything else stop me. Challengers players/teams hit me up I’m coming different.
— Colt (@ColtHavok) November 3, 2021
“I’m not entirely sure what’s next but I prepared myself to give this year my all and I’m not letting this or anything else stop me,” Havok tweeted. “Challengers players/teams hit me up I’m coming different.”
This is the second year in a row where Havok has been moved to a substitute role before the CDL season began. Last year, he was moved to the bench so touted rookie Travis “Neptune” McCloud could step in as a starter. This happened at the beginning of 2021 after Neptune showed his potential in Black Ops Cold War. Now 10 months later, Havok is once again benched but this time without playing a scrimmage on the newest game.
While this is unfortunate for Havok, it’s also a sticky situation for Yeez. The rookie was signed last season as a substitute and has remained in that role up until now. It was looking like he would be the first man in if Florida started to struggle, but now his position on the roster is unclear 48 hours before Vanguard releases.
Sources have indicated that Yeez was released so Havok could take the substitute spot, but that hasn’t been confirmed at time of writing. It seems unlikely he’ll land on a starting roster given the amount of talent still left unsigned. Perhaps he could sign on somewhere as a substitute again, though.
For now, it’s looking like Florida will go into Vanguard with the following roster:
- Cesar “Skyz” Bueno (AR/Flex)
- Joe “Owakening” Conley (AR/Flex)
- Reece “Vivid” Drost (SMG)
- David “Davpadie” Maslowski (AR)
The roles are a bit messy but the Mutineers will have a couple of months to figure the situation out.
