What a difference one stage in the Call of Duty League can make. Just a little over a month after making the play of his life against OpTic Chicago, Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi has been benched by the Minnesota ROKKR. His replacement is the former starter Mike “MajorManiak” Szymaniak, who’s been performing well in CDL Challengers.
The move to bench Accuracy follows Minnesota’s disappointing finish at the Stage 3 Major. The ROKKR lost to the London Royal Ravens in an upset, not showing much fight after being the first seed at the Stage 2 Major. MajorManiak immediately slides into the starting roster and will compete at the start of Stage 4 on May 27.
Accuracy benched for MajorManiak ahead of Stage 4
Since Stage 2, the ROKKR have been on a steep decline. The addition of rookie sensation Eli “Standy” Bentz, which benched MajorManiak in the first place, made Minnesota an immediate contender in Stage 2. However, since then, the honeymoon period has faded and the roster is back in the dumps.
This string of underwhelming performances was apparently enough for the ROKKR to make a drastic move. Accuracy was the in-game leader for Minnesota but he has been playing poorly for the last month or so. There might be an excuse for this, though, as Accuracy has been fasting for Ramadan. He confirmed that this was the reason for his below average performances on Twitter.
My teammates are nasty for getting me through Ramadan
— Lamar ❄️ (@AccuracyLA) May 6, 2021
It also appears that Accuracy could foresee a move coming in response to his underwhelming play. Shortly after the ROKKR were knocked out of the Stage 3 Major, in may 15, he cryptically tweeted that his spot on the roster was in danger. “Worst month of my career could not have come at a worse time,” Accuracy said.
This has turned out not to be Twitter fodder, as MajorManiak has returned to the starting roster in place of Accuracy. Minnesota revealed that this was due to the team’s poor play since Stage 2. They also made it a point to say that their Search and Destroy should improve with MajorManiak in the lineup.
#ROKKR ROSTER UPDATE
We are moving Accuracy to the bench and bringing MajorManiak back to the starting line-up for Stage 4. #PlayAsOne pic.twitter.com/oYzcSJp53D
— Minnesota RØKKR (@ROKKR) May 17, 2021
MajorManiak has been doing extremely well in Challengers, leading the NA region with a 1.68 KD. Conversely, Accuracy posted a 0.78 KD in Minnesota’s only Stage 3 Major match.
The roles for the roster have remained the same, just with MajorManiak in the Main AR role instead of Accuracy. Minnesota currently sits in seventh place in the CDL Standings. With Champs quickly approaching, it seems that the ROKKR are hoping this move can help them move up in the standings to secure a better seeding for the season’s final event.
