Enable & Pacman: CDL’s world champs made a mistake | Reverse Sweep Review

Following the first week of Stage 3 in the Call of Duty League, our Reverse Sweep crew is back to run through all the latest news. Here from Ian ‘Enable’ Wyatt, Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker, and Katie Bedford as they discuss the biggest storylines.

The beginning of Stage 3 has already seen major roster shuffles, surprising upsets, and newcomers making a splash. 

To break everything down, join our Reverse Sweep crew as they dive into all the biggest developments surrounding the London Home Series.

HyDra helps Subliners topple FaZe

In his first series on the starting lineup, HyDra helped push NYSL over the edge against FaZe. While it came down to the wire in a classic Game 5 Round 11 situation, “HyDra looked like the real deal” in Enable’s eyes.

After weeks of anticipation, the French rookie “showed what he can do.” Not only can he hang with the top teams in the League, but he can edge them out as well. Subliners had been doing well before Stage 3, but now, they’ve just received a big “upgrade” for what was “already a great team,” according to Pacman.

Dallas benches Huke in shock roster shuffle

Perhaps the biggest shock of the week came just hours of Empire’s first win in Stage 3. Huke was surprisingly moved to the bench while FeLo stepped up to the starting lineup. Pacman described it as “easily the most controversial move we’ve had in the CDL. On paper, it’s absolutely asinine.”

• Read More: Clayster defends Dallas over Huke benching

“There has to be more we don’t know,” Enable added. “You don’t just bench your most talented player.” Despite FeLo holding his own in a tough first series against Toronto, Enable simply doesn’t see Empire “improving at all” after this shakeup.

Toronto keeps the momentum rolling after Stage 2 win

For the Stage 2 champs, plenty of questions were answered at the London Home Series. With back-to-back sweeps, they proved the Stage 2 victory wasn’t a fluke. 

“I think they’re the best team in the game at the moment,” Enable claimed. “Top to bottom they look really consistent across every game mode. All the players have been playing fantastic.”

If they’re able to keep it up, another championship could be just weeks away.

Most impressive debut of the week

With plenty of newcomers jumping in for the first week of Stage 3, Pacman highlighted Cheen as the most impactful debut. “[Los Angeles Guerrillas] isn’t the best team, but he came in and they immediately looked better. While we’ve only seen one game with Cheen in the starting lineup, it was a clean 3-0 sweep over Paris to put them on the board.

Enable agreed with Pacman’s pick, explaining that Cheen was the only new player “that actually did impress [him]. Maybe he can turn this Guerrillas team into a legitimate team,” he said.

MVPs of the London Home Series

For the most valuable players of the week, the Reverse Sweep crew put up two different names. Pacman went with Ultra’s Insight due to his “consistent” performance in S&D. “He just keeps dropping bombs. The guy’s nasty, he might be the best individual S&D player in the game right now.”

• Read More: CDL Top Plays from London Home Series

While Enable commended the British player as well, he had to give his MVP award to fellow 100 Thieves member Kenny. “There were a lot of questions when [the LA Thieves] decided to bench SlasheR and move Kenny to a Main AR. I think he’s proven he can easily be considered one of the best in the game, he’s like a human highlight reel.”

Craziest moment of the London Home Series

It’s been an eventful week both in and out of the game, but one moment stood out in particular for Enable. “It has to be that Round 11 from Subliners vs FaZe,” he explained. When a well-placed flash grenade failed to hit its target, it completely flipped the final round on its head.

“I don’t want to blame the whole game on that, but it was a huge play,” he said.

From Pacman’s point of view, however, the biggest moment of the week took place on Twitter instead. “The tweet from Dallas Empire,” he joked. “At midnight, when people are chilling, they drop one of the best players in the game.” With Huke now on the bench, it could offset the League for the rest of the year, according to Pacman. We have no idea on the ripple effect of this. It could end up being a big thing at the end of the season.”

Least Valuable Players of the London Home Series

Last but not least, the LVP awards. Enable couldn’t settle on just one player this week, so he handed the award over to Skrapz, Aqua, and Classic together. “I’m putting that trio as the LVP,” he said. 

“When they made the move to pick up Temp, I thought they’d be a team that could compete. They’ve just looked really bad so far and haven’t shown any signs of improvement.”

Pacman took a similar approach, giving his LVP to the entirety of the Royal Ravens for one particular reason. “How are you gonna drop Dylan for Zaptius?” Pacman asked. “Why do you drop one of the most explosive players on your team?”

• Read More: Accuracy reveals the reason behind ROKKR’s rapid CDL rise

It’s still early days yet so perhaps a rebound is right around the corner. For now, though, Pacman isn’t all too pleased with London’s latest roster shuffle.

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