SlasheR breaks silence after LA Thieves bench former Call of Duty world champ

Two days after the Los Angeles Thieves made yet another roster shuffle in the 2021 Call of Duty League season, Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat has opened up on what the future holds.

The LA Thieves first season in the CDL hasn’t quite panned out as they would have hoped. Despite re-entering competitive CoD with a ton of hype behind them, the original star-studded roster has undergone a number of changes just two Stages in.

Donny ‘Temp’ Laroda was benched in March and just two weeks later, former world champion SlasheR joined him. The pair were sidelined for Challengers rookies Carlos ‘Venom’ Hernandez and Zack ‘Drazah’ Jordan respectively. Finishing at the bottom of Group A with a 1-4 record in Stage 2, half of the roster has now been replaced ahead of the next Major.

While rumors immediately began circulating as to why SlasheR, of all players, was rotated out, the veteran just took to Twitter in order to “clear the air.”

“As a competitor I would never bench myself,” he said. “This was not my decision.”

The official announcement from LA Thieves outlined how they wanted to “give SlasheR some time off.” Based on SlasheR’s response, however, sitting out for the $500,000 Major is not something the veteran had intended on.

“I still want to continue competing and would never just give up,” he added. “Appreciate all the support and GL to teams competing this weekend.”

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Despite a hot start in Stage 1, LA Thieves have struggled ever since the first Major. Securing just six map wins across five matches in Stage 2, LA Thieves fell to the bottom of Group A.

The revamped roster is all set to meet Paris Legion in round one of the Loser’s Bracket on April 7.

So where exactly does SlasheR go from here? With his heart still set on competing for the year, being benched limits his options. He could drop down into the Challengers circuit, similar to Temp who now competes as part of the WestR lineup.

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Alternatively, this shakeup could pave the way for a ‘blockbuster’ trade. Here’s a deep dive on where we think the veteran might end up in 2021.