The Dallas Home Series

On April 10, 2020 the Call of Duty League will return. The CDL is back on track after the recent hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league will now be played entirely online for the remainder of the 2020 season. This new format will present some new potential pitfalls for the Chicago Huntsmen. The Huntsmen were a dominant team in a LAN environment but will that skill translate to an all-online tournament? During the preseason the Huntsmen were having difficulties against the Dallas Empire as they were a team that thrived in an online setting. The Empire are only one factor as well as The Huntsmen could only potentially face them. Chicago will be back on the hunt and will be gunning for all of their competitors this weekend, starting with the Minnesota Rokkr.

Minnesota Rokkr

The first team the Huntsmen will be playing are the Minnesota Rokkr. The Rokkr are a formidable opponent as they have been performing quite well. They recently defeated the Atlanta FaZe who are arguably one of the best teams in the league during the Los Angeles home series. In recent scrims the Rokkr have been putting up quite the fight and will present a challenge for the Huntsmen. The outcome of this match will be an indicator for the rest of the weekend, if the Huntsmen can perform well against the Rokkr then they should be able to perform well against any potential opponent.

Scrims

Recent scrims for the Chicago Huntsmen have seen varied success. They have recently played the Florida Mutineers, the Los Angeles Guerrillas, The Minnesota Rokkr, and the Toronto Ultra. Chicago performed quite well against the Guerrillas and seem to be the dominant team in that match up. The Mutineers, the Rokkr, the Legion and the Ultra though have all put up wins against the Huntsmen and will all provide quite the challenge for them if they play against each other this weekend. Now that the Huntsmen are playing online their dominant edge on LAN will no longer be a factor as they not only have to compete against these teams but the lag and latency as well.

FormaL

With FormaL being in California this also could add some potential problems as he might be experiencing more lag than his opponents. In the world of competitive Call of Duty milliseconds can make or break matches as gunfights are won and lost in the flash of an eye. Currently FormaL is residing in California away from the rest of the team that resides in Texas. FormaL will have to readjust his play style and choose which fights he is going to take as normally he would be dominant in most engagements in a LAN setting. FormaL has also been practicing the sub role in recent scrims and could possibly unveil this development over the weekend.

Dallas Empire

The Dallas Empire are an amazing team and absolutely dominant online. The Empire will be the biggest hurdle the Huntsmen need to overcome. In a recent YouTube video on the Huntsmen’s new channel Seth “Scump” Abner, Dylan “Envoy” Hannon and Marcus “MBoZe” Blanks discussed the new online format for the Call of Duty League. Scump acknowledged that the Dallas Empire now have a huge advantage and said “I shouldn’t have talked all that shit to Crim man, now he’s actually got me.” In the video, they also talk about how the head of the Empire, Mike “Hastr0” Rufail, installed a massive new server for the team in their headquarters which will widen the gap even more.

Just bought the guys a new router for the HQ pic.twitter.com/ftoiVA7etd — Mike Rufail (@hastr0) March 12, 2020

The Hunt

The Huntsmen just need to focus on their game and use their raw talent to win. The new factors of an online-only tournament are out of their control. The Chicago Huntsmen have an amazing lineup of talent and are truly a top tier team. Though they are at a disadvantage in this new setting they still will remain a top tier team and will be hunting for the Empire. These rivals have the potential to clash again yet this time it will be on the Empire’s home turf. If these teams do end up facing against each other this weekend it will surely be an epic match.

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