The Dallas Morning News’ Sean Collins takes a look at what we learned about the Empire at the Call of Duty League launch weekend in Minnesota.

The team isn’t where it wants to be

Were Dallas Empire players still confident with their team? They lost both of their first two matches at Call of Duty League’s launch weekend after a preseason of crushing through the same competition in scrimmages.

They were questioned if the morale changed after the Atlanta FaZe swept the Empire on Saturday. Multiple players tried to answer at the same time, but Cuyler “Huke” Garland, who snared the microphone on the table in front of him, was the loudest.

“Yes,” Huke said. “Definitely.”

An in-game patch introduced last Wednesday threw a wrench in the Empire’s gears prior to the tournament. Every team was affected, but the Empire weren’t able to adapt quickly enough.

That led to a pair of losses and an unwelcoming spot at the bottom of the standings.

Could make a laundry list of things that went wrong, things that weren’t executed correctly, and things that affected the gameplay out of our control. Couldn’t adapt on the fly as quick as we’d have liked, but that comes from experience. @RoyalRavens home in 2 weeks 👀 — Empire Clayster (@Clayster) January 26, 2020

Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal followed Huke’s sentiment with more explanation. He said the Empire out-works everyone and that’s how they got to the top in the preseason.

That’s also how they plan to get where they want to be.

There’s drama, but it isn’t for everyone

Every team had drama on launch weekend. That’s a staple of Call of Duty culture, and most of it is in good fun as opposed to sincere disdain for one another, Empire owner Mike Rufail told The News.

Dallas was no different. The trench separating the Empire’s Ian “Crimsix” Porter and the Chicago Huntsmen’s Seth “Scump” Abner was played up by the league before the two franchises faced off in the first match in league history.

The outcome didn’t favor Crimsix and the Empire, as they lost 3-1. While the drama was prominent on the screen at The Armory in Minneapolis and from the mouths of the two competitors, the other Empire players didn’t feel engulfed.

“We don’t really talk about the drama as a team,” Huke said after the Empire’s weekend of competition wrapped up. “To be honest, I didn’t really know that was going on and I don’t think any of us think much of that.”

Crimsix backed that up with his action on Twitter after each match. Despite his outspoken animosity towards Scump he didn’t lack sportsmanship.

Ahhhhhh dammit. Fun maps, GG’s Hunstmen, I’ll tip my hat. You guys were better today. — Empire C6 (@Crimsix) January 25, 2020

He put out a similar message after dropping three straight maps to FaZe. There would be room for concern for internal drama if this wasn’t the case. That doesn’t mean drama can’t happen, but the Empire handled early defeats well publicly.

The young will grow

Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro and iLLeY were thrown into the fire. They played two teams with seasoned veterans and championship DNA for their first experience on LAN.

Simply need to get better, we will be back stronger for London. — Empire iLLeY (@iLLeYYY) January 26, 2020

Both showed promise through seven maps of gameplay — Shotzzy picked up a clutch pair of snipes against the Huntsmen in search and destroy and iLLeY put together a few streaks. However, they certainly experienced the differences between the comfort of their home and in a venue with thousands watching.

“Good thing the learning experience is now instead of the tournament,” iLLeY said. “We are just going to come at everyone and show everyone we are the best again.”

The two 18-year-olds also received unwavering support.

Leadership isn’t an issue

Crimsix and James “Clayster” Eubanks shouldered the blame for the Empire’s underwhelming showing. While they were considerably upset about the patch, they also said they “sucked” at adapting.

Where the two really stood out as the veterans was in handling the struggles of the young guys on the team like iLLeY and Shotzzy.

Crimsix tweeted his appreciation for the two youngest members of the team and how they carried themselves against the league’s best.

Rufail was pleased with the leadership.

This is how a leader tweets. Proud to have all of you as teammates. See you in a sec. — Mike Rufail (@hastr0) January 26, 2020

Dallas would have a tough time building an empire if their leaders couldn’t control the respect of their team. But that doesn’t appear to be a problem.

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