A comprehensive look at all the shake-ups in one of the biggest Rostermanias we have ever seen.

The off-season amongst many esports, like its mainstream counterpart, is home to the shuffling, dismantling and rebuilding of the rosters we have seen compete over the season past. And being one of the most exciting times for some, and perilous for others, for us fans it is a treat as the forums are littered with healthy speculation and wish-lists. But the initial gust of change has passed, and we have a bit more clarity on whom our favourite players will be teaming with. So let me guide you through some of the most important information coming out of Rostermania.

A Stacked Free Agency

If you somehow in your life have found yourself devoid of any experience of following a sport or a franchise, you know what a free agent is. For those of you who don’t, it is a player that is now due to the ending of his contract, available to be snapped up by another team or organisation. And boy oh boy, do we have a mammoth of a list.

I will not run down each and every name as by the time I am done with all, we would all be talking about the beta of a Treyarch game rather than a Sledgehammer one. But I will talk about some of the most notable names on there that still have not found a place to call home and could cause some major ruckus.

The EU shake up :

The European continent as a whole enjoyed one of the best years in recent memory when it comes to competitive Call of Duty. However, some major shifts are being made. Joshh, the veteran on Epsilon was one of the first to be seen parting ways from an Epsilon roster that at many times were considered the second best behind juggernauts Splyce.

Rated, Urban and Seany have all left Red Reserve. Their team along with the mercurial Joee, were a roster showing good promise at the start of the year, but never truly achieved greatness. Those are three talented players from the continent and I would not be surprised if they are picked up by another organisation going into next year.

Zed and Desire have been released by Elevate gaming whose expedition into Europe was not successful. The roster showed sparks of talent but that was that as they set the record for being one of the only few teams that went 0-18, not winning a single map.

Another major development that took place over the past few days as I was completing this was that Trei ‘Zer0’ Morris has officially cut ties with Splyce. The Stage One playoff MVP recently announced his departure on twitter. This is an interesting switch up from Splyce. Zer0 has undeniable talent and ability with an AR in his hands. After his achievement at the playoffs, Zer0 could not live up to his title in the following months as he struggled to put up the numbers he is capable of, and by this time, were expected from him. It will be intriguing to see where Zer0 ends up as he is a change that could make an impact. Even though he has stated in the past that he does not like the States, the times have changed and if the correct opportunity arrives, in my opinion, it should be taken. He will thrive in an environment that has the level of competition that NA CoD provides.

The rumor mill has been in over drive these past few weeks and there have been unconfirmed reports that the twins from Fnatic, Wuskin and Skrapz, have either been released or have decided to leave. If it were up to me to make changes to that roster, I would personally replace SunnyB, as he seemed to be a weak link in the set up.

Big ‘NA’mes in the mix

Okay the cheeky title aside, there are some major NA players who have been released and are looking for greener pastures.

One of the biggest name from the bunch might be Brice Faccento. The shot caller of the Rise Nation squad that, despite of the tumultuous year, had a strong finish at Champs, was one of the early names to be out there on the market. Rise have since announced a change in their roster, but we will talk about that at a later time. Brice is an accomplished Search and Destroy player who can hold his own at the top in respawn as well. Look out for him to be challenging at the top when November rolls around.

Another few big names all come from Evil Genuises, who have parted ways with veteran Parasite and young guns Havok and Nagafen. Nagafen is one of the most innovative and ingenious players to come out of the Jetpack era. His insane wall runs and sniper spots were legendary in Black Ops 3 and he is a player that could definitely change the course of a match single-handedly. Havok is a skilled slayer in the game but a lot of people have questioned his work ethic and desire to win. And last but not least, Parasite. Chris Duarte has now seen it all. He has been a world champion, enjoying the accolades that come with being the best, to having to start all over again. He has a combative personality that has led to him being embroiled in confrontations, something that he has been openly accepted to being guilty of. He has tried to reform himself and rid himself of his dark shadow, but to no avail. I am sure he is hoping, as will his fans, that he finds the right fit going into a style of game that he was the best at.

A huge organisation that let go of a majority of their roster was Cloud9. The foursome of Aches, Assault, Priestah and Xotic were all released from the organisation. If the rumors are to be believed, Priestah has found himself a spot on a huge organisation, a decision that left many fans of said organisation in a DaZe. Aches is teaming up with other major NA talent which I will talk about momentarily and Xotic and Assault are still on the market. A duo of great skill and temperament, I do hope they find a roster suited to them under a fantastic organisation.

Building on that, a recent slip of tongue from our favorite FaZe Censor Douglas has revealed that he will be joining the FaZe organisation. Now, I do not know in what capacity is he joining in, but for FaZe’s sake I do hope its not as a player. The rumored FaZe roster seems like a good team and even that has irked the FaZe fans. Adding Censor to that mix might just blow up in their face.

And last but not the least, EnvyUs. The runner ups of Call of Duty World Championships 2017. You would think that would be good enough for a team to stay together right? Well, anyone who has been following their journey, the decision to drop everyone but Slasher from the organisation would make sense. At Anaheim, the roster could only manage a top 24 finish, the worst in the organisation’s history. There were apparent internal issues of lack of trust in each other, and even though a bootcamp seemed to have solved these issues, it was only logical for them to separate. Apathy has found himself a roster alongside Aches and John and JKap have both found safe spots on a premier organisation if the rumors are to be believed. These three are champions and have contented at the top for years. They know what it takes to win and are valuable assets to any roster formed.

The Big Throwback

If you peruse through the subreddit for competitive Call of Duty, you would stumble upon a lot of announcements from former professionals, stating they are coming back for WWII. The return to boots-on-the-ground Call of Duty has enticed many to try their hand at the big time again.

The two most prominent ones are ironically the two youngest talents in this list : Huke and TJHaly. Now I will not lie to any of you, the only thing I knew about the two was the fact that they competed in the past on top teams and that was it. But that provided me with the opportunity to look into their careers more.

TJHaly came up, like many from the GameBattles scene. His Search and Destroy prowess was one of the things that helped him push to the top in the pro scene. And when he arrived, he played amongst some of the best players in the scene right now. The Elevate roster with which he finished third in the MLG World Finals in 2015 was a team of him, Slacked, Saints and Octane. Yes. That right there is three-fourths of your Anaheim 2017 Champions Luminosity Gaming. That just goes to show the fact that if MLG had not implemented the 18+ rule when they did, you might have seen him on some event winning roster for sure. But the rule did get passed and he could not compete until he turned 18. And as 2017 rolled around, he is now officially 18 and what could be a better return to professional Call of Duty than to slot into an already established Rise Nation squad. Coming in as the replacement for Faccento, who recently parted ways with the roster, TJ seems like a snug fit as their Search and Destroy shot caller. It is a strong pick up for Rise, something we will definitely touch on later.

And now lets come to the human anomaly that is Huke. Cuyler Garland will turn 18 on October 21st. This will allow him to finally compete in competitive Call of Duty again, but here is the catch, unlike TJHaly, he did not take a break from competing. He merely did what any normal person does. He just switched games and then in two months went pro in Halo. You know, as you do. Okay, I am well aware that just because he was able to do that does not mean he will do good coming back to Call of Duty. And that might be true, but looking back at his record, there is a good chance that he just might. He is the youngest player to ever win an X-Games Silver medal and did so on a roster with Classic, Slasher and Temp. A second place finish at both UMG Washington and Season Two playoffs for him capped off his rather short career before he made his switch. And after he did, he quickly made his way to the Envy roster, and on his way, collected six first place finishes and a runners up spot in the World Championships. His return to another title will be interesting. His success will be determined later but there will be a keen eye on him, to live up to his hype.

Thank you all for reading. I know I have not touched upon the four major roster changes that took place like FaZe and Rise and also other returning pros like MBoze and Stainville and also the SnD stars that are making their way to professional, but I intend to do so in a different piece all together as this is already too lengthy!