Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow, three-time Call of Duty world champion and player for Seattle Surge, has criticized some of the broadcasting of CDL Dallas, accusing it of overly focusing on his team’s struggles.
On paper, Seattle Surge’s lineup is strong enough to be mixing with the likes of Chicago Huntsmen and Atlanta FaZe. Slacked, Octane, Karma, Enable and Apathy all in the same place should be enough to guarantee some high placements.
However, they have struggled massively since the inaugural CDL kicked off back in January of 2020. Their struggles led them to swapping out Enable for Pandur, but the issues have continued online. In the ongoing CDL Dallas, they lost 3-2 to Minnesota ROKKR in the Losers’ Bracket and were swiftly eliminated.
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It is during the ongoing Texan competition that Karma has spoken out, arguing the CDL has focused disproportionately on his team’s failings.
The incident began with JoeyNubzy, Seattle’s Head Coach, commenting that it must be a “super slow day” because the CDL’s commentators were talking about Seattle during the Paris/Minnesota matchup. He went on to say: “I just feel like I’ve heard the same thing for 6 hours and it’s not even our series anymore.”
The comments prompted replies from casters Ben ‘Benson’ Bowe and Anthony ‘NAMELESS’ Wheeler, both of whom argued that Seattle’s struggles were a major talking point.
What do you want us to talk about in regards to you guys?
— Ben ‘Benson’ Bowe (@Benson_EU) April 12, 2020
It’s a big talking point, I don’t blame them whatsoever. Haven’t been many upsets so far in this tourney. also as you can tell delays are happening so some fill is bound to come up.
— Anthony Wheeler (@NAMELESS) April 12, 2020
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While some CDL fans agreed with Benson and Nameless, Karma wasn’t satisfied with the explanation. He swiftly replied: “2 game 5s [and] teammate just had a kid. Kiss my ass”.
Karma is arguing that his team’s struggles are being blown out of proportion, and are far more understandable when considering that Apathy has just welcomed his newborn daughter into the world. This will obviously restrict the amount of practice time he has been able to attend.
In a second tweet, Karma highlighted the internet issues Seattle have had to overcome as part of the online event, arguing that they were even struggling to move during some games.
tell the stream we couldn’t move yesterday. That’s something you can talk about.
— Damon B (@DKarma) April 12, 2020
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He even sarcastically commented: “That’s something you can talk about.”
Fans were split over the discussion, with some siding with the three-time world champion, while others argued that Seattle’s continued struggles were certainly worth extensive conversation.
Either way, Seattle will be hoping to see a drastic turnaround in results as we get further into the CDL campaign.
