Octane, Clayster & other CDL pros call out FaZe’s Cellium for snaking

As the Atlanta FaZe beat the Paris Legion at the Call of Duty League’s Super Week, Octane and other CDL pros jumped on Twitter to call out Cellium and condemn the return of snaking to professional CoD.

Put simply, “snaking” is when a player abuses the crouch and prone movement mechanics to quickly bob up and down behind cover. This enables someone to shoot enemies while remaining practically invulnerable themselves (as playing a “head glitch” effectively breaks an opponent’s camera).

The issue has existed for years as a recurring GA (gentleman’s agreement) and FaZe’s McArthur ‘Cellium’ Jovel is no stranger to snaking accusations. The FaZe star used the overpowered mechanic to pull off a 1v2 clutch in the game five Search & Destroy vs Legion, allowing Atlanta to secure the victory.

Almost instantly thereafter, Seattle Surge’s Sam ‘Octane’ Larew and other pros hit Twitter to complain about the mechanic’s sudden resurgence.

Some pros joined Octane in simply critiquing the nebulously GA’d mechanic’s return, but the discussion quickly honed in directly on Cell himself.

As Octane mentions from the outset, the FaZe and Legion match seemed to confirm that the professional scene has fully accepted snaking out of nowhere. As fans keyed in on Fire, the Los Angeles Thieves’ Kenny ‘Kenny’ Williams quickly referenced Cellium in response.

First joking about a timeless story between Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper and Cell, in which the latter told the veteran he could match his play instead of complaining, Kenny then remarked on the game-winning 1v2: “As we just said this, it just happened for the W.”

• Read more: Crimsix puts CDL on blast in epic post-match rant: “We want good spawns!”

The issue is obviously not perpetrated by just one player, a point which Tommy ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto felt compelled to bring to light. Noting the difficulty of Cell’s position, he aimed to put the emphasis on the mechanic itself.

Pointing out that, even if he stopped snaking, Cell would immediately return to it once someone did it to him — ZooMaa redirects the problem: “Unless snaking gets nerfed, it will always be used and abused by MULTIPLE players.”

Dissatisfied, outspoken LA Thieves veteran Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat maintained that it could be solved by a GA, as evidenced by the fact that it was “‘banned’ for 5-plus years.”

That response reinforces a focus on Cell’s behavior, as echoed separately by Octane — who shut down those defending the FaZe player, before continuing on to elaborate that he doesn’t even need the mechanic to excel.

Based on these arguments, it’s clear that some pros blame Cellium’s behavior directly, some blame the mechanic and some are simply surprised by an overall acceptance of what used to be condemned.

The New York Subliners’ James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks reiterated that final perspective, expressing shock during the FaZe and Legion’s match.

While SlasheR pointed to the superior competitive integrity of 2016’s pros, Clayster simply showed disbelief at current behavior: “Still mindblown certain individuals/teams just don’t care and do it anyway.”

• Read more: Asim reveals how ZooMaa fought to keep him in CDL

Overall, the situation is a complicated one. GA’s are difficult to enforce generally, but especially so when they are mechanics-based and context-dependent (e.g. ZooMaa’s widely justified snaking in 2020).

Until the crouch and prone mechanics get addressed by developers themselves, it’s possible that veterans will continue to be frustrated with newer, upcoming players.