Back with the the original OpTic franchise after a year away, Dashy explained to H3CZ why he didn’t join Scump and co. on the 2020 Call of Duty League’s Chicago Huntsmen roster and how he felt “lied to” during the process.
Immortals Gaming Club bought OpTic Gaming in June 2019 to form OpTic Gaming Los Angeles, just ahead of the CDL’s inaugural season. During that first rostermania, OpTic’s rising star Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell got serious ‘betrayal’ backlash for staying with new ownership instead of joining Seth ‘Scump’ Abner on Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez’s new Chicago Huntsmen organization.
While rumors have flown around throughout that entire time span, including speculation that Dashy wanted a trade to Chicago, little has been put on the official record. Now, with H3CZ reacquiring OpTic (and Dashy) for 2021, the two cleared the air on a new episode of the Eavesdrop Podcast.
As it turns out, the situation was as muddy as any in professional CoD — ranging from Scump “ghosting” Dashy to the young star feeling “swindled” by Immortals’ OGLA. Ultimately, it’s less a story of betrayal than a story of miscommunication and a deal that was too good to pass up.
With H3CZ asking directly what happened during that pivotal offseason, Dashy painted his side of the picture: he, Scump, and Thomas ‘TJHaLy’ Haly planned to stay together for 2020, while bringing on Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper.
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But then came the miscommunication, as Dashy explained that Scump “didn’t keep me in the loop at all. For a week straight, he kind of ghosted me.” During that period, Dashy elaborated that OGLA reached out and “gave us a pretty godlike contract,” but a time-sensitive one. Adding onto their negotiating leverage, the group told him that H3CZ still “didn’t have a league spot.”
As such, concerned by a lack of communication and convinced that H3CZ didn’t have his Chicago league spot, Dashy signed the contract. Subconsciously convinced that the “league spot” confusion was exaggerated, he revealed that his “heart just dropped” when signing the deal.
Now back on OpTic with H3CZ and Scump, Dashy explained the emotions he was feeling as he saw the team successfully form the Huntsmen a year prior: “In my head, I definitely got finessed. I got swindled hard … I felt like I got lied to. A lot.”
For what it’s worth, H3CZ clarifies that it’s true he did not technically have a league spot at that time, but he felt it was obvious he would end up with one.
Still, the Green Wall army will likely be satisfied with Dashy’s reasoning. It’s not so much betrayal as it was a miscommunication, muddy information, and a “godlike” offer that, considering the circumstances, was too good to pass up.
