In the latest episode of Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez’s Eavesdrop Podcast, Dallas Empire head coach and general manager Ray ‘Rambo’ Lussier has explained what he believes to be one of the keys to Dallas’ success.
Rambo officially joined the Empire in March 2020 after months of back-and-forth negotiations and a lengthy VISA application process, overseeing the squad prior to their first Home Series win in Los Angeles.
Although it took some time to reach the success that seemed inevitable during pre-season tournaments and scrims, Rambo has explained one of the main strengths of the squad at throughout the early stages of the season.
While explaining how working for Advanced Warfare and World War II developers Sledgehammer Games helped him develop his coaching and management ability – after admitting that he probably wasn’t that fun to play with – Rambo heaped praise on the younger Dallas Empire players.
“Clay and Crim have done a lot with the young kids,” he said, speaking of CoD rookies Indervir ‘iLLeY’ Dhaliwal and Anthony ‘Shotzzy’ Cuevas-Castro. “There are so many small things at a pro level that you need to be able to do that they don’t really understand even just yet.”
Despite this, he said that Crimsix and Clayster have managed to teach them enough to play as someone much more experienced, with Crim and Clay productive in the way they speak, while “the young kids just listen and know they’re in a position to learn.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
This combination of veteran leadership and young, raw skill seemed like a great mixture going into the season and, if Rambo’s praise of the young players’ abilities to listen and learn so efficiently is accurate, shows that they have the potential to be even better than they already are.
It’s clear that Rambo still has a fantastic mind for Call of Duty, often heralded as one of the smartest to ever play the game, and iLLeY and Shotzzy will no doubt come out of this season as far better players than they could have imagined if they continue to take this opportunity to learn from some of the best.
It’s not clear yet whether this will result in more championships – especially given the ongoing global crisis – but Rambo clearly believes this team has something that not many others do.
