All of OpTic Chicago, along with a majority of other pro teams, have relocated to Texas for the Call of Duty League 2021 season, and Seth ‘Scump’ Abner believes it’s going to give them a huge “advantage” over their CDL rivals.
With the switch to online play in 2020, teams were scattered across the United States. Players could be competing from the other side of the country with a significant network disadvantage.
Given LAN events are still a ways off due to the ongoing global crisis, a majority of CDL pros have established a makeshift “bubble” in Texas to combat the issue. With all players in one location, Scump argues that it only benefits teams for the year ahead.
“I absolutely love it,” he said on January 27. With his teammates all training out the H3CZQUARTERS facility, there appear to be no excuses for the upcoming season.
In the lab. pic.twitter.com/wbczZL6sFV
— OpTic Chicago (@OpTicCHI) January 24, 2021
Being in the one location affords a degree of team bonding that you just can’t get online, according to Scump.“I think it has tremendously improved our team chemistry. Every single night [the team] is always hanging out after scrims.”
“You can just tell. It feels like we trust each other a lot more inside of the game. We trust each other to make good decisions and do the right things on the map.”
From OpTic’s standpoint, it’s not just the team chemistry that’s proving valuable. “On top of that, you have the sheer connection advantage,” Scump added.
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“I believe 31 of 48 players are in Texas right now and it might even be more than that. Clearly, Texas has some sort of connection advantage for people to want to pick up their lives and move down here to compete.”
We’ve already seen the move pay dividends for OpTic as they recently blitzed through the LA Thieves 3-0 in the Kickoff Classic. “We’ve been playing super good. I can’t even remember the last time we lost a scrim set. It’s been amazing to have the whole team here and I think it’s only going to benefit us moving forward.”
With other teams having followed suit with a move to Texas, it should help establish a more even playing field for a majority of matchups this year.
