FaZe Clan Warzone Kris ‘Swagg’ Lamberson has come under fire after admitting that he was making call-outs for Atlanta FaZe players at CDL Champs, a world championship-crowning Call of Duty tournament with $2.5m on the line.
On August 7, Atlanta FaZe were in the grand final of Champs, facing off against eventual winners LA Thieves, duking it out for the lion’s share of the prize pool as well as championship rings and further cementing their names in the Call of Duty history books.
One huge point of controversy at the tournament, though, was the crowd calling out for their favorite teams at certain points in games, the main example being during tense Search and Destroy moments, such as ninja defuses or in 1v1 scenarios.
The casters during the matchup were even urging the crowd to “shut up” during these intense moments hoping not to ruin the competitive integrity of the all-important match, but Swagg has admitted that he did actually call out for FaZe at one point during the Search and Destroy.
He said: “You had to be there, but there was a time when aBeZy was in a 1v1… Bro, the guy starts defusing on 100 Thieves, it’s dead quiet, and I yell out ‘Yo, check bomb!’ It was f**king hilarious … and he checks the bomb right after it. It was so funny, everyone started laughing.”
Of course, players and viewers alike were disappointed to hear the crowd calling out for teams in the Champs grand final, but both teams were both victims and beneficiaries of these call-outs.
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Taking to Reddit, a number of CoD esports fans voiced their disappointment in Swagg over the incident.
“Fans should not be able to influence rounds like this lol. Just sucks,” said one user, while another said that the “Worst part is that he still doesn’t understand that it’s wrong.”
Others went as far as to call it “lame as f**k” and call Swagg himself a “loser” for doing what he did.
There’s definitely a strong debate over how much fans should be allowed to influence matches like these, with some even calling for the return of soundproof booths for competitors, though it’s unclear whether that’s a real option given health and safety restrictions.
Given Swagg’s involvement with FaZe Clan, you can see why he’d want to support his team and give any help he can, but the competitive CoD fans aren’t so happy with it.