Splyce announced its new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 roster on Thursday, consisting of Ulysses “AquA” Silva, Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi, Jordan “Jurd” Crowley, Daniel “Loony” Loza and Donovan “Temp” Laroda. With the highly anticipated Treyarch title just a week away, rostermania has just begun. The stage is set for what might be some of the top teams in North America this year.
Splyce
Splyce is looking to continue its success as one of the top teams as we venture into 5v5 Call of Duty. AquA is coming off of a somewhat disappointing World War II season with a top 24 finish at the CWL Championship under Echo Fox. Despite his struggles this past year, AquA has both second and third place finishes in previous champs events. Accuracy was a part of the Team Kaliber lineup that won three events and took home second place at CWL Champs during WWII. In the last few years, he has cemented himself as one of the top assault rifle players in the game.
.@Splyce roster OFFICIALLY announced! #CWLPS4@UAquaa@AccuracyLA@jurd
@LoonyDL@DonnyTemp pic.twitter.com/agvFQhTEd7— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) October 4, 2018
Jurd is the lone European player on this lineup, and has been a member of Splyce for two years. Over the past few years, Jurd has become one of the top EU players in the scene. Loony had one of his best years in WWII, winning three events as a member of Rise Nation. At only 19 years old, Temp is one of the biggest young stars in CoD. His first event was during Advanced Warfare, but missed Black Ops 3 and most of Infinite Warfare due to the Call of Duty World League’s age restrictions.
Team Envy
It seemed like Team Envy just couldn’t find that winning formula during the WWII season. The team struggled for a majority of the year, with one top four finish coming at CWL Atlanta. That winning formula might be back for the boys in blue as they head into Black Ops 4 with the defending champs. Envy picked up the squad of Patrick “Aches” Price, Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov, Adam “Assault” Garcia and Justin “Silly” Fargo-Palmer from Evil Geniuses after their surprise victory in the CWL Championship in August. The only remaining member from last year’s roster is 18 year old former Halo pro Cuyler “Huke” Garland. Huke, much like Temp, is one of the top young players in North America.
OpTic Gaming
After the demise of the OpTic Gaming dynasty during WWII, the team is now looking to reload heading into Black Ops 4. The duo of Seth “Scump” Abner and Ian “Crimsix” Porter brought back Damon “Karma” Barlow after being benched during WWII. This was a surprise to many, with rumors of Karma joining 100 Thieves going around prior to the roster announcement. Joining these CoD veterans are the young guns of Thomas “TJHaLy” Haly, who was a member of Rise Nation last year, and Brandon “Dashy” Otell from Complexity.
We are the winningest organization in Call of Duty history
Today marks the next chapter in our legacy
Welcome to our Black Ops 4 Roster
Seth "@OpTic_Scumper" Abner
Ian "@OpTic_CrimSix" Porter
Brandon "@DashySZN" Otell
Thomas "@TJHaLy" Haly
Damon "@OpTic_Dkarma" Barlow#GREENWALL pic.twitter.com/dCmW9GHFhb— OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) September 27, 2018
It has been no secret that OpTic’s main weakness in the last few years has been Search and Destroy. In the last two events of WWII, OpTic went a total of 1-5 in Search and Destroy. The team also had under a 50% first blood ratio in the game mode. Dashy is tied with Crimsix for the most kills in a Search and Destroy game at a major event with 20. On paper, OpTic’s Search and Destroy woes should be over.
100 Thieves
100 Thieves is making the transition back into Call of Duty and is looking to make a big splash with its new roster. Maurice “Fero” Henrique, Kenny “Kenny” Williams and Ian “Enable” Wyatt from Team Kaliber, Sam “Octane” Larew from OpTic Gaming and Rise Nation’s Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat makes up the new lineup. All five members won an event during WWII, either for Team Kaliber, Rise Nation, or Luminosity. With SlasheR, Octane and Enable all being assault rifle players and Kenny and Fero coming in with the aggressive sub machine gun play, this team could be a handful in respawn game modes.
Rostermania is just getting started, with teams like Faze Clan yet to announce a full roster and a slew of free agents such as Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, Ricky “Ricky” Stacy, Doug “Censor” Martin, Anthony “Methodz” Zinni and many more yet to find a home. With the launch of Black Ops 4 a week away, expect to see a flurry of acquisitions and team changes.
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