Another team at the bottom is at a crossroads after the Los Angeles Guerrillas, or LAG, bench Chino for MentaL. The announcement was made via the team’s Twitter in a statement explaining the move and where Cheen will be next, on the team’s academy team for the foreseeable future until otherwise.
“Entering Stage V, we will be calling up Billy “MentaL” Putnam to join our starting roster. Throughout the season, we’ve seen his rapid progression in Call of Duty and are excited to see him compete at the highest level,” said in the announcement the team made.
“As a result, Martin “Cheen” Chino will be rejoining our academy roster. We want to thank Cheen for his hard work during the last two stages and are looking forward to watching LAG Academy compete through the rest of the challenger season.”
This being right after they placed 9th/10th in the last major. The team had a good performance against struggling Los Angeles Thieves, however, could not reach peak form as they fell to the Florida Mutineers, getting swept in the three maps.
Surely, there are a lot of things that could improve this team, however, many feel as though this was not the move to make as Chino is considered to be the second-best on the team. Which raised a lot of eyebrows in the Call of Duty community.
Reaction to the Move
Shortly after the announcement was made, many professionals and creators within the Call of Duty scene had a lot to say as many thought it was the wrong move to make. SoapFPS, an amateur in the Call of Duty challenger scene, expressed that this move is the move that the Guerrillas should not have made.
Many friends of Chino, such as Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, also express his opinion by showing DM’s of private messages between the players as Chino is devastated by the move as he thought he was safe from being benched as he has been playing better than most of his teammates for the past two stages.
MentaL could be the piece to complete the Guerillas Puzzle
Although losing a great talent in Chino, MentaL is not too far behind as he has been performing really well for the academy team for the Guerillas. The former Gears of War pro looks to shock the world even more by becoming some of the few to ever be champions in multiple esport leagues following players like Cuyler “Huke” Garland and Matthew “Formal” Piper.
The Los Angeles Guerillas are still in a prime position to take the last spot in time for COD Champs. The team is currently sitting just 70 points off of the last seed, Florida Mutineers. What is interesting to most is that the team was actually performing better with the roster they started with at the beginning of the season than now as they received more than half the points they currently have before the Chino move was made.
It could be especially interesting for MentaL as he will be playing in his first pro match at the highest stage in Call of Duty. Being that MentaL has only played Call of Duty professionally for nine months, who knows what to expect from the formal Gear of War world champion.
Featured Image Courtesy of Dexerto
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