The Minnesota Rokkr will have some time off along with the rest of the CDL teams until later this month when they’ll be firing up the consoles again. Due to the Coronavirus, however, the matches won’t be played on LAN at least for now, but they will have the matches being played online.
But the last time the Rokkr played, they reached the Finals in Los Angeles thanks in huge part to their stellar Hardpoint play. And although they fell to the Dallas Empire in a five-game series, they still proved how good they were at Hardpoint.
With them being so dominant in the game mode, one has to ask: are they the best Hardpoint team in the entire CDL? With some of the blowout wins they’ve produced this season, it’s easy to say “yes”. Their Hardpoint journey began back in January when they hosted the Call of Duty League Launch Weekend tournament.
Believe it or not, they lost their first Hardpoint match and lost it rather handily, 250-169 to the LA Guerrillas. But quickly, they go undefeated the rest of the way that weekend, going 3-1 in the process. Alexxx’ would have a monster game on the final Hardpoint where he had a K/D ratio of 1.67. This is thanks in big part to his 30 kill, 18 death stat line in that game. Their run that weekend closed with a 250-125 beatdown of the rival Toronto Ultra. From there it was easy to see that Hardpoint was a strength but it was all a matter of seeing how good they truly were.
More chances to shine
That match, in particular, was a coming-out party for GodRx who dropped 30 kills in that match to go along with only 18 deaths. He is easily a top-tier MVP candidate this season. SiLLY also scored with 30 kills in the match.
Fast-forwarding to Atlanta, they had a tough test against the Chicago Huntsmen as they came in 4-2 in Hardpoint. It was their first big challenge against a highly anticipated team and although they lost the series, they put on a show for the ages in the first Hardpoint.
They held the loaded Huntsmen team to just a lowly 107 points, almost making them join the “100 Point Club”. What’s shocking about that is; nobody on the Rokkr went crazy on the stat line.
Alexxx’ 25 kills led both teams in that game while Asim was right behind him at 24. And at the time of this writing, those 107 points are still the lowest points allowed in a Hardpoint game so far this season.
The amazing thing is that they held teams to less than 125 points on three different occasions. They have allowed two of the three lowest scores all season up to this point.
One of those was recently when they battled the Seattle Surge for a second time in LA. They kept them to a quiet 117 points in that particular game. Keep in mind that they came off of an awful 3-0 loss to Optic Gaming LA a day prior.
Fazing the FaZe
Some of the Rokkr’s most impressive moments came against the Atlanta FaZe. They had their backs up against the wall in Atlanta, taking them to game five and then successfully getting revenge in LA, taking them down.
The FaZe have been virtually unstoppable in Hardpoint and Search & Destroy for that matter going 14-0 against their foes. The Rokkr? They have been their biggest threat, with a 5-3 record against them in both modes.
Even in defeat in the semi-finals in Atlanta, a player like Alexxx took his game to an elite level. In the series, he collected a total of 101 kills, and 62 of those were all from Hardpoint.
In the knockout round in LA, GodRx dropped a total of 68 kills in their sweep of the Surge with 28 of them alone coming from Hardpoint. Remarkably, he ended with a whopping 1.74 K/D ratio in Hardpoint during that series which was well ahead of his heat check teammate, Alexxx who had a 1.35 K/D.
Although both Hardpoint matches were close in “The Rematch” against the FaZe in LA, they won both. Depth played a big factor here where three of their players (GodRx, Alexxx and SiLLY) each had over 50 kills in the two Hardpoint games. And Alexxx’ 62 HP kills was second between both teams. Only Cellium had more but only by one point at 63 kills.
No lack in depth
Dallas was their opponent in the Finals and although they lost to the Empire, they still played very well in HP. Assault got in on the fun with 59 kills in HP, leading all players on the Rokkr.
As it stands at the break, they have a 14-7 record in Hardpoint. This is thanks in part to them having three players (GodRx, Alexxx, and Assault) with a K/D of 1.15 or higher, which is more than any other team in the CDL. And GodRx’ 1.37 K/D in LA was good for second for the entire event. Only Cesar of the Florida Mutineers had a higher rating at 1.50.
Much credit has to go to Saintt, the Rokkr Head Coach. He has clearly played a role in how the team prepares for Hardpoint matches and the results are showing. Not to mention, the depth that they have in the mode is what makes them dangerous. And their ability to keep teams below 175 is astonishing in itself. It’s reasons like these that they may just be the best Hardpoint team in the league.
Colin Mieczkowski covers the Minnesota Rokkr for The Game Haus and can be followed on Twitter @GhostPandaColin. Also, be sure to follow TGH @TGHEsports and turn on the notifications to receive the latest and greatest from around the Call of Duty League.Â
Images courtesy of the official Minnesota Rokkr social media channels.Â