CDL Minnesota kicked off on Friday and it was a great day of Call of Duty. Every match went the distance except for Empire/ROKKR. In the opening round of the tournament, Chicago played Florida for the third time this season. The Huntsmen lost once again to Florida in a closely contested match. The Mutineers continue to be Chicago’s kryptonite in the inaugural Call of Duty League season. Why is Chicago struggling so much to beat Florida?
Search and Destroy Weighing Chicago Down
It is well-known that Chicago have been the least consistent in the Search and Destroy game mode this season. The Mutineers are no exception to Chicago’s Search and Destroy woes. Arguably the biggest factor working against the Huntsmen is their 1-4 record against Florida in this game mode. Florida’s unique play style gives the Huntsmen a lot of trouble. In an interview with Sender, he mentioned their retakes and last-minute plays are very tough to prepare for. The Huntsmen are relatively consistent in starting slowly against Florida as well. After the map starts Chicago often finds themselves down two to four rounds. While Chicago tends to make the series somewhat closer most of the time, the initial deficit is often too much to overcome.
Not only are Chicago starting too slow in the second and fifth maps, but they are also getting caught out of position. Far too often the Huntsmen lose the first blood and are unable to trade out the kill. Chicago digs themselves deep into a hole by consistently fighting down a man in most of the rounds. On occasion, sheer gun skill is enough to even the man-deficit, however, Florida often takes advantage of the opportunity they created.
Simply Outgunned
Chicago is a team known for its veteran experience and exquisite gun skill. Unfortunately for the Huntsmen, Florida plays at an extremely fast pace which counters their playstyle very well. This fast play style helps Florida to out-slay the Huntsmen. Skyz and Havok managed to earn the seventh and ninth-highest K/D ratio for Friday at 1.18 and 1.12 respectively. While the Mutineers did not have anyone in the top ten for Hardpoint, Skyz and Frosty sat at third and fifth in the Domination K/D ratio leaderboard at 1.73 and 1.45.
This fast play style also applies to Search and Destroy in addition to the respawns. Florida simply bring the pace to the Huntsmen. Envoy managed to sit at fourth in the Search and Destroy kill per round leaderboard at 1.00. The unfortunate news for Chicago is that Havok, Frosty and Skyz were also on that leaderboard. Havok was third at 1.05, Frosty tied with Envoy and Skyz was eighth with 0.89. The Mutineers appear to be playing too fast for Chicago to keep up with in the Search and Destroy.
Mutineers Dominate the Huntsmen
The fast pace and sheer slaying power of the Mutineers translate very well to Domination. Chicago are 0-3 against Florida in Domination and it usually is not close. Friday’s Domination was by far the closest the Huntsmen have played it against Florida. In the previous two matches, Chicago lost by an average margin of 57 points. It is worth noting Chicago are struggling recently when it comes to Domination and can definitely play better. The Huntsmen need to play more cohesively and take better positioning on the map if they are going to win more map threes.
Traditionally, teams hold their spawn flag as well as the B flag, but Florida’s pace of play creates more chaos than some teams are used to. Florida create a lot of mayhem on the map with their pace and sneaky route running. The way Florida plays the maps makes it extremely difficult for Chicago to execute their gameplan or get much momentum going. Florida has a great way of holding dominant positioning on the map. They hold two flags and then manage to neutralize the enemy’s flag diverting any progress they were hoping on making. The fast, slay-heavy nature of the Mutineers causes too many problems for Chicago when it comes to Domination.
Featured image courtesy of Dexerto
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Daniel!