The New CDL – Thoughts From the Huntsmen

With the hectic times early 2020 has brought so far, it is been a crazy three months. More recently the CDL moved all home stand matches to online only. Thousands upon thousands of sports and esports fans have flooded social media with their opinions of the current situation. In times like this it is most important to check in with a few of the pros affected by the CDL’s decision and see how they feel. This past week Hecz sat down with Scump, Envoy and MBoZe to see how they feel about online matches going forward.

 Rather Safe than Sorry

Courtesy of Turtle Beach

Scump is the first person to speak and voices his opinion that the league would prefer to be safe rather than sorry. Similar to CDL fans across the world, he admits that the pros are also disappointed to be playing online instead of on LAN. No pro nor fan wants any CDL player to be sick had the CDL opted to keep matches on LAN. It is likely inevitable that as fans travel from around the world, this likelihood of spreading germs/illnesses is very high

Scump draws comparison to the NBA, highlighting the stark reality of if one player gets it, it is likely his entire team and many members of their inner circle could be infected as well. The CDL does not want to look back in a few months and wish it could have been a little safer. Scump is right when he praises the CDL for taking precautionary measures because for everyone’s safety, the CDL would rather overreact instead of underreacting and putting the players, coaches, casters and fans at risk.

Potential Roadblocks?

MBoZe and Envoy weighed in next on potential issues with moving CDL matches online. The issues discussed include getting kicked from the lobby, lagging out, random people joining the match and notifications popping up among other issues not brought up. Needless to say, the CDL is headed into uncharted territory and no one including the players knows what the rest of the season will look like. An issue Envoy mentions that has been affecting teams day in and day out is “Fake TJHaly”. Fake TJHaly is a random player who figures out when pros are online practicing and will randomly join the lobby causing teams to have to reset or cancel their scrims depending on day. There are clearly countless variables in play that players did not have to pay much attention to when events were held on LAN. The workaround? Scump suggests match times that only the players and coaches are informed about. All players appear offline and there is one/two broadcasters in the match who will commentate over the gameplay and then the CDL can post this footage after the fact. Although this seems like a viable solution on the surface, no one knows what the future holds.

Continue or Cancel

Hecz floats the idea of the CDL canceling the rest of the season and rolling the rest of the prize money into next year’s Call of Duty title. Envoy goes on to say this situation is one that the league just needs to push through. Everyone is a fierce competitor and leaving the rest of the season on the table just is not a viable option for most players in the league. The hardest logistical obstacle with this scenario would be for the org owners and investors who had to put up $25M for a spot. Given the pricey investment, not playing half the season does not make logistical sense.

Courtesy of Esports Nation

Another strong point Scump brings up is that giving up on the rest of the season would present players with two offseasons. The duration from now through the end of the season is the typical length of an offseason and then the time from the start of the true offseason to the start of the next title. This is a lot of time off, much more than the players are used to and could take some of the competitive edge away from some of the players (especially long-time veterans).

All in all, no one involved in the CDL could have foreseen this global pandemic. It is time for players, orgs and fans to roll up their sleeves and roll with the punches. Playing online versus putting everyone’s health at risk is a very risky option with a small reward. Going forward the CDL will do its best to provide the best experience for all parties involved. Fans are hopeful the season continues to progress and build on the momentum the CDL has accumulated thus far.

Featured image courtesy of Cynopsis

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