With the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League out of the way, and some major changes coming for the league’s second season in 2021, we take a look at the major roster moves that are occurring across the league.
It’s no secret that there was a pretty big disparity between the best and worst teams in the CDL’s opening season. Teams like Dallas Empire and Atlanta FaZe were constantly seeing success, while others, such as Seattle Surge and Los Angeles Guerrillas, will need to make big changes going forward.
Significantly, CDL is moving back to the 4v4 format, guaranteeing at least one change from each team at a minimum. This means a huge roster shuffle involving every team is inbound. Here’s everything you need to know about the CDL 2020 offseason and free agency window, as well as every major team change that occurs during rostermania.
Contents
- Confirmed roster changes
- Rumored Changes
- CDL 2021 team rosters
- New 4v4 format
- Free agency and transfer window information
Confirmed roster changes
Barely 48 hours after the conclusion of the CDL 2020 season, players started sharing their new status as free agents. Here’s everything that’s been officially announced so far.
F/A = Free Agent. F/A (r) = Restricted Free Agent
October 13
- Assault: F/A → LA Guerrillas
- Vivid: F/A → LA Guerrillas
- SiLLY: F/A → LA Guerrillas
- Apathy: F/A → LA Guerrillas
October 9
- Hydra: F/A → New York Subliners
October 2
- Frosty: F/A → Returned to Halo
September 23
- Gunless: F/A → Seattle Surge
- Prestinni: F/A → Seattle Surge
- Loony: F/A → Seattle Surge
September 18
- Clayster: F/A → New York Subliners
September 15
- Arcitys: F/A → Atlanta FaZe
- Priestahh: Atlanta FaZe → Minnesota ROKKR
- MajorManiak: Atlanta FaZe → Minnesota ROKKR
- Attach: New York Subliners → Minnesota ROKKR
- Accuracy: F/A → Minnesota ROKKR
September 14
- Dashy: F/A → Chicago Huntsmen
September 9
- Frosty: Florida Mutineers → F/A
- Maux: Florida Mutineers → F/A
September 8
- Accuracy: New York Subliners → F/A
- Censor: New York Subliners → F/A
- Happy: New York Subliners → F/A
- Tommey Dallas Empire → F/A
- Dashy: LA OpTic → F/A
- Goonjar: LA OpTic → F/A
- Chino: LA OpTic → F/A
- Hollow: LA OpTic → F/A
- Arcitys: Chicago Huntsmen → F/A
- Prestinni: Chicago Huntsmen → F/A
- Skrapz: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- Zer0: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- Dylan: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- Rated: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- wuskin: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- Nastie: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- MadCat: London Royal Ravens → F/A
- Denz: Paris Legion → F/A
- Louqa: Paris Legion → F/A
- Shockz: Paris Legion → F/A
- Zed: Paris Legion → F/A
- Breszy: Paris Legion → F/A
- Phantoms: Paris Legion → F/A
- 2Pac_ThuGLorD: Chicago Huntsmen (Analyst) → F/A
September 7
- Alexx: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- Asim: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- Exceed: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- Assault: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- SiLLY: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- GodRx: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- TTinyy: Minnesota ROKKR → F/A
- KiSMET: Paris Legion → F/A
September 6
- Blazt: Los Angeles Guerrillas → F/A
- Decemate: Los Angeles Guerrillas → F/A
- Spart: Los Angeles Guerrillas → F/A
- Aqua: Los Angeles Guerrillas → F/A
- Saints: Los Angeles Guerrillas → F/A
- Gunless: Chicago Huntsmen → F/A
September 4
- Brack: Toronto Ultra → F/A
- Classic: Toronto Ultra → F/A
- Loony: Toronto Ultra → F/A (r)
- Lucky: Toronto Ultra → F/A (r)
- Mayhem: Toronto Ultra → F/A (r)
- MettalZ: Toronto Ultra → F/A
- Wuskin: London Royal Ravens → F/A (r)
- Temp: New York Subliners → F/A (r)
- Apathy: Seattle Surge → F/A
- Pandur: Seattle Surge → F/A (r)
- Proto: Seattle Surge → F/A (r)
- Enable: Seattle Surge → F/A
- Slacked: Seattle Surge → F/A
- TeddyRecKs: Seattle Surge → F/A (r)
- Joshh (coach): Paris Legion → F/A
September 2
- JKap: OpTic Gaming Los Angeles → Retirement
September 1
- Clayster: Dallas Empire → F/A (r)
- Jurd: London Royal Ravens → F/A
Rumored changes
We’ll keep you updated on rumored roster changes here, before they’re officially confirmed.
Twins Skrapz and Wuskin have laid out the possibility of being dropped from London Royal Ravens. Reports suggest that Arcitys will be headed to Atlanta, replacing OpTic-bound Priestahh. The same report says Dashy could be Arcitys’ replacement on the Huntsmen.
Rumors suggest that New York Subliners are interested in Clayster, while Attach may join Temp on the free agency list.
CDL 2021 team rosters
Going into the CDL 2021 season, this is how each team’s starting roster currently looks. It’s worth noting that some teams still have five players on their starting roster, but these numbers will reduce with the change to 4v4.
Players in bold are confirmed to be part of that team’s 2021 starting lineup.
| Team | Starters |
Substitute | |||
| Dallas Empire | Crimsix | Shotzzy | Huke | iLLeY | – |
| Atlanta FaZe | Simp | aBeZy | Cellium | Arcitys | – |
| Chicago Huntsmen | Scump | FormaL | Envoy | Dashy | – |
| Florida Mutineers | Skyz | Fero | Havok | Owakening | – |
| New York Subliners | ZooMaa | Mack | Clayster | Hydra | – |
| London Royal Ravens | – | – | – | – | – |
| Toronto Ultra | Bance | Methodz | Cammy | CleanX | – |
| Minnesota RØKKR | Priestahh | Attach | Accuracy | MajorManiak | – |
| OpTic Gaming Los Angeles | Slasher | Kenny | Drazah | TJHaly | – |
| Paris Legion | – | – | – | – | – |
| Seattle Surge | Octane | Gunless | Loony | Prestinni | – |
| Los Angeles Guerrillas | Vivid | Assault | SiLLY | Apathy | – |
New 4v4 format
For the first time in two years, Call of Duty esports will be returning to a 4v4 format, essentially meaning that one player from each team will be dropped.
This could mean a major shake-up of some of our favorite rosters, with underperforming players having to start shopping around for options to stay in the Call of Duty League.
While many fans and players have much preferred 4v4 in the past, the loss of roster spots has made some players start to worry about their own prospects going forward, and this does mean we’re guaranteed to see some big names swapping jerseys by the time the Black Ops Cold War season kicks off.
Free Agency and transfer window
While it’s likely that players in the CDL have already started working out their next move, whether it be to stick with their current team or find new players to play with, free agency isn’t yet open.
The CDL’s free agency window officially opens on September 13, which is when you can expect teams to start signing contracts and, potentially, even making announcements on who they’re acquiring for the forthcoming season.
According to the CDL’s official roster construction rules, at 11.59pm PT on September 13, any player whose contract hasn’t been extended with their current team officially becomes a free agent, but teams can officially file for contract extensions by September 6 at 11.59pm PT.
As the rules state, no agreement can be made between a player and a team they did not represent in CDL 2020 prior to 12.00am PT on September 14, though discussions may obviously take place in the lead-up to that date.
