Enable argues that SlasheR is approaching “Parasite territory” & CDL blacklist

After the Call of Duty League’s Stage 2 Major, Reverse Sweep’s Enable offers up a hot take: the LA Thieves’ success and happiness without SlasheR could mean the star veteran is trending toward being blacklisted by CDL teams.

Personalities often clash in competitive team environments, as hunger for victory is approached differently by different people. That has long been the case in Call of Duty and those clashes have often dictated team chemistries.

After seeing the Los Angeles Thieves not only perform better without Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat, but also simply seem…happier, the Reverse Sweep crew dove into the player’s future. When asked by Katie Bedford who their LVP (Least Valuable Player) was for the Stage 2 Major, Enable told the crew that his choice would be SlasheR.

Shocked by Enable’s decision to choose a player who hadn’t even played a map, Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker and his co-analyst dove into speculation about the renowned AR. The central question appears to be a difficult one: If LA plays better without SlasheR, does that mean he is too difficult a personality for other teams to gamble on?

After surprising the group by choosing SlasheR as LVP, Enable explains his reasoning: “The team looked way better! Who would have thought?” Later, he elaborated and garnered some agreement from Pacman and Bedford.

After Enable noted that the Thieves “looked way better” and looked like they were enjoying themselves, Pacman agreed that “they did look like they were having fun” out there. And this was also noticed by Katie, who pointed out just how different the team’s vibe was: “They smiled, they talked!”

• Read more: Scump calls for new CDL roster change rules after LA Thieves bench SlasheR

This leads to the crux of the point for Enable, who believes that “we’re starting to turn the tides where he’s getting the Parasite treatment, it’s starting to go that way — where it’s not ‘oh, you got to have tough skin to play with Austin’ it’s ‘we can’t play with him.’”

Or, as Pacman phrases it, “you’ve got to put up with Austin.”

While SlasheR had formerly been considered a highly respected, albeit sometimes difficult teammate, Enable thinks he’s approaching thin ice. Using Christopher ‘Parasite’ Duarte as an example is apt, as the player has been inconsistently rostered for a long time now, all due to questions about character rather than talent.

In the past, Enable argues that people used to frame SlasheR’s mindset positively:  “He’s a champion, he’s a leader, he’s got the Michael Jordan mindset.”

• Read more: Roster changes LA Guerrillas need to make to survive CDL 2021

Now, he’s not so sure. If the Thieves continue improving without the veteran, the Reverse Sweep crew is concerned that other teams may not be willing to gamble on picking him up due to character concerns.