FormaL explains the reasons behind the demise of OpTic Gaming’s CoD dynasty

Call of Duty pro Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper has revealed the reasons behind his split from OpTic Gaming, and the eventual demise of the team labeled as a “dynasty.”

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Following years of dominance, the OpTic roster consisting of FormaL, Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter and Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow failed to meet the high standards set by themselves and the Greenwall alike in WWII, eventually leading to a massive split. So where did it all go wrong?

In an appearance on The Eavesdrop Podcast, FormaL divulged the reasons as to why he left OpTic for Luminosity Gaming in May 2018, explaining that the team became complacent off the back of their World Championship win during Infinite Warfare. 

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Piper suggests that there were cracks appearing in the squad, even during their more dominant times. However, the infamous reintroduction of a boots-on-the-ground style of action back into the franchise brought distinct changes to the in-game meta, leading to those cracks opening and a further collapse in the team’s chemistry.

• Read more: How to watch CWL Championship 2019

“WWII came around and you couldn’t just gunfight your way out of shit… It was so slow and so teamwork based that it just didn’t flow with us, and once we got the reality check that we’re not that good, we didn’t put in the time…”

FormaL continued by pointing out how the squad would blame extraneous factors instead of reflecting on their own performances: “We didn’t understand the game and we just thought that everyone else was bad and that we just had an off day.”

(Timestamp at 49:30 for mobile viewers).

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Scump suffered with internet issues for the entirety of the 2017-2018 season, which led to a lack of practice for the squad as a whole. This, of course, had a knock-on effect leading into big tournaments during that season, which ultimately led to FormaL’s departure from the team. 

During the podcast, FormaL claims that members of the squad blamed him for never being available to practice. 

Fast-forward to the 2018 Call of Duty World Championships and a revised OpTic squad suffered a disappointing group stage exit; the first in the history of the organisation.

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FormaL recognized that the team were reliant on success and went on to add: “If we were to have beaten FaZe at that final [CWL Stage 1 Playoffs], we probably would have stuck together for a lot longer… We’d probably still be a team right now — no bullshit.”

Disclaimer: Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez is a minority shareholder in Dexerto Ltd.