Kuavo slams “disrespectful” Dashy following OpTic Gaming release
Call of Duty LeagueKenny ‘Kuavo’ Williams of OpTic Gaming Los Angeles had plenty to say about the “disrespectful” Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell following his removal from the Greenwall’s Call of Duty League team.
When the OGLA roster was first announced in October 2019, it was eyed as one of the most dangerous lineups heading into the inaugural CDL season. Dashy and Thomas ‘TJHaLy’ Haly were coming from a standout year together in Black Ops 4.
They were joined by veterans and world champions in Jordan ‘JKap’ Kaplan and Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat, and Kuavo rounded out the starting five, coming off an exceptional year with 100 Thieves.
Despite all the hype surrounding the stacked team, OGLA failed to find a single event win throughout 2020. Bowing out with a Top 6 finish in the post-season Championship event. So what exactly went wrong? Why couldn’t such a formidable team on paper, put the pieces together to reach its full potential?
With Dashy now gone from the org, Kuavo took to Twitch on Sep. 9 to lash out at his former teammate. He pinned much of the blame on Dashy’s unprofessionalism and “shoddy” work ethic.
“I respect Bruce as a person,” he said during an AMA stream. “As a player… I’m iffy about him.”
It’s no secret there were issues behind the scenes. While SlasheR and Kuavo “did not want to play with Brandon,” they went with TJHaLy’s judgment and worked to get him on the team. During this process, however, “fugazi a* s**t happened, where he was trying to join Chicago before [the lineup] even got to sign.”
Dashy was obviously unable to join his former teammate Seth ‘Scump’ Abner under the Huntsmen banners. This, combining with the state of Modern Warfare at the time, led to some halfhearted commitment, according to Kuavo.
“TJ and Brandon showed up late almost every single day,” he explained. “I personally did not like Modern Warfare, but I always showed up on time for scrims.”
Following lackluster performances at the first few events, the team tried to put early issues behind them. Focusing on role swaps, Dashy was moved to the main AR role. “We wanted Brandon to be our star player. We gave him what he wanted.” Unfortunately, this transition didn’t help the issues.
“Who said Brandon benched himself?” Kuavo asked. “Who made up this lie? I’m mindblown people actually think that.” While rumors suggested Dashy moved himself to the bench, Kuavo explained that it was a team decision.
In fact, almost every player on the roster was willing to bench themselves if it led to a better performance overall. “All I’m focused on is trying to get my team to win. Put me on the bench if that makes my team better,” Williams said.
Dashy was forced to sit out a majority of the 2020 season. He played his last full event at the Week 10 Home Series before Darien ‘Hollow’ Chverchko and Zack ‘Drazah’ Jordan joined the team. However, this wasn’t the last we saw of him with OGLA. He made one final appearance during the CDL Playoffs to help save their post-season run.
This last-minute performance in a single map of Search and Destroy made waves.
Kuavo said this one map was in no way an indicator of his year’s performance, however. “Why are people gassing one map at Champs? He played really well, Brandon hit some nice snipes, but people are gassing him up.”
Before the conversation came to an end, Kuavo focused on one final point of contention: how Dashy left OGLA. “You don’t disrespect the team that gave you a chance, gave you a contract that was f***ing insane,” he said. “You don’t do that, that’s just wrong.”
While their first time teaming together certainly didn’t go according to plan, Kuavo reminded everyone watching that there’s no ill will outside of the competition. “I have no hate towards Brandon, that’s my homie out of the game.”
Kuavo is confirmed to be sticking with OGLA heading into Black Ops Cold War. He’ll be joined by SlasheR and Drazah, though the org is yet to confirm its fourth.
