Octane reveals insane CDL team that almost formed in the first offseason
Call of Duty LeagueOctane has long been a household name in competitive Call of Duty.
Before the Call of Duty League got underway in 2020, players were scrambling to form the strongest franchise teams but Octane has now revealed one that may have trumped them all.
Following the Black Ops 4 season, the competitive CoD scene underwent one of the biggest shakeups to date. Essentially every roster changed to some degree as the CDL geared up for its first season under the new format.
While we know how the inaugural season played out, things could have been drastically different, according to Octane. Seattle Surge didn’t have a great start to the new league, but unforeseen circumstances forced them to build a team on just “two days” notice, he revealed in an August 12 upload.
Before the initial lineup of Apathy, Enable, Karma, Octane, and Slacked came to be, a potential super team was almost put together.
Instagram: seattlesurgeWith the Black Ops 4 cycle winding down at the tail end of 2019, Octane’s popular 100 Thieves lineup fell apart. “Kenny and SlasheR split off to be a team of two,” he said. At the same time, “Priestahh was essentially on FaZe by the time Champs was over.” That left just Octane and Enable to build a new squad.
Before long, the remaining duo was “approached by LG” as they were “buying into the [CDL]. I essentially got to build my own roster,” Octane explained, “that was the offer.”
Initially, Slacked was lumped into the mix as he “was being held by the organization from his contract prior to the Modern Warfare offseason”. These three veterans had their eyes set on two young guns in particular: Arcitys and Envoy.
While both eventually landed at the short-lived Chicago Huntsmen brand, Octane was first to have a “verbal commitment” from the two stars. As a result, it led to the “most stressful period of [his] life.
Chicago HuntsmenThe potential lineup had two options at the time, remain with LG or side with Dallas instead. Unfortunately for Octane’s ambitious roster, Huke “wanted to play with iLLeY”. Because those two were inseparable during the offseason, Octane explained, it “kinda f***ed up the whole thing.”
“That was essentially the reason that didn’t happen. I didn’t want to take the chance on iLLeY, that’s on me, I will openly admit that.”
With LG as the only remaining home, the team gradually fell apart at the finish line. “Literally two days before roster lock [Arcitys and Envoy] got a call from H3CZ and they left.”
This left the upcoming Surge team scrambling for last-minute additions. “[Karma] didn’t have a team, so we hit him up and he said yes. We saw Apathy and we signed him, he was one day away from signing with Florida.”
While Octane and Enable lucked out with some big names at the final hour, the Modern Warfare season obviously didn’t go according to plan. Karma and Enable both retired as the Surge fumbled to an 11th place finish that year.
Who knows how CDL’s first year unfolds if that lineup came together.
