OpTic FormaL retires from professional Call of Duty
Call of Duty LeagueFormer World Champion and OpTic icon, FormaL is stepping away from competing. After CDL 2021’s conclusion, the 23-time event winner announced his plans to focus more on content creation.
Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper is coming off a rough Cold War season. The AR slayer hoped for a better season, but he was still second on the team with a 1.04 K/D. OpTic failed to win an event this year and fell Top-6 at CDL Champs.
An MVP at CoD Champs 2017 and with an 11-year career filled with trophies, FormaL steps away from the game as one of the greatest to ever touch the sticks.
The news comes after his former teammate, Dylan ‘Envoy’ Hannon announced that he was an unrestricted free agent for the 2022 season. FormaL tweeted out his plans for the future letting his fans know that he thinks he can still compete but it would be “selfish” to his teammates knowing he “might not give them my all.”
“Here we are, 11 years down the road…it’s been a wild ride. Learned a lot about myself through this journey, and I can say I’m happy with what I leave behind,” he said. “At this point in my life, I have a much different perspective on things, and I’ve learned to appreciate even the hardest of losses.”
His audiences across Twitch and YouTube will still see FormaL regularly grinding Call of Duty, but he’ll take a step back from the pro stage.
FormaL finishes a World Champ and 23-time winner
MLGAfter finishing seventh at the previous two Champs, 2017 was FormaL’s year. He led OpTic Gaming to its first World Championship and took home the MVP.
On top of a CoD Champs ring, he leaves the esport as one of the greatest to ever play racking up 23 championships. He was also part of arguably the greatest dynasty Call of Duty has ever seen.
FormaL started competing in Halo before making the switch over to Call of Duty where he instantly became one of the game’s top AR players. He worked his way onto Team Kaliber just after one event in CoD: Ghosts and would later finish the season out with Team Envy, before joining OpTic for Advanced Warfare.
Community reacts to FormaL’s retirement
Lots of members from the gaming community responded to FormaL’s post, appreciating him as a competitor and tipping their hats to an amazing career.
Like a brother to me. Got your back on anything you ever want to do. Gonna miss our trolls everyday. So many laughs and memories with you dawg. Best of luck to one of the best teammates I’ve ever had the pleasure of competing with. T2P.
— OpTic Scump (@scump) August 28, 2021
aye man, as many battles as we had throughout the years, i appreciate tf out of you for always pushing me as a competitor. truly don’t believe i’d be the person i am today without the constant pressure to try and be as great as you, GG’s and GL my dude.
— NYSL Clayster (@Clayster) August 28, 2021
Good luck with whatever you do brotha, absolute unit on the sticks 🙌🏻
— FaZe Simp (@SimpXO) August 28, 2021
Even the two-time, Dr Disrespect got in on it, saying that FormaL was one of his favorites to watch compete.
One of my all time favs.
Firm handshakes! https://t.co/y0faspRZTG
— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) August 28, 2021
Although this is the end of his playing career, for now, FormaL is expected to remain a part of OpTic Gaming and create content for the org.