Paris Legion CDL 2021 preview: mountain to climb for ragtag roster

The newly formed Paris Legion roster has the odds stacked against them heading into the 2021 Call of Duty League season, with a varied group of players from different backgrounds, it’s going to be an uphill battle but major upsets could still be in the cards.

After a relatively poor showing throughout the inaugural season, Paris Legion was one of a few teams to dump its entire roster. All starting and substitute players were let go to make way for a random assortment of new additions that no one could have predicted.

The new lineup has a wealth of experience behind them, but these players have actually never worked together before. There’s no history among the group and no cohesion within the team just yet.

While they should be outclassed by most competitors on paper in 2021, there’s still a chance Legion’s new lineup could cause some big upsets this year.

Paris Legion CDL 2021 roster

Paris Legion shifting gears in 2021

With the original Legion roster, there was some kind of direction when building the team. You had a trio of experienced Aussies joining a handful of Europe’s top prospects. The combination made some amount of sense. With the new Legion roster, however, it appears as though there’s very little direction behind it.

You’ve now got a random amalgamation of CDL talent hopping into the lobby with an unknown quantity in Fire. Skrapz, AquA, and Classic have almost two decades of combined experience. They’ve seen and done it all over the years with time spent under many of the most reputable organizations in the world.

Moreover, they all have a year of CDL experience under their belt. Skrapz helped lead the Royal Ravens to a fourth-place finish at last year’s Champs. Classic secured a Home Series win in Week 13 with Toronto Ultra. While AquA’s best placement came in Week 9 with a Top Four finish.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old up and comer Fire, has barely a few months of experience at the amateur level. His initial run in the NA Challengers circuit saw nothing but Top Four finishes from June to August in 2020.

Despite his lack of pro experience, Fire has already proven to be one of the hottest rookies to keep an eye on this year. While not much to go off, Legion’s first showing against the London Royal Ravens in the Kickoff Classic gave us our first look at the team in action.

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Fire managed to remain neutral or positive across the five map series, even leading his team in kills throughout the second Hardpoint, putting up 31 eliminations.

Having only just come together in recent weeks, Legion has very little time to properly mesh and work on strategies for the upcoming season. That being said, their raw gun skill might just be enough to help them overcome this hurdle while they get used to one another.

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Not only is their first time playing together, but they’ve “barely even spoken before,” Skrapz said in a post-game interview on January 25. “I’m really enjoying it though, all three of them want to get better. Every single day’s a grind.”

While they might not be closing out Majors and sweeping the best teams in the league, there’s certainly potential for Legion to be a dark horse in 2021.