Scump explains why Vanguard was the “dagger” that pushed him to CoD retirement

Joe Craven
Scump next to Vanguard

OpTic Texas’ Seth ‘Scump’ Abner has explained how Vanguard was the “dagger” that pushed him towards CoD retirement, following his emotional confirmation that the Modern Warfare 2 season will be his last as a professional player.

The announcement that esports legend Scump will hang up the sticks following the Modern Warfare 2 Call of Duty League season was both a surprise and expected. 

The King has been hinting at it for a few seasons but, being so integral to Call of Duty esports, it also felt like a moment that might never come. 

While the announcement video certainly tugged on the heartstrings, it didn’t delve into the specific reasons behind the decision. 

However, in the 3 November OpTic Podcast, Abner explained that his retirement is down to a lack of “passion” for recent CoDs, stating that it’s been harder and harder to play them when he hasn’t actually enjoyed them. 

Scump reveals Vanguard was the “dagger” after announcing CoD retirement

When asked whether his retirement was comparable to Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper’s, who recently won the Halo World Championships after moving away from CoD esports, Scump confirmed that his decision was also down to a lack of “passion” for recent titles.

Specifically, he pinpointed the lacklustre Vanguard season and the game itself as the “dagger” that pushed him towards retirement. 

“Nah it’s 100% passion,” he said. “I said on stream yesterday, there’s only so many 

CoDs that you can go through where you don’t really love the game until like, it’s old. Hopefully I love this game… Vanguard I’m not gonna lie, that might have been the dagger. Vanguard plus our season was a dagger.”

Timestamp: 18:20 

The Vanguard season was rough for OpTic Texas. While they won Major 1 it was downhill from there, crashing out of Champs in fourth. 

The game itself was widely criticized by pros and the community alike. 

While Modern Warfare 2 has received more positive feedback to this point, Scump explained that he hopes it’ll be a return to form for the franchise. 

He finished: “We had MW, Cold War, Vanguard. So it’s like we had BO4, great. Then we had MW just sets us back. We’ve had good game bad game good game bad game good game bad game… so hopefully this is the cycle where it’s a good game again.”

Only time will tell how the MW2 CDL season goes but Scump and OpTic Texas will be doing everything they can to ensure it’s a successful send off for one of the greatest CoD players of all time. 

About The Author

Joe is a former writer for Dexerto, who focused on Call of Duty, FIFA, Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege.