ZooMaa returns to pro Call of Duty for World Series of Warzone with Clayster & Asim

Brad Norton

Five months after having to walk away from competitive Call of Duty, New York Subliners veteran Thomas ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto has announced his return to the spotlight with the upcoming World Series of Warzone event.

After competing at the highest level for the better part of a decade, ZooMaa announced he would be taking a “step back” in January; the veteran star was forced into retirement ahead of the 2021 Call of Duty League season due to a nagging issue with his thumbs.

Despite leaving the pro grind, ZooMaa has been more active than ever before as a content creator. His Twitch stream has been on the rise and ‘The Flank’ talk show has become a fan-favorite in the community.

After months of sitting back and watching the CDL play out, he’s ready to pick up the sticks once again. It won’t be as a starting member of the Subliners roster, however. Instead, ZooMaa is getting ready to drop into Verdansk.

Activision unveiled the World Series of Warzonze tournament on May 19. This elite competition boasts a $1.2 million prize pool and features a range of top streamers and CDL pros. While we’re still a few weeks out, some of these formidable squads have already begun forming.

OpTic just announced their trio of Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper, and Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow. Now, Subliners have put a returning ZooMaa alongside his NYSL brethren James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks and Obaid ‘Asim’ Asim.

$300,000 will be on the line as the first leg of the competition kicks off on June 23. No exact format is locked in just yet, though it’s clear that Verdansk will be filled to the brim with top competitors on that day.

Whether it’s a private lobby or a public kill-race, it may be the most intense Warzone competition we’ve seen yet. After five long months on the CDL sidelines, we’ll finally get to see ZooMaa sliding around the map again.

World Series of Warzone
The World Series of Warzone event features one of the biggest prize pools we’ve ever seen for the battle royale title.

It’s unclear at this stage just how ZooMaa might be competing.

Given his thumb injury, using a controller might be problematic. Keyboard and mouse could be the play, though that’s not to say a few hours of controller finesse is out of the question. ZooMaa has been grinding out League Play here and there with a controller, so it may still be possible as a one-off.

Before we see him styling across Verdansk, brush up on everything there is to know about the World Series of Warzone event.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com