The LA Thieves just destroyed the Miami Heretics on (sort of) home turf, pushing them down into the elimination bracket following a complete sweep. The 3 – 0 scoreline was probably easy enough to predict, but it came a little closer than some would have expected, with the Heretics putting up a considerable fight.
In the aftermath of the win, which pushed LA Thieves further towards the grand final, I caught up with Dan ‘Ghosty’ Rothe and Thomas ‘Scrap’ Ernst to learn how they were handling the expectations of being the CDL’s ‘Super Team’ this season.
Shouldering It
For the opener, I asked Scrap and Ghosty whether they felt extra pressure trying to live up to these lofty expectations and whether they believed they had. In the run-up to the CDL kicking off, the LA Thieves’ squad was billed as being a Super Team, with Nadeshot making it very public (even if in jest) just how much securing the talented roster had cost the organisation.
Here’s what they had to say:
Ghosty: I feel like there’s always a sense of pressure as a competitor to be the best version you can be. There’s definitely more external pressure from other teams, fans, whatever – but it still doesn’t amount to the personal pressure you put on yourself as a competitor.
Scrap: For myself, from how much shit I talk, there’s just pressure from the whole community on me, no matter what team I play for. People can call us a Super Team, yeah, I’ll call myself a Super Team because my team is godlike. You know, we have pressure on us, but we go into every match taking no-one lightly.
Following that, Scrap walked me through his growth in the CDL since entering the League as a rookie during the MWII season. He was painted as (and loved being) the villain, going on a notorious arc that set his profile ablaze.
Scrap: I don’t think I’ll ever change. Honestly, I’m just being myself up on that stage, to be honest. If it comes out, it comes out. I feel like over the past couple of years in the League I’ve grown into more of a leadership role of a sort, not like the kid that just flies around. Now that I’m on a younger team that has a lot of young players and I’m just trying to work as best around them.
Like OpTic Texas’ Shotzzy, the pair agreed that the crowd in Madrid is one of the most energetic they’ve ever seen, and they are ‘down for some more’ EU tournaments.
For more news from the Call of Duty League’s Major in Madrid, check out my coverage of the Royal Ravens eliminating OpTic Texas.
For more esports news, stay tuned to Insider Gaming
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