If you’ve ever been to a LAN event tied to the Call of Duty universe, you’ll know there’s something of an unwritten rule. You stay quiet when competitors are making plays during rounds of Search and Destroy. This is because it’s too easy to give things away when a particular move is being made, as players can almost always hear the crowd around them.
During the recent Major 4 tournament in Paris, OpTic Texas lifted the trophy after defeating LA Thieves in the grand final. In a newly published video showcasing full, uncensored comms from the team, it was revealed that a sneaky play at a pivotal moment took place.
Bait The Crowd, Bait The Player
When OpTic Texas and LA Thieves were playing their final map with the scoreline tied, the former team threw out a bit of a dirty tactic to get the upper hand. It didn’t play out entirely as they expected, but they still tried it.
It was a 2v3 situation on Gridlock, and OpTic was three points up on the map, working towards a defuse.
When the trio of Huke, Shotzzy, and Dashy moved towards the planted bomb, they suggested to ‘Smoke it and hop it, make the crowd tweak.’
Put simply, they advised that Huke pretends to defuse the bomb under the cover of smoke to energize the crowd and make them think a daring play was taking place, knowing that the LA Thieves players would hear the buzz of the crowd and surmise that something was happening to their plant.
OpTic Texas ended up winning the point and then eventually went on to win the map 6-1, claiming the trophy and the lion’s share of the prize pool. You can see the clip start at 24:10 in the video below:
There were a few questionable moments of the series, which proved to be extremely mixy, but that was the moment on the OpTic Texas comms video that was called out by many across social media.
In recent years, we’ve seen some awful examples of the crowd ruining plays in Search and Destroy, which often comes down to intense, 1v1 fights and some strategic moves. There’s a reason why players used to compete in soundproof booths, once upon a time.
- RELATED: LA Thieves Broke a Huge CDL Record
Do you think OpTic Texas was right to try and use the crowd to their advantage like this, or is it a hit to sportsmanship? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that the COD Champs bracket is locked in,
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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