5 players to watch during CDL 2021\u2019s Stage 2 Toronto Home Series Call of Duty LeagueStage 2 of the Call of Duty League kicks off with a Toronto Ultra Home Series. Five players stand out as must-watch x-factors as the CDL 2021 season continues ramping up. During the CDL 2021 Stage 1 Major, Atlanta FaZe ran through the competition \u2014 decimating practically every single team that came in their way. Now, we\u2019re moving into Stage 2 and the rest of the league has some serious work to do. Among the teams vying for an upturn in production, some are at the top of the power rankings, and some at the bottom. From established pros like the Dallas Empire\u2019s Huke and LA Thieves\u2019 Kenny to newcomers like the London Royal Ravens\u2019 PaulEhx and Toronto Ultra\u2019s Insight, x-factors appear at every rung of the CDL ladder. And, of course, the middle is the most dynamic spot and that\u2019s precisely where Priestahh\u2019s Minnesota ROKKR stand. Here are why those five players can make a legitimate, longstanding impact as Stage 2 kicks off. Cuyler \u2018Huke\u2019 Garland (Dallas Empire) \u201cHuke the Nuke\u201d vs. \u201cHuke the Fluke\u201d Huke was in absolute MVP form as the CDL 2021 season kicked off, but that all came crashing down in the Empire\u2019s 2-5 loss to FaZe in the Stage 1 Grand Finals. That loss wasn\u2019t just felt in Dallas wallets either, as it came with an immediate drop in expectations as well. After leading Dallas in statistics for much of the season, Huke dropped a paltry 0.87 K\/D in the FaZe series \u2014 notching a positive ratio in just the team\u2019s two wins. Dallas is still rightfully just behind FaZe in the standings, but Huke needs to regain \u201cNuke\u201d form if the Empire are going to reclaim the throne. Paul \u2018PaulEhx\u2019 Avila (London Royal Ravens) From playing hard to get to playing with the best It has been a weird season for the Royal Ravens, with temporary starter Christopher \u2018Parasite\u2019 Duarte claiming that the team was \u201cdestined to fail.\u201d Parasite replaced Trei \u2018Zer0\u2019 Morris, who was dealing with visa issues, as rumors spread that PaulEhx had declined their contract offer. Now, Zer0 is still gone and PaulEhx has replaced Parasite in the starting lineup. The CDL Challengers standout for WestR was dominant enough to believably decline contract offers \u2014 and now he has a chance to prove he was worth the wait. Kenny \u2018Kenny\u2019 Williams (Los Angeles Thieves) The case for SMG Kuavo Despite a stacked roster and a huge start to the new season, the LA Thieves couldn\u2019t make it past Round 4 of the Stage 1 Major\u2019s Losers Bracket. This has led to serious questions about the roster, including from 100 Thieves\u2019 content creator and former pro, Ian \u2018Enable\u2019 Wyatt. During Reverse Sweep, Enable and former pro and coach Jonathan \u2018Pacman\u2019 Tucker discussed one possible solution for the Thieves: swapping Kenny onto the SMG full-time. As Pacman explains, \u201cKenny is disgusting, but I think he should be running a sub \u2026 I just think you should try it and see how it works.\u201d If LA fails to produce this week, conversation could amplify and fans might start calling for Kenny to take on the SMG role. Preston \u2018Priestahh\u2019 Grenier (Minnesota ROKKR) Will they, won\u2019t they? The ROKKR sit at 3-3 on the season and No. 7 in the CDL standings. Everyone wants to know the answer to one question: Is Minnesota bad, good, or just the perennial embodiment of the middle of the pack? One player is key to that answer and it\u2019s the former FaZe flex, Priestahh. He played a utility role in 2020 and claims to be enjoying the transition to \u201crunning around and frying\u201d in 2021, but the results haven\u2019t been consistent. If the ROKKR want to unshoulder the weight of mediocrity, Priestahh needs to start slaying. Jamie \u2018Insight\u2019 Craven (Toronto Ultra) No Zinni, Maybe Winni Anthony \u2018Methodz\u2019 Zinni was, statistically, the Ultra\u2019s best player throughout a disappointing Stage 1. But, as he kept his head up and told us that this team\u2019s ceiling was \u201cmultiple championships,\u201d Toronto proceeded to bench him, sending the renowned veteran to Challengers in favor of Insight. Now, Insight is starting on an all-EU lineup and the Ultra have a lot to prove. Insight has Zinni-sized shoes to fill and Toronto must outperform their 3-5 Stage 1. To stay up to tabs on CDL 2021 Stage 2, follow along with our Stage 2: Toronto Ultra Home Series hub \u2014 where we keep scores, streams and the schedule updated throughout the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
5 players to watch during CDL 2021\u2019s Stage 2 Toronto Home Series Call of Duty LeagueStage 2 of the Call of Duty League kicks off with a Toronto Ultra Home Series. Five players stand out as must-watch x-factors as the CDL 2021 season continues ramping up. During the CDL 2021 Stage 1 Major, Atlanta FaZe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}