New Toronto Ultra stars aiming for glory in 2023 CDL season: \u201cThe goal is always the same\u201d Toronto UltraThe Call of Duty League\u2019s Toronto Ultra have officially unveiled their new roster, and the squad spoke exclusively with Dexerto about how the team came to be, the possibility of a multi-year Modern Warfare 2 season, their plans to topple CoD\u2019s biggest teams, and why the IGL role has become overstated in Call of Duty esports. Toronto Ultra became a fan-favorite team in recent seasons, with a European roster that had earned the respect of every opponent and fan alike. Always resilient, they were a dynasty-beating team at their peak, and they were so easy to root for. But, with the departure of Ben \u2018Bance\u2019 Bance and Cameron \u2018Cammy\u2019 McKilligan to Minnesota R\u00d8KKR in the offseason, the team needed to find the best players to fit into their ethos and, ultimately, help them push for a world championship. Jamie \u2018Insight\u2019 Craven and Tobias \u2018CleanX\u2019 Juul-J\u00f8nsson were left to build the best team they could, and in stepped Thomas \u2018Scrappy\u2019 Ernst and Eli \u2018Standy\u2019 Bentz. According to CleanX and Insight, bringing these two in was a no-brainer. How Scrappy elevates Ultra\u2019s game In a statement to Dexerto, Scrappy was described by OverActive Media (Ultra\u2019s parent company) Chief Strategy Officer, Adam Adamou, as \u201cthe first of the next generation of personality-driven superstar players that the CoD ecosystem is so good at fostering.\u201d Insight, taking on the de facto leadership role following the departure of Bance, couldn\u2019t agree more. \u201cScrappy was one of the most sought-after players after this season, so it was just a no-brainer to get him in with the talent he has,\u201d he said. \u201cAs soon as the season ended it was like, right, we need to get him in. The kid\u2019s a beast.\u201d Scrappy certainly brings new energy to Toronto Ultra that the franchise hasn\u2019t seen in some time. The Cold War and Vanguard iteration of the roster was always calm, collected, and almost emotionless during maps, led by a Ben Bance who could often be seen looking as though he was meditating between maps. Fans would still see them get excited after big wins, but it wasn\u2019t a trait they were known for by any stretch. In steps Scrappy, however, and things look slightly different. \u201cI\u2019ve always been like that, even when I wasn\u2019t a big person in the league or anything,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen I was playing 2v2 challs with my friends, I was still always like that. It\u2019s just how I\u2019ve always been. I just can\u2019t wait to get on stage and show everybody what I\u2019m ready to bring.\u201d Asked whether we could expect Scrappy to present a calmer version of himself on the main roster than he did in Challengers, it\u2019s clear that\u2019s not part of his plans. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to come down to their level. I\u2019ve always been a super high-energy person, and I know that if I just keep the energy up on every map, no matter how it goes, the team will never lose confidence in any series or map we\u2019re playing. I can\u2019t wait.\u201d Standy: \u201cHe\u2019s available, we\u2019ve got to get him\u201d As for Standy, he joins from Minnesota R\u00d8KKR, a straight change of direction in what has been dubbed the \u2018Battle of the North\u2019 \u2014 and he admitted that joining Toronto Ultra was always top of his list. \u201cAfter the season ended I was already very high on playing with CleanX,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought Scrappy was a very good player, and Jamie too. So even after the season ended, I was always reaching out, asking what was happening, because they were always top of my list and I feel like it\u2019s a place I could fit really well with my role and the way I play.\u201d This sentiment was echoed by CleanX, with the entire team believing Standy was the best person to play alongside him in that impactful SMG role. Asked whether Standy was always at the top of his list to be his duo, the Dane couldn\u2019t have been more certain: \u201cOf course. You\u2019re always looking at your options, rostermania\u2019s chaotic so you\u2019re always waiting to the last stage, but as soon as he became available, it was just a matter of time until he signed.\u201d Leadership on Toronto Ultra The camaraderie between the players is clear. They sound excited to even hop in our call together, let alone to be teaming and going to battle with one another when the season starts. This is likely helped, in large part, due to the fact that they\u2019re all young players. Their heads will be in the same place, with Insight, due to turn 23 years old in October, the oldest of the lot. They know they\u2019ve got the years ahead of them, but they also come together with a similar understanding of CoD, the league, and the world around them. To some critics, though, this has been a point of concern. With such a young team and no players who have stood out in recent years as a leader figure, will they have issues when it comes to the fundamentals of the game and having one individual leading the line? This quartet, unlike their critics, doesn\u2019t believe there\u2019s an issue. Insight said: \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s a role I\u2019ve been wanting to take on myself. I\u2019ve learned a lot off Ben [Bance] and what he brought to the team. I\u2019ve been around the scene since I was 15 years old, playing at the top level I would say, so I know what it takes and what you have to do. It\u2019s just all about learning and getting better.\u201d Standy explained that he also believes he can help in a leadership role when it\u2019s required of him. \u201cI think there are certain moments on the Minnesota team that I was very vocal and micro-managing some of the plays they made and some of the strategies,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m pretty vocal when it comes to playing, being vocal, and putting my ideas into the team.\u201d The idea of an In-Game Leader (IGL), they say, is a little outdated and overstated in Call of Duty anyway. \u201cI feel like this is a team that\u2019s going to be big on \u2018anyone can call something at any moment,\u2019\u201d said Scrappy, who was met with resounding agreement by his teammates. \u201cWith how competitive the league is now, you\u2019ve got to be able to make the millisecond decisions, and that just comes down to each player being vocal and stepping up when it matters,\u201d agreed CleanX. \u201cIt fits the new generation, I would say. We\u2019re all young, we all understand CoD, and we\u2019ve all played it for a long time. Everyone on this team is able to step up when it needs to be done.\u201d \u201cStepping up\u201d seems to have been a key theme when putting this roster together. As Insight reiterated in our conversation several times, they wanted to form a squad with \u201cpop-off potential,\u201d where any player could take over at any given time. Whether the Modern Warfare 2 season lasts one year, two years as rumored, or even more, this team was built with raw ability and talent in mind. That\u2019s not all, though. As Insight said, \u201cthe one big thing for our team, no matter who\u2019s on our team, who\u2019s coaching, who\u2019s doing anything, it\u2019s always a family. You feel like you\u2019re part of something, and the goal is always the same for our team, year in and year out. \u201cNo matter the players, we keep going. Our perspective and what we want to do never changes. The goal is always the same.\u201d Modern Warfare 2 drops on Friday, October 28, and the CDL season is expected to have started by the end of the year. Between now and then, though, Toronto Ultra are firmly focused on one thing: becoming a championship-winning team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Toronto Ultra stars aiming for glory in 2023 CDL season: \u201cThe goal is always the same\u201d Toronto UltraThe Call of Duty League\u2019s Toronto Ultra have officially unveiled their new roster, and the squad spoke exclusively with Dexerto about how the team came to be, the possibility of a multi-year Modern Warfare 2 season, their […]<\/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-30004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30004","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=30004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}