Following their disappointing finish at the Call of Duty League’s recent Dallas Home Series, Chicago Huntsmen star Peirce ‘Gunless’ Hillman sat down with his CEO Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez to discuss their stunning upset loss to Florida Mutineers in the semifinal.
It’s no secret that Huntsmen are one of the best teams in the Call of Duty League, but having such status also comes with high expectations, ones that were not met at the Dallas Home Series.
For the second time this season, the team fell to Florida Mutineers in the semifinals and were denied a chance to play in their second Grand Final of the year. Needless to say, the upset was not what most had expected coming into the tournament; Chicago were one of the teams heavily favored to win the whole thing.
The loss was one of the topics that Gunless discussed with H3CZ in a recent episode of The Eavesdrop Podcast, in which the former eUnited and FaZe Clan pro explained why the result came to be.
“They’re the ones that abuse the things that are open the most against us,” he said, in regard to the Mutineers.
“I don’t think it’s Florida themselves or a mental block,” he added. “If a team did the exact same thing, took the roads that are open against us and we didn’t bail ourselves out with our skill, everybody would get us too and you’d be like ‘they’re a mental block too.'”
(Segment begins at 1:18:09 mark for mobile users)
H3CZ added that, in his experience over the years, many top teams have had opponents who counter them perfectly, and for Huntsmen it happens to be Mutineers.
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Of course, Florida have taken their status as Chicago’s kryptonite and ran with it. Huntsmen came into their tournament having dropped two series all season, both coming at the hands of the Mutineers.
“Guess we’ll stay home and give Huntsmen a chance at their own event,” they posted, ahead of the Chicago Home Series.
Guess we'll stay home and give Huntsmen a chance at their own event
— Miami Heretics (@MiamiHeretics) April 13, 2020
Heading into the event, Gunless promised to “try to get the boys in shape”, but an early loss to New York Subliners has proven to serve as an obstacle for the Huntsmen.
After falling down 0-2, Chicago made things a lot more interesting with a strong comeback, but the eventual game five did not go their way. As a result, they went into day two having to make a losers bracket run for the first time all year.
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Moving forward, the Huntsmen are slated to face off against the London Royal Ravens in the losers’ bracket of CDL Chicago, while the Subliners will advance to play Atlanta FaZe.
And while the Mutineers might not be present at this particular event, it’s becoming apparent that Chicago are becoming more and more vulnerable as the season marches on.
Catch all of the action live this weekend with our Chicago Home Series hub, which includes streams, brackets, scores, the schedule, and more.