Call of Duty legend and three-time world champion Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow was once a superstar for the Green Wall as a player, but now he’s campaigning to coach OpTic’s CDL roster as they finish the Modern Warfare 2 season.
Karma is known for being one of the smartest and most versatile players in the history of Call of Duty. He was once a standout for OpTic Gaming before parting with the team in the pre-Modern Warfare 2019 offseason.
While he went his separate way from the organization for a while prior to Modern Warfare 2019, he joined back up shortly after his retirement that season.
Now with OpTic Texas fielding a group of young talent that’s breaking through at the right time, he hasn’t been shy about his desire to rejoin the squad and help them hone their game to end the year.
Karma offers to coach OpTic Texas following Major 3
In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Barlow explained exactly what it is he thinks he could bring to this squad.
“I think they are doing fine,” he admitted. “But maybe as like another set of eyes saying ‘maybe we could do this or do that.’ For someone like me, I feel like I could potentially point things out.
“I wouldn’t go in with a mindset of ‘hey you have to do this’, I would take it from an outsider’s perspective of like what can I help with?”
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He also explained that he’s not sure how much impact he could have on the squad, but from spending more time watching the game as a member of Scump’s watch party entourage, he’s picked up on some things that the players might not be seeing.
“Would it affect anything? I truly don’t know, because at the end of the day – I think Ray knows a lot and I also think a lot of things that were happening in their games. Those things came down to the players’ decision-making.”
When asked about whether the players would be open to his mentoring, he was confident that the team’s star AR player would love to have him on board again. “That’s the biggest thing. I know Brandon definitely would and I honestly think they all would. Not even being egotistical, but I just feel like everyone gives me that respect.”
Karma also said that conversations about it could start after the conclusion of Major 3. Despite a monumental lower bracket run all the way through to the grand finals, the team ultimately finished second to Toronto Ultra.
Additional reporting by Alec Mullins.