The Los Angeles Guerrillas are now the latest Call of Duty League (CDL) team to disband following the inaugural season as five players have become unrestricted free agents just one week into the offseason.
With the Championship Weekend having just wrapped up last week, CDL organizations are wasting little time shuffling their rosters in the leadup to the 2021 season. Even the winners, Dallas Empire, were forced to drop three-time world champion Clayster amidst the swap to a 4v4 format.
As one of the lowest-earning squads throughout 2020, Seattle Surge quickly made a move to drop all but one player in Octane. Joining Surge at the bottom of the 2020 rankings, the LA Guerrillas also came away with just $10,000 for their efforts in the first season. Following these results, the organization has similarly parted ways with almost every player signed for the first year.
At the time of writing, Spart, Blazt, Saints, Decemate, and Aqua have all transitioned to unrestricted free agents. These moves mean that Vivid is now the only active player signed to the Guerrillas heading into the 2021 season.
Unrestricted F/A at 12:00AM PST for the 2021 CDL Season, Thank you to the @LAGuerrillas for taking a chance on me 🤞🏽 promise ill be back
— Kris (@itsSpart) September 7, 2020
Unrestricted F/A at 12:00AM PST. If any franchise is looking for a starter or substitute email: BlaztBusiness@gmail.com
— rasim (@Blazt) September 7, 2020
This huge string of announcements came one after another on September 6. From substitutes to starting players, all five announced their free agency in a similar fashion. Saints added a little extra to his post, however; he suggested the 4v4 swap is only beneficial for him after his many years of experience in the scene.
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“Last time I won was 3 years ago and I need it now more than anything,” he said. “I know what I’m capable of in a 4v4 setting. Willing to do whatever it takes to have a chance at winning again.”
https://twitter.com/SaintsNato/status/1302819963766558721
Through the switch to online play in the middle of the season, Guerrillas was one of many rosters to shake things up. Two-time world champion ACHES was let go in July before quickly finding a new Challengers team to play with. On top of this, Vivid was swapped into the starting lineup as Saints and Spart were rotated in and out.
The Guerrillas finished dead last in the regular-season standings, recording just 31 map wins to 59 map losses overall. Their playoff run came to a swift end after a game five loss to LA rivals OpTic Gaming. This saw them bow out of the post-season with no prize winnings to show for it.
The official LA Guerrillas social media accounts are yet to address the departures. Nor have any replacements been locked in just yet. It was recently confirmed, however, that Bevils and Ricky will both be part of the coaching staff in 2021.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on any further changes in the near future. For now, get caught up on every free agent with our off-season Rostermania hub.