The LA Thieves bounced back in the first week of CDL Stage 3 and the Reverse Sweep crew are ready to see more. During the Paris Legion Home Series, they believe Kenny can establish himself as the best Main AR in the league.
When the Thieves benched Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat for Zack ‘Drazah’ Jordan on April 5th, fans were concerned. With Kenny ‘Kenny’ Williams shifting over to the “Main AR” role, debate over positionless Call of Duty spread through Twitter like wildfire.
Now, those concerns have been quieted by a Stage 3, Week 1 performance in which the Thieves beat the Seattle Surge 3-2 and the London Royal Ravens 3-1. Following that return to form, Reverse Sweep’s Ian ‘Enable’ Wyatt, Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker, and Katie Bedford are beginning to believe Kenny could be the top Main AR in the CDL.
This week, though, LA faces an entirely different test: Atlanta FaZe and OpTic Chicago. While the Surge and Royal Ravens have a combined eight wins, FaZe and OpTic have a combined 26 with just 10 losses. This is when Kenny and the Thieves can establish themselves as true contenders.
As Enable explains, no test of Kenny’s new role could be better than OpTic and FaZe: “This is going to be a big indicator for Ken — he’s going up against FormaL and Arcitys in the Main AR battle. I think, right now, he could easily be better than both of them at the Main AR role, but this is a team game.”
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And Pacman seems to agree, noting that Kenny has the talent to become the best in the world with an AR in his hands: “I do feel like there’s definitely a world where he’s the best of them. Kenny is gross, so he could easily be the best Main AR.”
For both analysts, though, the Paris Legion Home Series is a clear test of the Thieves’ ceiling.
Against the Royal Ravens, Kenny posted a monstrous 1.67 K/D (kill-death ratio). But CoD is a team game and the cohesion of the unit is a pivotal factor. If Kenny is going to be the best Main AR in the league, Enable argues that unproven starters Drazah and Carlos ‘Venom’ Hernandez need to step up.
As the former pro explains, “you want to be able to see them be able to perform and outduel the best players in the game — if LA Thieves want to be a contender and have a real shot at winning a Major.”
- Read more: Can OpTic Chicago finally win championships?
Should LA take down OpTic and/or FaZe, they will not only cement Kenny as a top Main AR in professional CoD; they will also cement themselves as championship contenders.