Former Call of Duty pro Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag recognizes the talent of Atlanta FaZe’s McArthur ‘Cellium’ Jovel, but he believes something needs to change for him to win more championships.
Atlanta consistently plays well online every season and places high in CDL Major tournaments. However, FaZe has appeared in six Major Grand Finals over the past two COD titles, but the team has only won twice. What’s more, they didn’t win a single tournament in COD Vanguard despite making four finals.
If you compare that stretch to the Call of Duty: Cold War season, Atlanta won four out of its five Grand Final appearances, including a World Championship victory. So, despite going on a dominant three-year run, the number of Major victories has drastically slowed.
After suffering another heartbreaking loss at CDL Major 5 this past weekend, Nadeshot believes Cellium may need to change his playstyle.
Nadeshot claims something is wrong with Cellium’s gameplay
Cellium had the highest KD of 1.21 at CDL Major 5, but FaZe ultimately lost 4-3 to New York Subliners in the Grand Final.
In the latest episode of Nadeshot Knows, the former COD dissected what he believes was a “catastrophic breakdown.”
“Three of the players on NYSL had a negative overall KD after a seven-game series. Meanwhile, FaZe had three people positive. That is painting a story that I don’t think enough people are talking about.”
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Nadeshot respects Cellium’s skill and called him an “unbelievable player” but argued that “something has got to give.”
“You can not be walking out of a series where you lose, and they have lost in the finals a couple of times over the past two years, and this guy is walking out of there with like a 1.3 KD.”
Despite putting up strong individual major performances, Nadeshot argued that “something is wrong” with Cellium’s gameplay.
“From my experience playing, there is a time and place to worry about stats.”
Nadeshot acknowledged that he feels for the Atlanta Faze players but argued that the talented roster should have closed out more tournaments over the past two seasons.