Former Call of Duty pro Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper no longer appears to have a team for Halo Infinite’s first LAN event as the esports star has been dropped in favor of Apex Legends player Eric ‘Snip3down’ Wrona on the rumored FaZe Clan roster.
While streaming Halo Infinite on November 16, FormaL revealed that the squad he was playing with would form his team for the first event of the revived Halo esports scene – the HCS Kickoff Major Raleigh.
According to Halo pro Paul ‘SnakeBite’ Duarte and other sources, the roster of FormaL, Jesse ‘bubu dudu’ Moeller, Michael ‘Falacated’ Garcia, and Adam ‘Bound’ Gray were all set to compete in Raleigh for FaZe Clan.
This is no longer the case, as the former CoD champion confirmed that he had been dropped from the team.
FormaL’s Halo return in question
Before becoming one of the biggest names in Call of Duty, FormaL began his esports career on the Halo circuit. Playing between 2009 and 2014, he won several events with Ambush.
Now he appears eager to return to his roots as the release of Halo Infinite marks a new chapter for the game’s esport.
- Read More: OpTic Halo set for Halo: Infinite return
While FormaL had hinted at a return to Halo for some time following his Call of Duty retirement, he confirmed it during a November 12 Vanguard stream.
Four days later, on November 16, he revealed what he claimed to be his team for the first event of the new Halo circuit.
“Yeah chat, this is my team for Raleigh,” FormaL said, “I got kinda blessed because I’ve been hearing that they’re like a top-three team so, kinda blessed. They’re really good.”
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FormaL’s initial team was a mix of veteran experience and young talent. Bubu dudu has over five years of pro experience and is best known for his time with teams like Denial, Enigma6, and Splyce. Falacated is another veteran, who has been bubu’s teammate for many years.
While Bound is newer to the scene, he has proven his place in the upper echelons of the game and has spent most of the past year on rosters with bubu and Falacated.
Although the roster seemed to be locked in ahead of the HCS Raleigh event on December 17, FormaL will no longer be playing alongside them.
The claim was first made by new OpTic Halo member Bradley ‘aPG’ Laws, who updated fans in his November 18 stream.
FormaL confirmed the news on his own stream, revealing he had dropped in favor of Eric ‘Snip3down’ Wrona, a former Halo pro who is currently contracted to TSM as part of their Apex Legends roster.
OpTic FormaL confirms he was dropped from the FaZe Halo roster for TSM Snip3down, who might be making the switch from Apex Legends to Halo now pic.twitter.com/EtJkhWpmdQ
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) November 19, 2021
“They were originally teaming with Snip3down,” FormaL said, “and then Snip3down told them that he wanted to play Apex so that’s why they had a slot open. And then I guess he decided he wanted to play Halo again.”
Unless FormaL can find a place on another roster for the Raleigh event, it appears as if his return to Halo esports will have to wait.