The New York Subliners secured the fifth seed in the Call of Duty League playoffs after a tough regular season. The team defended their home turf at the New York Home Series where they walked away with their first Home Series victory. They did not maintain the momentum at the London Home Series, but they are still a team that is capable of going all the way.
New York practiced hard before playoffs and are confident in their skills. (Photo Call of Duty League)
The Subliners used the time between the regular season and playoffs to focus on their weak points and now believe they are a well-rounded team. They are also open to ideas of competing in a bubble next season if the COVID-19 pandemic still impacts the Call of Duty League.
Preparation and improvements
Attach is a CoD veteran ready for another championship run. (Photo courtesy Subliners)
Dillon “Attach” Price explained that playing Minnesota in the first round is slightly odd as they have a new lineup that they have not played yet. This prevents them from researching or learning Minnesotas’s playstyle, but Attach is confident his team is ready for anything:
“We’re just going to go out there and play our game. Leading into champs, we have changed some stuff up as well. We have some fresh plays and strategies. We kind of just need to go out there and do our thing because we won’t be able to do that much research on their new team.”
The Subliners used the time before playoffs for self-reflection and to establish what areas needed improvement. The team noticed that Search and Destroy was one of their weak points and made sure to focus on this game mode in practice and scrimmages.
Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto elaborated on how they focused on improving in Search and Destroy: “It’s tough to practice Search and Destroy some times, especially against pro teams. You kind of have to play under the radar where you can learn new strategies and make sure no one is seeing what you’re doing. We don’t want to give anything away. A lot of it is just talking about it and watching previous matches. We personally think if we can get our Search and Destroy top tier that we are going to be really hard to beat because we are really good in the Respawn game modes.
Zooma also explained that there are several ways to play Search in Destroy in Modern Warfare, making every round a new experience. The Subliners have focused on consistent strategies and plans that will negate the randomness and allow them to be prepared for anything.
The future of the Call of Duty League
Like other teams, Attach and Zooma are open to competing in an isolated bubble next season to allow for live events instead of online play. “Me personally, I would love that. Instead of playing online, it could work how the NBA is doing it where everyone lives in a bubble.” Zooma said. “I think that would be awesome and cool, but I just don’t know if that’s possible or even being talked about.”
Attach also confirmed that he would be open to the idea but understands how some players will be unable to take part because of other factors in their lives. “I would also be down to live in the bubble, but I know it would be tougher for some players because they have families and certain things they have to do to take care of their families. I don’t know if everyone would be able to do it, but for players like myself or Tommy, who either live at home or don’t have too many responsibilities outside of gaming, we would definitely be down. It would be fun, it would probably make for some great content, and I would do it. But, who knows if it’s going to happen.”
Other professional players also confirmed they would be willing to live in a bubble next season if needed. Still, it is unclear if the Call of Duty League is considering this as an option for next season.
The New York Subliners will face the Minnesota ROKKR in the first Winner’s Round on Thursday, August 20th, at 3:30 PM CT. You can watch the action live on the official Call of Duty League YouTube channel.
