Atlanta Home Series Player Spotlight: Kenny Excels Throughout Opening Weekend

The Atlanta Home Series marked the beginning of the 2021 Call of Duty League (CDL) season and the hotly-anticipated debut of the Los Angeles Thieves alongside the return of North American organisation 100 Thieves to the highest tier of Call of Duty esports.

The 3-0 domination at the hands of OpTic Chicago that headlined the pre-season Kickoff Classic certainly left a few questions hanging over the heads of the players. Despite the loss, and after a few more weeks of practice and the refinement of strategies, the Thieves began their 2021 campaign on the front food with victories over the Minnesota RØKKR and the New York Subliners.

Leading the charge in both matches for the CDL’s newest franchise was former OpTic Gaming Los Angeles player and 2018 world championship runner-up Kenny “Kenny” Williams. With competitive Call of Duty returning to a four-versus-four team structure for the 2021 season and after a somewhat uneventful 2020 as a member of the Green Wall, Kenny looked to have rekindled some of that form that propelled him into the limelight during the World War 2 season.

 

Kenny Versus Minnesota

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Scoring a total of 77 kills and a 1.13 kill-to-death ratio across all four matches played, Kenny scored a K/D ratio of at least one throughout the series. While there was no standout performer on the LA Thieves during the clash against the RØKKR, Kenny was often instrumental in breaking Hardpoint hills and proved a strong line of defence during the 3-1 victory on Garrison Control.

As one of the more aggressive players on the team, Kenny armed with the XM4 assault rifle proved a formidable force thanks to sublime positioning and his ability to trade any kills within a few seconds of his teammates being eliminated.

His best performance against Minnesota was the opening Hardpoint of the series, scoring 32 eliminations on his way to a hotly contested 250-194 victory. While the number of kills is certainly impressive, Kenny’s role as the aggressive AR slayer on the LA Thieves certainly proved dividend as he managed to shut down Minnesota’s Preston “Priestahh” Greiner on a regular basis, preventing him from gathering any form of momentum, enabling the rest of the Thieves to capitalise on the lack of slaying power.

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Kenny Versus New York

Despite some early technical difficulties for Kenny’s teammate and 2016 world champ Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat, the Thieves managed to secure a 3-0 sweep against an incredibly resurgent New York side. With just nine Hardpoint points, one Search and Destroy round, and a single round of Control separating the two sides, it could have gone either way if it wasn’t for another solid showing from Kenny.

The nine-point thriller on Moscow Hardpoint came all the way down to the final hill of the second rotation and was where Kenny managed to seal the deal for the Thieves. As three NYSL players attempted to breach the hill from the centre of the map, Kenny utilised the flowerbed on the left to his advantage, taking down three opponents to halt the Subliners’ impressive comeback.

With the first map in the books, the momentum continued for Kenny into Miami Search and Destroy. As his teammates achieved varying performances throughout the map, Kenny shone once again, dropping 16 kills and over 3000 points of damage to secure another hard-fought victory for the Thieves. Kenny’s ability to trade kills in an instant combined with another masterclass in map positioning kept his team just ahead of New York, who had several chances to wrap up the map to level the series. 

The third and final map of the series saw Kenny come close to the 30-kill mark alongside 5469 points of damage as the LA Thieves managed to complete the sweep in the closest of circumstances. While his respawn performances were on par with his teammates, Kenny shone in map two and was the difference between New York managing to get a foothold in the match and LA Thieves managing to maintain that slender advantage that kept them ahead of the Subliners. 

After the first week of the season, coming away with two victories is the ideal start as the Thieves begin to establish their authority at the top end of the league table. Heading into the second week of Stage One, the LA Thieves will face off against a resurging Seattle Surge intent on reversing the fortunes of a disappointing 2020 season. After a solid performance throughout the opening weekend, can Kenny maintain this level of form as the opening Major of 2021 fast approaches?
 

Images via Call of Duty League | MLG