Clayster Believes He Knows Which Current Pro Will Be The Greatest Of All Time
It's currently a game that's undergoing a major shift in its player base, with legends retiring left, right, and centre over the past two years, while some electrifying young prospects are breaking through and finding instant success. The Call of Duty series is changing, and so is its respective professional scene. So, could now be the year that Hall of Famers of the past are uprooted by legends in the making?
James "Clayster" Eubanks is in most people's Call of Duty Hall of Fame, having become just one of three players to have hoisted a World Championship trophy on three occasions, and now he's weighed in on who he thinks are the Mount Rushmore-worthy faces of the scene.
Speaking in an interview with Full Squad Gaming's Jake Lucky, Clayster detailed his top five Call of Duty players of all time, and who the prodigal son will be to finally uproot the list.
Clayster Names Top Five Players Of All Time
Click to enlargeTo no surprise, all four of the OpTic dynasty players feature in Clayster's top five. The only other two players alongside Clayster to win three world champions make the list, in Ian "Crimsix" Porter and Damon "Karma" Barlow, while famous T2P duo Seth "Scump" Abner and Matthew "FormaL" Piper also make up the aforementioned dynasty team. With 18 offline tournament wins as a collective, and countless others as individuals, it's to no surprise that these four sit in Clay's top five.
Alongside the iconic quartet, Clayster included himself in the top five, which is a given, considering his three-peat status. However, Clayster did avoid ordering his list, saying, "The top five is the OpTic dynasty and me. So, Crim, Karma, Scump, FormaL, and me. However you organise those five, that's up to you. Those are almost indisputable as the top five Call of Duty players of all time."
Maybe Patrick "Aches" Price and Jordan "JKap" Kaplan are unfortunate to miss out on Clayster's rankings, with the former being an integral part of the compLexity/Evil Geniuses dynasty that ruled the early years of Call of Duty esports. The latter, JKap, also has two rings to his name - more than FormaL and Scump - albeit his trophy haul is far inferior outside of champs.
Clayster Identifies One Player To Become The Greatest Of All Time
Click to enlargeArguably the most unlucky player not to make Clayster's list is a current superstar and reigning Call of Duty League MVP Chris "Simp" Lehr. Often dubbed as Clayster's prodigy, thanks to his role in Simp's eUnited acquisition and the instant success on that roster, Simp has won two world championships in three years, finishing second in the other year, and has begun making some fans' top five's.
According to Clayster, Simp will be the greatest of all time when his career is over, and will begin overtaking the greats within five years. "I think as years go by and we stop playing like me or Crim or Scump - FormaL and Karma already stopped playing - and Simp keeps doing it, and "aBeZy" [Tyler Pharris] keeps doing it, they'll pass us eventually. They have to."
"I think Simp will be the greatest Call of Duty player of all time when he's done," added Clayster.
With the likes of Anthony "Shotzzy" Carlos-Cuevas also on the rise, the top five lists may see a shake-up come into play soon, albeit the current format of five events per year will possibly hinder those from making dynasties of their own.
