Hector 'H3CZ' Rodriguez Leaks The Format For The Call of Duty League In 2021
There are not many people within Call of Duty esports that have more intel than Hector 'H3CZ' Rodriguez. The former OpTic Gaming CEO and current NRG Esports co-CEO has been a monster figure within the competitive scene for near upon a decade and is always in the loop with everything Call of Duty related. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and he often lets slip something that he's not meant to make public.
His podcast 'The Eavesdrop' is the most prominent place to hear a slip of the tongue from H3CZ, amongst being filled with juice and intel from your favourite COD esports players. Most recently he sat down with the outspoken Sam 'Octane' Larew, who's Seattle Surge side has endured the fair share of misfortunes this year.
Within the podcast, they discuss everything from the current state of Modern Warfare to Octane blowing $900 in a casino with H3CZ, but most importantly, the host let slip some details about the Call of Duty League in 2021 on Treyarch's Black Ops Cold War,
One hour and six minutes into the podcast, H3CZ reveals that there are 'rumours' that the Call of Duty League in 2021 is "going to continue online and that there's apparently going to be three home stand events".
Whilst there have been discussions that the league will stay online to regulate with Covid-19 guidelines, the structure has never been revealed, and it seems that the league will build up to three major events throughout the year.
This differs from the twelve home series that we have seen this year with eight of the 12 teams playing each week, hinting at possibly three splits throughout the year with a qualifying process before the major event. Other competitive esports have adopted this format, such as Rocket League Championship Series, which splits up into three main events, Fall, Winter and Spring, where you earn prize money and points towards the seeding in the World Championships in the Summer.
This format opens up the possibility of LAN tournaments later in the year, something that Octane is very hopeful of. He states "If we can play on LAN that will be the best-case scenario. Obviously there is a lot more that goes into that apart from juts hopes and wishes, but if the ability to play on LAN does come up, even in a restricted setting like a bubble, or even one event we can play randomly that's fine with me".
The 2020 World Championships is due to kick off on August 19, with Octanes Seattle Surge starting in the first elimination round versus the Paris Legion, and H3CZs Chicago Huntsmen waiting until August 21 to play in the Winners Round 2 versus the winner of New York Subliners versus the Minnesota ROKKR.
Stay tuned at GGRecon for more Call of Duty League news.
image via Hector Rodriguez | Twitter
