Maurice 'Fero' Henriquez: A Phenomenal Career Cut Short

On November 10, the Call of Duty community was shocked to learn of the passing of Florida Mutineers player Maurice “Fero” Henriquez. He was just 21 years of age.

The North American player had quickly shot into the limelight during his short career in Call of Duty esports. Fero brought a level of aggression and outright skill that very few players could live up to, often being the player that made the crucial play to swing a match in the favour of his team when the odds were stacked against them.

To celebrate the life of one of Call of Duty’s most exciting and eccentric personalities, we take a look back at the short, but storied, career of Fero.

 

The Early Days

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Known for his impressive performances in online Search & Destroy tournaments, Fero made his competitive debut during the World War 2 season under the Ground Zero banner. After consistent results in 2K tournaments, Ground Zero managed to run the gauntlet of the Open Bracket at CWL Dallas, securing a place in pool play. The team managed to make it out of the pool and into the winner’s bracket, but fell short to Team Envy in a thrilling five-game series to send Fero and the team out of the tournament with a top 12 placement. 

A few weeks later, Fero declared free agency and joined DooM Clan alongside Ricky “Ricky” Stacy, Jacob “Decemate” Cato, and Embry “Bevils” Bevil for CWL New Orleans. With a new team, Fero secured another top 12 placement, narrowly missing out on a spot in the opening stage of the CWL Pro League. After New Orleans, the team departed DooM Clan and joined eRa Eternity for Stage One of the Pro League. The team struggled against superior opposition but managed to escape relegation, securing their place in Stage Two and the 2018 World Championship.

Prior to CWL Birmingham, the entire team left the organisation after it was revealed that it wasn’t paying its players. Under their own banner of “Reckless”, the team put up an impressive fight against Evil Geniuses and the Spaniards of Team Heretics before falling to OpTic Gaming and Team Envy. Reckless finished third in the pool, placing them in the third round of the loser’s bracket against North American powerhouse eUnited. As the underdogs, Fero and Reckless shone against the more established team, beating eUnited to advance in the tournament. After beating eUnited, Reckless defeated Team Kaliber and Echo Fox before falling to Splyce, securing an impressive top-six finish.

 

An Established Name

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After CWL Birmingham, Fero was hot property with several organisations wanting to acquire his services. Fero ended up joining Team Kaliber, the org that had won the first two events of the World War 2 season alongside fellow young stars Kenny “Kenny” Williams, Lamar “Accuracy” Abedi, and Anthony “Methodz” Zinni.

Towards the latter stages of the World War 2 season, Fero and Team Kaliber came into their own, managing to take down eUnited, UNILAD, and Rise Nation on their way to the Stage 2 Playoffs championship, marking Fero’s first championship win in his debut year of competing at a professional level. Although Kenny walked away with the MVP trophy, Fero pulled off a near-impossible 1v3 clutch against FaZe Clan to secure a surprising 3-0 sweep for his team.

Heading into Champs as one of the many championship contenders, Fero and co. made it into the knockout bracket and took down Rise Nation, Elevate, and eUnited to set up a showdown with Evil Geniuses in the Winner’s Bracket final. EG stood strong and demoted tK to the Loser’s Bracket, but tK managed to make it back to the Grand Finals and reset the bracket before Evil Geniuses completed a 3-0 sweep to take home the title.

It was certainly an eventful debut season for Fero. From not getting paid by eRa Eternity to ending the World War 2 season with a second-place finish at the season-ending world championship, Fero had firmly established his name on the Call of Duty scene heading into the Black Ops 4 season.

 

A Turbulent Black Ops 4

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As Call of Duty esports switched to a 5v5 team structure, Fero left Team Kaliber and moved to 100 Thieves for the Black Ops 4 season. The self-proclaimed “Top Prospect” was intent on building on the foundations laid by an impressive end to the World War 2 season with an even stronger performance during Black Ops 4. 

At the season-opener in Las Vegas, 100T were one of the several teams in contention to take home the first tournament of the season. Much to everyone’s surprise, the European roster known as “Team Sween” demoted Fero and the rest of his team to the Loser’s Bracket. The team managed to overcome G2 Esports in a bid to keep their tournament dream alive but were defeated by Luminosity Gaming to place in the top 12. Not the start Fero wanted on his debut for the Thieves.

The issues surrounding in-game roles that had plagued 100 Thieves at Las Vegas had stemmed down to Fero, and he was dropped from the team for CWL Fort Worth. Despite no official starting place in the roster, he would come to the aid of his former teammates after Preston “Priestahh” Greiner was taken ill, leaving Fero to fill in, and ultimately securing a fourth-place finish.

After a mixed bag of results at 100T, Fero left the team and joined the boys in blue at Team Envy in a bid to end the Black Ops 4 season on a high. Fero played at CWL Anaheim, scoring a mediocre top 16 finish. This performance ultimately marked a somewhat premature end his Black Ops 4 season and was placed on the bench for the rest of the season, missing out on the final world championship of the CWL era.

 

Redemption

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The Modern Warfare season marked the beginning of a new era for Call of Duty esports. A brand-new geo-located franchised league had been created alongside a new amateur circuit for aspiring professional players to compete in. 

Fero found himself competing alongside 2013 world champ Chris “Parasite” Duarte, North American veteran Michael “Spacely” Schmale, and two amateur players in the form of Kris “Spart” Cervantez and Byron “Prolute” Vera. After amassing several victories in online tournaments prior to Launch Weekend, expectations were high heading into the opening tournament of the season. Fero and his team ultimately finished in the top 12, below expectations, and shortly after the conclusion of the tournament, Fero left the team.

Fero competed in three online Challengers tournaments after leaving his Launch Weekend team, placing no lower than second in all three of them. That form that made him a force to be reckoned with in his rookie season was starting to return.

After the fourth Challengers tournament of the season, Fero joined the Florida Mutineers for the Los Angeles Home Series, the final offline event of the Modern Warfare season. The late call-up meant practice was minimal, and in some scenarios, it showed. Nonetheless, the Mutineers placed in the top six.

The Call of Duty League returned in a new online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now armed with plenty of practice, Fero and the Mutineers went on to secure victory, his second tournament title in his short career. After a surprising top-eight finish at the Florida Home Series, Fero and the Mutineers quickly went back to winning ways, taking home both Minnesota and Paris Home Series events. Fero was in fine form during the victories. As the flex player for the team, he could fill in any role whether it was some additional slaying power with an MP5 or a more supportive role overlooking a specific area of the map with an M4A1. There were even instances of him scoring plenty of kills in quick succession with just a Combat Knife in his hand. 

As the league entered its latter stages, Fero was arguably one of the best SMG players in the world, displaying incredible mechanics and lightning-fast reaction times to get the advantage over his opposition. 

The Paris Home Series would be Fero’s final victory of his career. He and Florida ended the Modern Warfare season with a top-eight placement at the 2020 CDL Championship, much to the surprise of many. 

His Legacy

Fero leaves behind a career filled with a wealth of highlights, including a second-place at a world championship and back-to-back victories, in what has arguably been the most competitive era of Call of Duty esports.

His immense talent and personality will be sorely missed by the entire community and he will be remembered as one of the many players that managed to bounce back to the top after facing plenty of adversity.

May he rest in peace. #f3
 

Images via Florida Mutineers | MLG