Carolina Ravens BO6 Season Preview

Carolina Royal Ravens Black Ops 6 Season Preview: Old Friends Reunite

As the offseason comes to a close, the Call of Duty League gears up for another thrilling season. The landscape of the CDL has changed drastically with franchises joining & new super teams being formed. Searching for success, the Royal Ravens took a swing unconventionally this offseason in the search to qualify for Champs for the first time in three seasons. In this season preview, we’ll dive into Royal Ravens' offseason moves, key players to watch, and what are their expectations compared to the competition within the CDL.

📸 Photo by @mediabyIsiah

Offseason Recap: Building off Past Chemistry

Signings:
+ Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat
+ Reece "Vivid" Drost
+ Thomas "TJHaly" Haly (Re-signed)
Releases:
- Tyler "FeLo" Johnson
- Ben "Beans" McMellon
- James "Clayster" Eubanks (Pre-EWC)

The offseason was rather mellow for the Royal Ravens, as they operated under the radar while the top teams solidified their rosters. With a Top 8 placement at the Esports World Cup but failing to qualify for Champs, the Ravens needed a slight rebuild. Keeping Gwinn was a must, as he showed a very bright potential future. Adding back into the fold TJ was also smart, as he had a rejuvenating season and clicked with the rookie.

With the SMG frontline in place, the team needed to sign ARs to support them. Carolina & Saintt would target SlasheR & Vivid, both of whom are ex-teammates of TJHaly. The past chemistry with these two players made the signings make sense, but the risk here is Vivid moving from the SMG position to AR. There are a lot of questions for this team but there is also potential for darkhorse runs.

The Carolina Royal Ravens roster heading into Black Ops 6:

○ Isaiah "Gwinn" Gwinn
○ Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat
○ Reece "Vivid" Drost
○ Thomas "TJHaly" Haly
○ Brian "Saintt" Baroska [Coach]

Offseason Reactions

Ronnie: "Carolina enters the BO6 season after an up-and-down year. Keeping rookie of the year Isaiah "Gwinn" Gwinn and experienced SMG Thomas "TJHaLy" Haly, the pair have added the veteran main AR of SlasheR who replaces the 3x world champ in Clayster. On paper, you would say the Ravens have upgraded in this position. Now the flex became a tricky position for the Ravens to find a suitable player, so they ended up going with the pace of Reece "Vivid" Drost, who will be playing his first full season as a flex instead of his former role of SMG. The majority are fairly high on this roster, and I have to agree, especially if the SMG duo can show the same form as the MW3 season."

Easy Mac: “The Offseason was as expected for the Royal Ravens. Taking their time, looking at proven veteran players, and making signings based on past experience but with potential upside. I wasn't shocked to see them sign three veterans, but each has the potential to heavily impact the series. With a solid foundational player in Gwinn, they decided to surround him with vets while still taking a smaller risk. Overall, this was a good offseason for the Ravens.

Season Expectations

Ronnie: “Season expectations should be based around making sure they are at COD Champs and always within a chance of making a Sunday at any event. I'm sure it would also be nice for the organization if they could finally go a full season without having to make a roster change."

Black Ops 6 Season Predictions

Best Placement: Top 6
Team MVP: Gwinn
Final Regular Season Seed: 8th
Will they qualify for Champs: Yes

Easy Mac: “This team should be very good in SND, which makes them a great upset alert team. If their SND form clicks & Vivid turns into a solid flex player, they could easily be a Top 6 team. It's just seeing how the respawns come together. The problem is that the 4th through 12th are highly competitive this season, and if they struggle, they could easily be relegated to the bottom four of the standings. My prediction is they'll compete hard in each stage and be in the mix for the 8th seed in the end."

Black Ops 6 Season Predictions

Best Placement: Top 6
Team MVP: SlasheR
Final Regular Season Seed: 9th
Will they qualify for Champs: No

Players to Watch in Black Ops 6

Ronnie: “Reece "Vivid" Drost, one of the fastest pros the CDL has seen, is now moving away from his original role of being an entry SMG. To become the team Flex, he will be key to bridging the gap from the Main AR to the SMG duo. Vivid has always been an interesting player. Teams never improve when they drop him midseason. Just ask Minnesota Rokkr from this past season, but it's also fair to say his teams are never the most consistent. If Vivid can improve his consistency with his new role, Ravens will be a threat for the majority of the teams."

Easy Mac: “I'm going to go with SlasheR. He still puts up good statistics in both Hardpoint & SND and has throughout the many teams he's been on in the CDL era. His consistency has been there, even if the team around him isn't. The only issue has been Control, where he just hasn't been able to click. I think this team will be based around SND while trying to be 50/50 in Hardpoint. If they can achieve that, SlasheR will be a major cog in the machine getting them success."

Stage 1 Matches

Qualifier Match 1: December 6th at 6:00 EST vs Vegas Falcons
Qualifier Match 2: December 8th at 3:00 EST vs LA Guerrilla M8s
Qualifier Match 3: December 14th at 6:00 EST vs Atlanta FaZe
Qualifier Match 4: December 15th at 6:00 EST vs Cloud9 New York
Qualifier Match 5: January 18th at 6:00 EST vs Boston Breach
Qualifier Match 6: January 24th at 3:00 EST vs Vancouver Surge
Qualifier Match 7: January 25th at 6:00 EST vs Miami Heretics

The first Minor begins on January 10th, while the first Major begins on January 30th.