LA Thieves BO6 Season Preview

LA Thieves Black Ops 6 Season Preview: The New Superteam Arrives

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. The main talking point all season was where the superstars Thomas "Scrap" Ernst & Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez would land. After being courted by multiple teams, the Thieves were able to pull off the heist and create the CDL's newest superteam. In this season preview, we’ll dive into Thieves’ offseason moves, key players to watch, and what are their expectations compared to the competition within the CDL.

📸 Photo by @LAThieves

Offseason Recap: Bringing in the Firepower

Signings:
+ Thomas "Scrap" Ernst
+ Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez
+ Dylan "Envoy" Hannon
+ Troy "Sender" Michaels
Releases:
- Joseph "JoeDeceives" Romero
- Kyle "Kremp" Haworth
- Byron "Nastie" Plumridge
- Marcus "Afro" Reid
- Jordan "JKap" Kaplan
- Brandon "Novus" Hewitt

The LA Thieves arguably outperformed the expectations during the Modern Warfare 3 season, but the storied franchise was eager to get back on top. After a season that saw four franchises win tournaments and result in multiple superstars wishing for a change of scenery, the Thieves had an opportunity to make a splash in the offseason.

After weeks of negotiations, the Thieves would complete the heist of the offseason. LA would pry away Envoy, HyDra, and Scrap from their respective franchises to join forces with Ghosty. These moves instantly put the Thieves on par with both Atlanta & Texas in firepower and potential. While coaches JKap & Novus would depart the team, LA signed a world champion coach in Sender to work with Shane. When the dust settled, a new contender for best team in the CDL had emerged.

The LA Thieves roster heading into Black Ops 6:
○ Daniel "Ghosty" Rothe
○ Thomas "Scrap" Ernst
○ Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez
○ Dylan "Envoy" Hannon
○ Shane "ShAnE" McKerral [Coach]
○ Troy "Sender" Michaels [Coach]

Offseason Reactions

Ronnie: "Well, this offseason was certainly a wild ride for everyone involved with LAT, a 2nd place finish at EWC once the young and promising roster they built clicked for the last two events of the season. It looked likely the team would make 1 change with Daunte "Sib" Gray being a likely player to join, but then everything changed once players and management got wind of budget cuts around the league, a situation LAT found themselves in the season before they knew they had to take advantage, and that's exactly what they did.

They picked up a "super team," poaching 2 of the top 3 players in the world in most people's view in Thomas "Scrappy" Ernst and the French phenom Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez. While also adding former Thieves player and world champion Dylan "Envoy" Hannon and, of course, keeping Daniel "Ghosty" Rothe. We saw a coaching staff change from LAT, as with Legendary player and coach Jordan "JKap" Kaplan stepping down, they replaced him with Troy "Sender" Michaels, who has worked with Hydra over the last two seasons."

Easy Mac: “They were the team to watch this offseason from the start. The org was open with the fact that they were looking to save by cutting costs in the previous offseason. That opened the door though to rebuilding the team if stars became available. With Scrap & HyDra wishing to team together for Black Ops 6, there were only a handful of franchises with the opportunity to make a move.

Both Toronto & New York were not in the running, as both orgs looked to sell off their stars. With FaZe winning the Esports World Cup, their roster was cemented early, the same as the World Champions Texas. The only other organization that was in the running was Gentlemates, who became LA Guerrillas M8s. Behind Nadeshot & the management staff, the Thieves would complete the heist of the offseason & put the cherry on top by signing another great coach in Sender. This was easily the best offseason of the year, and very similar to OpTic in the previous season."

Season Expectations

Ronnie: “Season expectations for this roster should be absolute dominance, and that will be expected from themselves and fans absolutely zero doubt about that a roster like this should be looking at winning 2-3 events a season while also making sure COD Champs is one of them wins. Winning the Kaysan 4 LAN team tournament just heaps that pressure on them to prove it when it matters. Faze and OpTic will definitely have a lot to say about the LAT "Super Team" as well.

Black Ops 6 Season Predictions

Best Placement: 1st
Team MVP: HyDra
Final Regular Season Seed: 2nd
Will they qualify for Champs: Yes

Easy Mac: “The Thieves will easily be one of the best teams in the CDL this season. I am fully expecting the Thieves to win multiple tournaments this year. With two Minors, four Majors, EWC, and Champs on the schedule for now, there are plenty of opportunities to come out victorious. I'd aim for two LAN victories and a Minor win as the base goals for this squad, but honestly, the success of the season will be determined by their performance at Champs. I truly think they won't see this season as a success without becoming World Champions. With Atlanta being an elite SND team, and Texas having a strong history in Hardpoint, the Thieves will need to be well-rounded in all three modes if they wish to achieve this."

Black Ops 6 Season Predictions

Best Placement: 1st
Team MVP: Scrap
Final Regular Season Seed: 2nd
Will they qualify for Champs: Yes

📸 Photo by @Spribs_

Players to Watch in Black Ops 6

Ronnie: “Dylan "Envoy" Hannon I think it's fair to say we know what to expect from the other 3 players, but Envoy these last few years has been really hot and cold. If he can get some more consistency while also keeping up the good OBJ work he does in all game modes, this team will be near enough untouchable at peak level."

Easy Mac: “I'm going to go with Ghosty for the player to watch. Scrap & HyDra will be walking highlight reels, but it won't mean anything without team success coming with it. With all of the star power on the roster, some players will have to focus on the objectives and macro picture in maps. I think Ghosty will be very important in coordinating the team, playing objectives efficiently, and setting up the stars to play like stars. Just like Kenny on OpTic, Ghosty will be an important piece to the Thieves' success."

Stage 1 Matches

Qualifier Match 1: December 7th at 7:30 EST vs Cloud9 New York
Qualifier Match 2: December 8th at 7:30 EST vs Atlanta FaZe
Qualifier Match 3: December 13th at 3:00 EST vs LA Guerrillas M8s
Qualifier Match 4: December 15th at 7:30 EST vs Minnesota Rokkr
Qualifier Match 5: January 19th at 4:30 EST vs OpTic Texas
Qualifier Match 6: January 24th at 4:30 EST vs Miami Heretics
Qualifier Match 7: January 26th at 3:00 EST vs Boston Breach

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