Top 20 Players of MW3: #8 Cellium

The #8 player of the Modern Warfare 3 season brought to you by HouseBets.com is the hardest kill in the game, McArthur “Cellium” Jovel.

Since joining the Pro League in Black Ops 4, Cellium has been a force in competitive Call of Duty. Dubbed the hardest kill in the game, Cellium has elite gunskill & movement. Modern Warfare 3 would be no different, as Cellium had high efficiency in each of the three modes. MC led the League in multiple categories, including overall KD (1.20), Respawn KD (1.19), NTK% (77.4%), KA/D (1.37), and many other statistics. Atlanta was the only team to finish in the Top 3 at every major, and even with the Top 6 placing at Champs, it finished with an average placement of 2.8.

Season Review

After a season filled with highs and lows in Modern Warfare 2, the team opted for roster changes for the second consecutive offseason. Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat departed as they sought to bring in another fast-paced AR to complement Cellium. With the LA Thieves' World Championship roster falling apart, flex AR Zack "Drazah" Jordan became available and signed on. The Alaskan assassin joined the team for the upcoming season, addressing pacing issues in respawns and enhancing an already strong SnD team.

With the pressure to secure championships in Modern Warfare 3, Atlanta needed to deliver this season. After winning four titles in Cold War, the franchise managed only a single Major victory over the next two seasons. The first qualifier, however, went exceptionally well for the team. They achieved 3-0 sweeps over four different teams, including LAT and Texas, finishing with the best map count in the League (21-5, 81%). Ultimately, they secured a 7-0 series record and the 1st seed heading into Major 1. The Major started just as smoothly, with victories over LAG (3-0) and Texas (3-2). Riding a 9-game winning streak, FaZe faced Toronto for a spot in the Finals. The Ultra ended Atlanta's win streak and defeated them again in the Finals, 4-1. The second-place curse continued for FaZe.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

FaZe quickly found their footing, starting 1-0 in the Major 2 Qualifiers. Despite two Map 2 losses to LAG and New York, they finished the qualifier with a 5-2 record. With a 19-7 map count (73%), they secured the 3rd seed for Major 2. While Atlanta didn't dominate in the qualifiers, they excelled at the Major. Their run began with back-to-back game 5 wins over LAT and New York, advancing them to the Upper Finals against OpTic Texas. FaZe delivered a strong performance, defeating OpTic 3-1 and then 4-1 in the Grand Finals to claim the Major 2 title. Their success was driven by outstanding Hardpoint (13-5, 1st in CDL) and Control (9-2, 1st in CDL) play.

After a brief mid-season break, FaZe was ready to get back to work. In one of the best qualifiers of the year, Atlanta finished 7-0 in series and 21-4 in map count (84%), defeating every other top 4 team. With wins over New York (3-1), Texas (3-1), and Toronto (3-0), Atlanta entered Major 3 as favorites to repeat their success. Their run started strong, with a 3-0 victory over Miami in the opening match, followed by another 3-0 sweep against New York. However, just one match away from the Grand Finals, Atlanta stumbled with back-to-back Map 5 losses to Toronto and Texas, ultimately finishing 3rd at Major 3. After a strong qualifier, it was a disappointing finish.

📸 Photo by @ATLFaZe

While Atlanta went 25-4 in respawns during Stage 3, their SND performance lagged, with a 6-7 record and two Map 5 losses. Improving their SND play was crucial for a return to dominance. They did just that, starting 5-0 in the final qualifiers of the season with strong SND performances. Despite a 2-3 loss to Toronto, the team finished 6-1 in the series and secured the 2nd seed behind Toronto.

FaZe began the Major with consecutive 3-0 victories over New York and Seattle, reaching their 4th consecutive Upper Finals of the season. A 3-0 win over LAG put them in the Grand Finals against the New York Subliners. Though FaZe had previously defeated the Subliners at the start of the tournament, New York fought back and won 4-2 in the Finals, securing their first major victory of the season and handing Atlanta their second 2nd-place finish of the year.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

The team had achieved top-three finishes at every Major in the season but only won one championship. Due to the lack of too much success, Atlanta faced significant pressure to perform well at Champs. They handled their opening match against Miami Heretics, winning 3-1 to advance. However, this would be their only positive result at the tournament. Atlanta fell to New York (2-3) and then to Toronto (0-3), resulting in a surprising and early elimination. This marked the franchise's worst placement at Champs in the CDL era, leaving everyone involved deeply disappointed.

How good was Cellium in 2024?

Hardpoint

Cellium was a standout player in every single mode during Modern Warfare 3, but arguably, Hardpoint was his weakest mode. He ended the year with a 1.15 KD in the mode & 1.12 KD on LAN. He added per 10-minute data of 20.6 kills, 4044 damage, and 72.3 seconds of hill time. The biggest gripe with Cellium is the low engagements per 10 minutes, as he ranked 59th in the CDL with 47.6. While he played slower, Cellium was highly efficient and focused much more on the objective this season.

A great mode for Atlanta, Hardpoint was a top mode for them. FaZe finished with a 52-25 record in the game mode, ranking 3rd in the CDL. They were at their best during Stages 2 and 3, combining for a 28-8 record in HP during those splits. They ranked highly with a +20.8 Average Margin (3rd), 50.4% rotation win rate (3rd), Hold Percentage (79%), and 33-15 Map 1 record (2nd). Unfortunately, they ended the year with a 2-5 record over their last 7, which resulted in losing to New York in the Major 4 Grand Finals and elimination from Champs.

Search & Destroy

One of his undervalued modes, SND, was an elite mode for Cellium. MC led the team in multiple categories, including KD (1.28), ADR (186.3), Opening Duel win percentage (68.8%), clutches (10), and more. Cellium led the League with 328.4 damage per life, as he was highly efficient at putting down damage each and every round. While his KD dipped to a team-high 1.19 on LAN, he finished with an insane 82.1% opening duel win rate when it mattered most. Cellium also led the League with 19 SND maps with over 2,000 damage dealt over the season. Highly underappreciated production coming out of MC.

The best mode for Atlanta FaZe since the inception of the Call of Duty League has always been Search & Destroy. This year would be no different, as FaZe led the League yet again with a 41-23 record in the mode. Not only did they have the best record, but they led the League in Round win rate (55.3%), Opening Duel win rate (55%), attacking record (160-128, 55.6%), and in opening duels on both the attacking side (53.1%) & defending (56.8%). That also doesn’t include ranking 2nd in conversation percentage (76.2%), post-plant win rate (73%), defending record (161-131, 55.1%) or ranking 3rd in retake win percentage (37.9%).

Control

While Cellium was elite in both Hardpoint & SND, Control was truly his best mode played this year. He led the League in KD in the mode at 1.25 and kept it high at 1.21 on LAN. He finished with 17.9 Kills and 3772 damage per 10 minutes played, along with 1.4 ticks per attacking round. Cellium also led the League in defending KD (1.55), TES Rating (64.5%), KA/D (1.44), and damage per Life (263.7).

Just like SND, Atlanta FaZe ranked first in Control on the season. The team finished the year with a 38-11 record in the mode, including 14-4 in Highrise, 18-5 in Invasion, and 6-2 in Karachi. FaZe ranked on top of the League in multiple categories, including overall round win rate (62.9%), attacking win rate (42%), defending win rate (82.9%), and average ticks allowed per defending round (3.4). They were the best team in the game in Control during Modern Warfare 3 without a doubt.

A look ahead to Black Ops 6

Atlanta FaZe is one of the biggest question marks heading into next season. Despite securing Top 3 finishes at every Major, their failure at Champs was unacceptable for the franchise. Many future decisions will hinge on the team's performance at the Esports World Cup. A strong showing will simplify the decision-making process for next year. However, another disappointing result will only increase the pressure for changes within the organization.

Cellium individually has many questions circling around him from the community. With the team winning two championships over the last 3 seasons & no World Championship victories, fans are struggling to find out where it’s going wrong for FaZe. Heading into a Treyarch title next season, its reasonable to expect a dominant individual season is coming for Cellium. With one of the best SMG duos in the game in Chris "Simp" Lehr & Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris, they'll always be in contention.

📸 Photo by @MediabyIsiah

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