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sportsDallas Empire

From CoD undertaker to unselfish play: The 10 best moments from the Dallas Empire’s 2020 season

A compilation of the most explosive plays, funniest moments and impactful performances during Dallas’ championship run

A world championship was the ultimate prize, but the Dallas Empire players won’t forget how they got there.

Whether it was pressuring the younger players, stacking up accolades or making selfless plays, the Empire compiled unforgettable moments in the franchise’s first Call of Duty League season.

Here are The Dallas Morning News’ top ten moments from the Empire’s season, with a little help from the Dallas players:

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No. 10: Rambo wins Warzone Weekend

The Empire did a lot of winning in 2020: three home series, a league MVP and a world title. Head coach Ray “Rambo” Lussier was able to win on his own, too. He took a sneaky approach to his Warzone Weekend solo match against 59 of the best Call of Duty players in the world.

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Once the circle closed in and the player count plummeted, Rambo found a truck that led him to a $10,000 victory. He had three eliminations and two total damage.

One of the players he ran over in the closing moments was his own mentee, Empire star Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal.

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Lussier celebrated his victory while the CDL broadcasters couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situations. The stakes were low, but this was still one of the funniest moments from the Empire season.

No. 9: Clayster’s love shack

Nobody kills free time during a CDL match quite like James “Clayster” Eubanks. The Empire were in the midst of a dominant performance on June 13 against the Seattle Surge.

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The gunfights were so one-sided toward the Empire that it developed into an unintentional four-on-five.

Clayster, with nothing to do but twiddle his Call of Duty thumbs, decides to do a domination art project on the A Flag on Hackney Yard. Clayster pulled out the heart spay and nearly covered the entire garage he was parading in while his teammates dominated the match.

Seattle finished at the bottom of the standings, but this was still a testament to the Empire’s ability as a strong team with the ability to have light-hearted moments.

Clayster didn’t have any more art projects throughout the season, but he can go back to this one if he ever needed a memory jog.

No. 8: Crimsix sounds off on server quality

The start of online play was a struggle for CDL players. Professionals in the scene live for the in-person events so when the season was adjusted to an online format amid a pandemic, there was some adapting required from players.

Porter wasn’t pleased with server quality in the league matches in April, claiming there were matches that clearly favored one team based on the connection to a server.

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He went to Twitter to discuss.

The CDL handled this quickly, and while a completely perfect online league was never going to be possible, players like Porter were pleased with the adjustments. They tweeted those opinions out, too.

There were still hiccups throughout the season, such as players being booted from matches or losing power, but the CDL responded. Whether it was because players spoke out or not, it couldn’t have hurt.

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No. 7: The Call of Duty Undertaker

Credit Cuyler “Huke” Garland for bringing this one to life, because it’s the origin story of Dhaliwal’s now league-known personality as the “Call of Duty undertaker,” simulating the mentality of the famous WWE wrestler.

It was Dhaliwals first event ever in January in Minneapolis at the league’s launch weekend. Ian “Crimsix” Porter, as seasoned of a veteran as it gets, was playfully trying to get Dhaliwal to calm his nerves.

Garland was unsure of Porter’s advice.

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“I’m hearing Crimsix convince iLLeY do a walk-out with his hood on,” Garland said in the team’s CDL press conference Monday afternoon. “Crim is half-trolling saying it would be so cool. In my head I was thinking about how this was his first event and could make him more nervous and he was setting him up for failure.”

The scariest part for Garland was that Dhaliwal wasn’t second-guessing it at all, willing to walk out to a crowd of thousands for the first time with the flex of a hood over his head.

Porter defended his advice, and remembered what he told Dhaliwal.

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“Inder this is going to go one of two ways,” Porter said he told Dhaliwal. “We are going to win and people are going to think you are the real deal, or we are going to do this and you are going to look like a complete idiot.”

The Empire couldn’t help but laugh thinking about the moment. Team owner and Chief Gaming Officer Mike “Hastr0″ Rufail was happy with the product saying that now iLLeY is feared on the map. That alone makes it a top moment of the season.

No. 6: Shotzzy wins MVP

Few would’ve guessed it after Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro had a nightmare start to the season. He went from being called “botzzy” to the best in the game in a matter of months, eventually leading the Empire to a title.

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He wasn’t just a regular-season wonder either. Shotzzy came up with several of the biggest plays of the season, several of which are yet to come on this list.

What was most impressive to his Empire teammates, mainly Porter and Eubanks, was that Cuevas-Castro was a sponge for information. He was willing to listen and improve, making his raw talent a true weapon for the Empire.

While Shotzzy’s MVP victory was a whole season in the making, the moment summarized his growth. Dallas was a talented team in 2020, but it wasn’t going to reach its potential without the MVP version of Shotzzy.

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No. 5: Huke goes nuclear on Azhir Cave

No better way to start a championship match than to have a massive individual performance and a map win. Huke dropped 37 eliminations on Azhir Cave against Atlanta on Sunday, lifting the Empire to an early 2-0 lead in the series.

Garland, perhaps the quietest of the Empire stars, was also the most consistent throughout the season and had his biggest map when it mattered most.

All the Empire players played with intense synergy in the playoffs, making individual performances like this one the result of a team effort.

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That doesn’t mean Huke didn’t go above what was expected of him on Azhir Cave. It was a statement map, and the Empire’s momentum carried to a dominant 5-1 win in the championship.

No. 4: iLLeY play through smoke

This was a moment where iLLeY was, as Porter called him, the “Call of Duty undertaker.” Dallas was in a close hardpoint map on St. Petrograd with the Paris Legion on July 17 when it needed a big play.

iLLeY rose to the occasion, running through smoke to grab a power position next to the map-defining hill. iLLeY proceeded to go on an eight-elimination tear to finish the map, preventing Paris from reaching the hardpoint.

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Dhaliwal and Cuevas-Castro both had a lot to prove entering the season as rookies in the scene playing for a team many expected to contend for a title.

It was plays like this one that silenced that talk as the Empire built a young, talented core.

iLLeY’s play against Paris wasn’t in the playoffs, but it was one of the most explosive highlights from the Empire’s season, leaving it just shy of the top three moments.

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No. 3: Shotzzy’s clutch vs. Priestahh

As if his presence wasn’t already felt when he won league MVP, Shotzzy punched the Empire’s ticket to the CDL title match by winning a one-on-one against Atlanta’s Preston “Priestahh” Greiner on Saturday in the winner’s final.

The Empire were up 5-2 in search and destroy at the time, but it was a power move for Shotzzy to challenge Priestahh around a corner and win the gunfight with relative ease.

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While the moment was cool for Cuevas-Castro and his Empire teammates, it also gave Dallas the crucial advantage it had going into the grand final against Atlanta in a rematch. Dallas had control of the map picks and started with the 1-0 advantage.

Without Shtozzy’s big play, the path to a championship would’ve been slightly more cumbersome.

No. 2: Empire win in Los Angeles

Both Eubanks and Rufail said in the press conference that this was their favorite moment. That holds some merit.

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It was mostly because of Cuevas-Castro. They won’t ever forget the look on his face as he defused the bomb in map five of search and destroy against the Minnesota Rokkr on March 8.

“On the player camera they had Shotzzy defusing the bomb and he was just smiling. That’s all he could do at that moment,” Rufail said. “To me, that brings a tear to my eye because it validates what this team was about. It was all about having fun and winning.”

Dallas, while the reigning world champions, is also the reigning LAN champion. That was something Porter was particularly proud of, and the Empire players plan on holding on to that as long as it’s relevant.

It was almost a birth of MVP Shotzzy, as he had his best performance yet and proved he could thrive in the LAN CoD scene.

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Mostly Eubanks just remembered his smile.

“He just gets this creeping little smile on his face,” Eubanks said. “That was my favorite moment of the whole year. Still the defending LAN champions.”

No. 1: Shotzzy takes the bullets for Huke

It takes high praise for someone like Porter, the winningest player in Call of Duty esports history, to say he’ll never forget a play.

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No surprise, it was another Shotzzy play he was talking about. This one came on Gun Runner in search and destroy against Atlanta in the grand final. Atlanta planted the bomb early and the Empire players were forced to retake the site.

A gunfight broke out on the bomb site and eliminations were getting traded quickly. Huke got on the defuse early while his teammates took the fights around him. As Atlanta began to shoot at Huke to stop the defuse, Shotzzy jumped in front to take the shots. He picked up an elimination and eventually fell, but Garland got all the time he needed.

It was plays like Shotzzy’s that helped secure a title. It also secured praise from Porter.

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“I was about to cry when he body-blocked,” Porter said. “I will talk about this play until the end of my career because that was the most unselfish, best play I’ve ever seen someone make.”

Considering Cuevas-Castro is still 19, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to top his own work.

For now, that stands as the greatest moment from the Dallas Empire’s 2020 championship season.

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Find more Empire stories from The Dallas Morning News here.