Seth “Scump” Abner may never be dethroned as the king of Call of Duty. The most famous player in the history of the esport doesn’t revel in everything that comes with that.
Abner merely tolerates rostermania, and he’s rarely had to move across the country for a new team or rebrand himself. He’s always been OpTic Scump, and slithered through a decade of offseasons without saying too many goodbyes.
Nothing lasts forever.
OpTic Gaming was absorbed by North Texas esports juggernaut Envy Gaming -- a deal that was announced Monday. The biggest rivalry in professional Call of Duty vanished in thin air and emerged as a single championship contender.
Abner and Brandon “Dashy” Otell survived the move, but Abner was the only remaining legend from a Call of Duty dynasty that lifted the esport to what it is today. Scump now has the unique opportunity to both pad his own legacy, and kickstart a new one.
“I knew that I was going to have to have hard conversations with teammates that I really liked, and teammates that really didn’t have much of a chance whenever I was told the news of the merger,” Abner told The Dallas Morning News. “It was pretty difficult at first.”
Matthew “FormaL” Piper retired, Dylan “Envoy” Hannon went to the Los Angeles Thieves. Abner detested those conversations. The merger was a poorly kept secret after news leaked in late August, and Abner used the opportunity to spray uncertainty about his future to his massive following, knowing he’d be back.
“There was never any question,” Abner said. “I’m just a troll.”
On a more serious note, Abner does see the 2022 season as an opportunity to remind everyone who he is.
“It’s weird being one of the last ones standing from the original generation,” Abner said. “And at this point, I’m just trying to play as long as I can. The moment that I start costing my team is the moment that I’ll throw in the towel.”
Since Twitter decided to up the clip quality. You already know.. pic.twitter.com/28lS1CHqq0
— OpTic Scump (@scump) September 26, 2021
OpTic Texas is positioned to be a top team in the increasingly competitive Call of Duty League. Brandon “Dashy” Otell followed Abner to Dallas, paired with Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro and Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal of the Dallas Empire.
No more Scump and FormaL. Certainly no more Scump and Crimsix. Matthew “NadeShot” Haag has his own esports organization to run. Otell has been with OpTic since 2018, but he wasn’t on those legacy teams.
Abner is the last of an iconic roster, but can foster in a new one.
“My loyalty runs pretty deep to OpTic and my only little tangent of disloyalty was when I joined Envy for like 13 days back in, I don’t even remember. What game was it? Ghosts, I think,” Abner said. “That was so long ago. But now everything comes full circle.”
Time to turn up
Abner hasn’t found the same success since winning a world championship in 2017. That’s the ultimate measure of invincibility in Call of Duty: rings. Think Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James arguments, but with CoD.
Abner has one ring, along with two X-Games gold medals and 28 major wins. He only trails Porter for the latter accomplishment. Abner was the most talented player the game had ever seen when he was on his come up.
There’s a clip of him telling a crowd to “bow down.” It makes him cringe now, but those moments are why he’s referred to as “the king.”
Abner’s dominance through the early stages of his career are almost taken for granted, he’s still expected to drop numbers that would send CoD followers into madness if he were doing so in the CDL.
“People definitely question work ethic. People question work ethic in any sport or any competition setting,” Abner said. “It’s just how it is.”
He acknowledged the bar was set tremendously high for him. It will be the same with OpTic Texas as the Empire won a world championship in 2020 and Shotzzy earned himself an MVP in that same season.
“I had years and years of dropping 1.3 K/ds and people kind of expect that now. This past season I had around a 1.02 and I was a top five search player in the league and people are still like ‘you’re too old, retire,’” Abner said. “They are saying all of this stuff and I’m like ‘bro, do you even watch?’”
OpTic Texas head coach Ray “Rambo” Lussier is Abner’s CoD father. Abner’s words. Those two played together in 2011 during Abner’s entry into the scene. Abner was thrilled to be playing for Lussier in the latter stage of his career, and Lussier was complimentary of his former teammate.
“He’s probably one of the straightest shooters throughout his whole career,” Lussier said. “He’s at worst a top-five, top-three player of all time and I feel like his assets and what he has in being one of the most well-rounded players.”
Lussier added that this OpTic Texas squad has been nothing short of understanding in the few talks they’ve had together. The greater goal is to win a championship. Otell still needs a ring. Cuevas-Castro and Dhaliwal could become two-time champs before turning 21 years old.
And Abner has accomplishments left in the tank.
“The stats can say whatever. If we aren’t winning, it doesn’t matter,” Abner said. “My recent Champs performance, we got sixth place. You think I’m happy about that? No. The bar was set high and it’s hard to maintain it for 10 years. But people don’t cut you any slack in this field. They expect it all the time. That’s why I’ve got to turn up.”
A new king in town
There was never a question that Abner was going to be the centerpiece of OpTic Texas. Dhaliwal said the intention was clear from the jump. Abner was going to be on the team no matter what.
“We were really down with it just because we know how good he is, what he brings to the table, how dedicated he is and how bad he wants to win,” Dhaliwal said. “Those are the attributes we want on the team.
It won’t be without hurdles for Abner despite his welcoming committee. Professional Call of Duty without guys like Piper will be a learning curve.
“This is actually the first time that I haven’t teamed with anyone from the dynasty since the dynasty was formed,” Abner said. “I’ve always had at least one player from the team on my team. So it’s gonna be strange.”
Of course Abner has Otell. And he’s not entirely unfamiliar with Dhaliwal and Cuevas-Castro. Abner and Dhaliwal have played together in pockets because Dhaliwal has always been a search and destroy grinder.
Teaming with Cuevas-Castro will be newer.
“He’s literally considered to be the king, and one of the best subs to ever do it,” Cuevas-Castro said. “I’m definitely excited to play with him and be his sub duo. The talent on this team is insane and I’m ready to see how good we are.”
For Lussier, it’s about making all the pieces work. It’s still weird for him to see Abner as the veteran of a team because he was but a youngster when they teamed together. Lussier has arguably coached the three best Call of Duty players of all time over the last three seasons in Abner, Porter and James “Clayster” Eubanks.
Abner offers what few others can.
“Nothing but props to the kid. It’s a little funny that I’m calling him “kid” now because he’s a little bit older,” Lussier said. “But it’s crazy to see what he’s been able to do throughout his whole career. It’s going to be awesome having him on my side again.”
There’s no start date for the upcoming Call of Duty League season yet, but Vanguard is on the way as it releases Nov. 5. Abner had his last offseason hurray at a music festival last week. Soon it will be all business.
“To be one of the last ones standing and still performing pretty well is crazy. I’m the oldest sub-machine gun player in the league now, so it’s kind of weird,” Abner said. “It’s a new generation of players coming up. You have Shotzzy and iLLeY, you have the FaZe guys. New players, new blood and they are all really good.”
Dallas may longer be an Empire, but it has a new king.
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