Call of Duty League Player Profile: Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat Interview
What has been a terrific and successful career has led SlasheR to one of the best teams in the Modern Warfare 2 season of the Call of Duty League. He is widely considered to have one of the best CDL careers in the world and has won several championships and awards throughout his career.
With the first four Majors in the review mirror, Atlanta FaZe sits atop the regular season CDL standings and is known as one of the best Search and Destroy teams ever. Heading into Major V, FaZe has secured their spot at Champs and put themselves in a spot to likely be the No.1 seed. The improvements lie within the respawn game, which SlasheR discusses throughout the interview.
We sat down with SlasheR to talk about the season, the best SnD strategy, what the team needs to improve on, and what it's like playing on one of the best teams in the CDL this season.
What makes you guys so dominant in Search and Destroy?
I think we have a lot of good SnD-minded players. A lot of us come from SnD, so we have a good SnD background and know how to play situationally very well. Obviously, we have good strats and stuff like that too, but like just from top to bottom, the coaching staff, players, everything, we're all very good SnD players. Our coach is better than half the players in the league in SnD, if not more. We’re just well-rounded in that mode.
When it comes to the respawn game, what has to go into that to really make you guys that overall well-rounded team and make you purely dominant in those other game modes?
It's a couple of things, to be honest. I think communication, Not just comming where people are at. The little things like sticking to the game plan, making sure we're working well off each other, double calling things. Just like the overall fundamentals of the game, making sure we're staying ahead, rotating, blocking the back of hills, not throwing their lives away on holds. It's a bunch of little things, but if we can iron those little things out, then we could be the best team in the game.
Between you, Cell, aBeZy, and Simp, there's loaded talent throughout that entire roster. What's it been like playing with those other three players?
It's been great. Those are some of the best players in the game. They have been for a while now. The pop-off potential that I get to witness day in and day out is kind of crazy. I've never really played with a team this talented. So we'll be in bad situations, and somehow the guy will just pop a three-piece, and I'm like, oh crap, what the heck. So it's been a ton of fun. Also, outside of the game, we've been getting along really well. We go out and get dinner together, watch movies, whatever it may be all the time. So we have fun not only in the game but also outside the game. It's been a great time. Team chemistry is sky-high. We've been getting along all year, having a good time. This is one of the best like teams I've ever been on in terms of culture and stuff like that. It's been really good.
Who do you want to see and play against in Champs? Who do you think you guys can match up with, take it down to the wire, and give the fans something they're really looking for?
If I got to pick who we're playing champs, grand finals, I want to play Thieves. I would want to beat them in the finals for sure. I have some history with that org. Obviously, I was on the team for a little bit. There's been a big Thieves/FaZe rivalry even before I got here, and I feel like not only would the fans like that, but I think the players on both sides want to really beat each other, so I think they'd be one of the best matchups in my opinion. I think that would be a fantastic matchup. It would be a good little rematch of last year, too.
Who is someone you have not teamed with before that's not on your team currently, past or present in the Call of Duty League, that you would love to be your duo?
I would say someone from the Optic Dynasty. I would say either Crim or Scump. I feel like I never got the opportunity to play with those guys. It almost happened a couple of different times. I really respect those guys and played against them for years, and obviously, they're really good at the game. So I think it would have been really cool to play with those guys.
Zack is the Publishing Manager for Esports Illustrated. He grew up playing videos as a kid, mainly sports games and the Call of Duty series. Before his work at Esports Illustrated, Zack published content for the NFL Draft for various sites since 2017, including partner sites on FanNation and has appeared on various shows across the country and videos across the FanNation group. Outside of work, Zack enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He loves playing football and video games with his son, taking his two daughters to get their favorite treats, and binge-watching shows with his wife. Zack began covering Esports at the end of 2022, mainly covering the Call of Duty League.