Drive-By at CDL Major 4 Leaves Atlanta FaZe Sprayed With Airsoft Pellets
- Atlanta FaZe were sprayed with airsoft pellets while walking back to the hotel from dinner
- No one was hurt thankfully, but there's certainly no excuse for it
- FaZe finished third in the CDL Major IV tournament
We’ve all heard of sports fans tipping over cars and starting riots — even when their team wins — but it looks like esports fans may be getting just as deranged.
At the Call of Duty League Major 4, Atlanta FaZe players were caught off guard when multiple men shot them with airsoft guns while driving by them. The drive-by shooting was definitely a strange moment at the CDL Major 4, but the squad isn’t letting the opps deter them.
Atlanta FaZe are currently considered one of the top teams in the CDL after a third place finish at Major IV. In Winners Round 1, FaZe beat Seattle Surge and then moved on to face LA Thieves in Winners Round 2. Unfortunately for fans, FaZe fell to the Los Angeles-based team.
This was most definitely an intense tournament, but what went down off-stage was just as chaotic.
While streaming earlier today, Atlanta FaZe pro Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris talked about what went down while he was with his teammates outside of their hotel.
Basically, while walking back from a team dinner, aBezy and his squad were almost at the hotel when a car pulled up with guys screaming from inside of it. Upon hearing the noise, aBezy turned around and saw what looked like a gun being pointed out the window. Luckily it was just a Nerf gun or something, because the man in the car proceeded to hit a few players.
“They all shot us but thankfully we had our hoodies up so it didn’t really hurt,” he recalled. “It just felt like something had tapped the back of my sweatshirt.”
Airsoft guns are nowhere near as dangerous as a real weapon, but the plastic pellets have been known to leave bruises, and a stray shot in the eye could have been extremely dangerous. It could also hurt one’s ego. Luckily, aBezy seemed to look back at the incident with amusement.
It’s actually not clear who shot the FaZe players or why. Some joked that it was OpTic fans but the identity and motive of the dudes in the car are not known. They may not have even known who Atlanta FaZe were. But with so many esports rivalries being played up on social media, it may well have been motivated by opposing teams fans trying to get their frustrations out.
Unfortunately, FaZe Atlanta were taken down in the Elimination Finals by OpTic Texas. Maybe this was due to being rattled from the drive-by, or maybe things just didn't go their way. But either way, it left fans very disappointed after thinking FaZe would take it all. Los Angeles Thieves ended up taking out Texas in the Championship, making it their first Major win of 2023.
