The renewed lineup of the London Royal Ravens for 2021 features many of Europe’s most talented players, but will they be able to beat the best teams in the world in one of the most competitive years in the history of Call of Duty?
Keeping the same approach as 2020, the Royal Ravens remained loyal to their fan base. Rather than grabbing American superstars or signing up and reaching out to the Challengers scenario, the London-based franchise recruited another full line from the EU.
For fans of last year’s team, several familiar faces are back. After getting in shape at the end of the year, with fourth place in the Champs, the squad’s core is trying to build that momentum in 2021.
While it may be easy to ignore them in the beginning, the Ravens can prove to be an increasingly difficult game even for the best teams as the next season of the CDL is underway.
London Royal Ravens CDL 2021 List
| Player | Previous Team |
| Thomas’Dylan‘Henderson | – |
| Alex ‘Alexx‘Carpenter | Minnesota ROKKR |
| Trei ‘Zer0‘Morris | – |
| Sean ‘SeanyO’Connor | – |
| Marcus’Afro‘Reid | House Tarth (EU challengers) |
Europe’s chance to take down the best teams in the world
Through 2020, Ravens’ list was constantly changing. While twins Bradley ‘wuskin’ Marshall and Matthew ‘Skrapz’ Marshall did not miss a week, the rest of the vacancies were in rotation for much of the year. Of course, it is difficult to build on a base when the pieces are being shuffled.
When Dylan, Seany and Zer0 joined the mix, however, they were soon stuck for the rest of the season. After this trio joined the fray together, they were able to balance and improve over time. This helped pave the way for an impressive race on the Champs that exceeded all expectations.
Now, they have a chance to take advantage of this late improvement and capitalize on an entire year of growth.
Saving the newcomer to the end❗
We have our freshest face @ Alexx1935 in front of the camera to talk about what it means to be a Royal Raven and the season to come. pic.twitter.com/JQRqjHOwnZ
– London Royal Ravens (@RoyalRavens) November 27, 2020
Supporting the team this time is Alexx, another experienced European. In the total reverse, Alexx comes from a year with Minnesota ROKKR, a team that started strong, but fell throughout the year.
Together, this group of players has every chance of being one of the strongest teams the region has ever featured. They all have years of experience and know what it takes to bond with the best in the world.
That said, the Ravens certainly got off to a rough start at the Kickoff Classic. They failed in a fragmented battle with the Paris Legion that ended. Despite dominating the Control game mode with a 3-0 win, they fumbled on both Hardpoints and were unable to find their pace in the final S&D.
It is important to note that, with the league back online in 2021, almost all CDL players have moved to the United States to compete. Unfortunately for the Ravens, this opening show ended with Zer0 still playing in the UK.
There is no way of telling if he will be able to move in time for the real season, but he was still holding on, even with a big ping handicap.
GGs Paris, difficult to ask me to play 100% with the situation, hoping to have my situation resolved to be there soon, it was good to play something competitive.
– ¿ZerØ? (@Trei) January 24, 2021
In no time, 2021 will be an easy year for the Ravens. They have a lot of work to defy expectations. If they hope to place themselves among the best teams in any Major, they are going to need quite a race.
But they are the only real team with a chance to put a franchise outside of NA well and truly on the map. It is safe to bet that this EU team will remain competitive against the best and will occasionally cause some surprises in early 2021.