Three-time Call of Duty world champion Clayster will be sitting out the final week of Call of Duty League Stage Five group play, the New York Subliners announced today.
In a tweet, the Subliners said Clayster will be using the week off to “recharge” and that Diamondcon, who started for the team earlier in the season, will be stepping in for their final two matches of the regular season. Clayster added in a separate tweet that he needs to “take a step back and get [himself] straight mentally.” He also said he does not expect his absence to be “for good,” but he wishes his teammates the best as they close out the stage.
Clayster has been vocal at various points during this season about his mental health, saying his sudden departure from the Dallas Empire after winning the 2020 CDL Championship and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have hurt him mentally. Despite this, he and New York managed to position themselves as one of the top teams in the league heading into Stage Five.
After being unable to play with their full roster at the Stage Four Major, however, the Subliners have uncharacteristically struggled so far in the fifth and final stage of the season. New York first fell in a close loss to the Los Angeles Thieves before being swept by OpTic Chicago to end week one. And in their lone match of week two, the Subliners lost to the London Royal Ravens, the 11th-placed team in the CDL.
With Clayster out and Diamondcon in, the Subliners face the Paris Legion, who have been eliminated from CDL Playoffs contention, and the top team in the league, the Atlanta FaZe. Regardless of the results, the Subliners will participate in the $500,000 Stage Five Major a week later. The team has also already qualified for the $1.2 million CDL Championship, which will begin on Aug. 19.
New York’s match against Paris kicks off the Seattle Home Series on July 22 at 2pm CT.
