Octane: Rookie of the Year?

With every new Call of Duty game, there are always a bunch of young, up-and-coming players who take the scene by storm. This year with Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare has been no exception, with numerous players making a name for themselves in this game.

One of these players in particular who has emerged throughout Advanced Warfare is Sam “Octane” Larew of Team EnVyUs. Octane has been playing Call of Duty since Call of Duty 3, but he started playing competitively during Call of Duty®: Black Ops II when he attended his first LAN event, which was UMG St. Louis.

Octane started off this year of Advanced Warfare with a top 12 finish at UMG Orlando while he was playing with Dream Team. Octane then got his first real professional opportunity when he was picked up by Team JusTus, where he helped JusTus qualify for the MLG Pro League at the season two relegation tournament and led JusTus to a top six placing at UMG California, thanks to his 1.20 overall K/D and 1.35 K/D in Search and Destroy.

While Team JusTus was disappointing in season two, finishing 12th with a 13-31 record, Octane was still able to showcase his talent and proved that he belonged with the pros. He finished season two with a 1.23 overall K/D, including an impressive 1.27 K/D in Search and Destroy and averaging just below 30 kills per respawn (29.97).

Despite his great individual play during season two, his team did not place in the top-eight of the league, which meant that they had to fight through the season three relegation tournament to try and make it back into the pro league. Octane was given a great opportunity to make it into season three when he joined Prophecy alongside Call of Duty legend Patrick “ACHES” Price, Bryan “Apathy” Zhelyazkov and Ulysses “AquA” Silva.

Prophecy entered the relegation tournament as favorites to not only qualify for season three, but to win the whole tournament as well. Prophecy came up short, however, finishing top six after losing to iSolation Empire in round 11 of a game five Search and Destroy.

Even though he didn’t qualify for season three with Prophecy, Octane still put up good numbers at the relegation tournament with a 1.14 overall K/D and averaged 33 kills per respawn (33.04). His great play in all of these tournaments inspired Team EnVyUs to give him a chance to play in season three and pick him up.

So far with Team EnVyUs, Octane has continued his consistent play and dominant assault rifle slaying, helping EnVyUs place sixth at UMG Dallas and top eight at the Gfinity Summer Championship. Octane ended his first tournament overseas with a 1.29 overall K/D and averaged 33.59 kills per respawn.

Octane said that this past Gfinity tournament has been his favorite moment so far in his young Call of Duty career.

“Traveling nationally is one thing, but going overseas to play CoD was a surreal experience,” Octane said.

Looking past Gfinity and with his focus directed back toward the MLG Pro League, Octane has high hopes for the rest of season three.

“I want to finish top four or five in the league and finish off S3 playoffs with a great placing,” Octane said.

In regards to the rest of Advanced Warfare and heading into Call of Duty®: Black Ops III, Octane has set several goals for himself and his team.

“Personally, winning an event is my goal, and hopefully everyone else’s as well,” Octane said. “If not that, I want to see strong improvement from my team to finish out AW and into BO3. I know the potential we have, and we’re climbing ever closer to the higher echelon of teams in Call of Duty. I’ve been really good at every CoD I’ve competed in professionally, and I can’t wait to see what Black Ops III has to offer.”

When asked the difficult question of whether or not he has been the “rookie of the year” in Advanced Warfare, Octane stayed humble and gave credit to some of the other newcomers who have left their mark on competitive Call of Duty this year.

“I think I share that title with a lot of players (Huke, Temp, Me, and TJ in a sense),” Octane said. “We all rose in this game and we’re all great players in our own way. It would be unfair to put myself above them seeing that they’ve had more success than me.”

Octane has certainly made a name for himself in this game and we can only hope that he continues to deliver great Call of Duty action throughout the rest of Advanced Warfare and heading into Black Ops III. No matter what, Octane has proven himself this year and is definitely deserving of at least being considered one of the best rookies from Advanced Warfare.

Who do you think has been the rookie of the year for Advanced Warfare? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @eSportsNation.