At the end of 2022, Seth ‘Scump’ Abner announced his retirement effective at the end of the MW2 season. However, those plans have seemingly changed. After a tumultuous start to his final season, the Call of Duty king has announced his plans have changed. Scump tweeted earlier this afternoon a video hosting members of the OpTic organization at his house, for what was clearly a celebration. And in the video, Seth revealed that the party was a celebration of the end of his career, and the beginning of his content career. Scump has been competing since the foundational days of the eSport, playing in the original ‘Black Ops’. He’s a multi-time champion racking up numerous event wins, and millions of dollars in prize earnings.

It does not take much to speculate as to what could’ve driven Scump to early retirement. The OpTic camp has been hit with drama over the past few weeks. After major one, they dropped Dashy from the starting lineup. And the young star player did not hold back his thoughts of the situation or the coach on social media. It was seeming that Dashy was going to be receiving offers from other teams, and could be playing for a new organization by major 3. However, because of his old friend Scump, he’s right back in the OpTic lineup. Scump put the pressure on Dashy in his farewell video, saying that he is going to be rooting him on and challenging him.

OpTic’s future without Scump looks bright

Despite the fact that Scump is retiring from the lineup, he is by no means leaving the organization in bad standing. Over the past couple of weeks, the franchise acquired free agent SMG Huke. A player who in the past, has won a title in this organization. He looked comfortable next to Shotzzy again in their game 5 win versus the Boston Breach. And now, will have the AR’s of iLLeY and Dashy behind him.

This team, on paper, can slay with the best teams in the game. But talent has never been the issue for OpTic Gaming. It’s the out of game commitment, the team dynamic, and the melding of egos.If this roster comes back and wins a championship, it would be a turnaround story that would honor the King’s legacy. The scene will certainly not be the same without Scump, as he was by far the league’s biggest star. However, the league is deeper with talent than ever, and with the support of the franchising model, should only continue to grow. The end of a long great competitive career is also the beginning of an exciting content career from one of the best personalities in eSports. Congratulations to Scump, the Ginga Ninja, the king of CoD, and one of the greatest gamers to ever pick up a controller.

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Featured Image Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn USA Today Sports