The LA Thieves have formed a squad of superstars that alters the landscape of the CDL.
After weeks of speculation and denial from team owner Matt "Nadeshot" Haag, the LA Thieves (LAT) have finally unveiled its complete roster for the 2025 Call of Duty League (CDL) season. The roster had been previously leaked, but Nadeshot denied the rumors on his Twitch streams, which led to some wondering whether the roster would come to fruition at all.
Dan "Ghosty" Rothe is the lone member of LAT that has remained from the 2024 season. In addition to Ghosty, the 100 Thieves-owned organization has brought in three all-stars, one of which is a former MVP, to complete its roster for the upcoming Black Ops 6 season.
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Joining Ghosty on LAT are Thomas "Scrappy" Ernst, Dylan "Envoy" Hannon, and Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez. This is a homecoming for Envoy, who left LAT for Toronto Ultra last offseason after winning multiple championships and a World Championship during his previous tenure. In fact, the entire Champs-winning roster for LAT departed last offseason due to budget cuts.
It appears those budgetary issues are now solved, as LAT had to shell out a ton of money in buyouts to land all three players. According to Nadeshot himself, he gave up part of his own salary as founder of 100 Thieves to push the roster over the goal line. Nadeshot stated the organization ran out of money and the money from his salary was the deciding factor.
The buyouts were likely especially high for Scrappy and HyDra, who are widely considered to be two of the top five players in the entire CDL. Scrappy played alongside Envoy this past season on Toronto and has been a perennial MVP candidate since entering the league in 2022. HyDra was an MVP and world champion during his time with the New York Subliners, now called Cloud9 New York.
The three new members of LAT have all proven they can win at the highest level. The only member of the new squad who hasn't won an event in their career is Ghosty, the only returning player. However, the 2024 season saw Ghosty transform into a top-five assault rifle player in the CDL, leading a lackluster LAT squad. This transformation culminated in a second-place finish at the Esports World Cup (EWC) for LAT where Ghosty consistently played well against stiff competition.
Time will tell how this new roster will mesh together. As we've seen in the past, talent alone doesn't always translate to success in the CDL. If one thing is true, though, it's that the CDL is now a three-team league, with OpTic Texas, Atlanta FaZe, and now LAT undoubtedly at the top of the league.
For all roster news during the 2024 CDL offseason, stay up to date with our rostermania hub.
