The New York Subliners and the rest of the Call of Duty League are preparing for the long-awaited return of LAN competitions, with the Stage 4 Major scheduled to happen later this week. To do so, the New York Subliners have announced some major changes, including the signing of Decemate.

Decemate, the now-former Seattle Surge pro player, is joining the New York Subliners for the Stage 4 Major. This was announced on the Call of Duty League team’s Twitter account, noting that the team welcomes Decemate as the latest member of the Subliners team for the next portion of the season.

This is a bit surprising since the New York Subliners are a team that is pretty set in stone right now as one of the best teams in the entire Call of Duty League. However, with the Stage 4 Major right around the corner, it does seem odd that the Subliners would suddenly make a huge change like this. 

Not only is Decemate being signed to the team, but he will be one of the four starting members of the New York Subliners moving into the next tournament that will start later this week. He will join the three remaining players who will be competing in the event as well. 

Decemate will have the chance to be part of the New York Subliners’ roster during the return to LAN play, where all 12 teams will be competing on the same stage together once more. This is a huge moment that we have not seen in well over a year since the global pandemic began in 2020. 

But with the addition of Decemate, this may have some wondering what exactly is going on with the New York Subliners roster. If he is joining the starting lineup, that means someone has to go, and that person was not revealed in the tweet from the team.

Instead, to figure this out, we have to look at the players on the team, including Clayster and Asim, who noted this particular change. It seems that this is tied directly into the fact that Asim is currently unable to participate in the Stage 4 Major tournament this week. 

It has nothing to do with the talent of this great player who has stepped it up this year, but rather to do with the unfortunate situation of moving across borders. Despite living in Canada, Asim is currently struggling to make it to Dallas, Texas, in time for the Stage 4 Major.

This has not been a problem in the past since Asim was allowed to compete from his home in Canada for the majority of the 2021 season. However, with the switch to LAN play, that will not cut it anymore, and every starting player will need to be at the venue when it happens. 

Asim shared news about his border struggles on Twitter recently in a lengthy letter, noting that he is “heartbroken” that he will be unable to compete in the Stage 4 Major unless a last-minute miracle happens. There is still the extremely slim chance that it will happen, but expect Decemate to have to fill in. 

This was part of the issue, too, as the Subliners are not looking to replace Asim on a long-term level necessarily, but only for the upcoming tournament. So, presumably, he will be able to make it to the U.S. in time for the next LAN competition, whenever that may be, either in the Stage 5 group play or the final Major. 

There have been many hindrances that have stopped Asim from entering the country, like being denied by customs, plus other issues unrelated to that, specifically. In addition, he has had disadvantages recently in the last few matches, like a controller breaking in the middle of a match and the lack of internet. 

He even went into detail and opened up about the other struggles that have happened to him along the journey to being one of the star players on one of the best teams in the Call of Duty League. The young 21-year old player noted that he had a rough time last year as part of the original Minnesota Rokkr team and complained about his performance.

Then to go to the fact that he was signed to the Subliners but with no guarantee on a starting lineup spot until the issues with ZooMaa, who he also stated is the “sole reason” he got on the team in the first place, to then losing some close relatives during Stage 2. 

It has been a rough professional journey for Asim, not just this year but last year as well, and he has more than proven himself as one of the strongest players around. It is just quite unfortunate that he will likely be unable to do that during the Stage 4 Major where the Subliners need his skill. 

That also made the prospect of finding a temporary replacement for Asim difficult as it had to be someone who did not mind only possibly being part of the team for this tournament alone, was fine if Asim did make it and they were unable to compete after all and could make it to the Esports Stadium in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. 

For now, though, it does look like Decemate will be that player for the New York Subliners, which is a great second chance for him after his shot at joining the Seattle Surge briefly last month. He will get to show his skills as part of the Subliners lineup in their first match of the Major in the winners bracket round one against the Minnesota Rokkr, Asim’s former team. Stay tuned for more details about the Major very soon.