“It’s like talking to a wall these days” – An Interview With Wuskin And Skrapz From The London Royal Ravens

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“It’s like talking to a wall these days” – An Interview With Wuskin And Skrapz From The London Royal Ravens

Recently we got to speak with the London Royal Ravens’ twin duo of Bradley “Wuskin” Marshall and Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall in one of our most honest interviews to date.


ESTNN sat down with Wuskin and Skrapz to talk about everything; from their preparations for Playoffs and the Championship Weekend, to the lack of developer support for competitive and their hopes for COD 2020.

An Insight on The London Royal Ravens

How has the recent slight meta change affected the London Royal Ravens?

Skrapz: The three AR meta only lasted a certain amount of time, especially on all maps. Now we only run three AR’s or more on Azhir Cave Hardpoint, other than that we don't use more than three AR’s so it's changed a lot again. I’m back using a sub on every map apart from Azhir Cave so I wouldn't say it's a three AR meta anymore. To be honest, we’ve been settling in nicely and I’m looking forward to Playoffs and Champs.

You’ve struggled to beat the top four teams at times this season, what have you practiced and improved on to be able to beat these teams at champs?

Skrapz: We’ve beat Florida more times than they’ve beat us so I  wouldn't say they’re in that conversation. But the other three you're right, I don't know what the reason is behind it, they just turn up more and I guess they’re just better at this point. We always come so close and we always fall really short so hopefully come Playoffs and Champs we can get past that point and we can beat one of those top 3 teams and make it a lot further.

You’ve definitely had a hard run this season when you look at the average placing of your opponent being around 4th.

Skrapz: Yeah definitely, I think James “Dominate” Batz (Assistant Coach)  and Shane “ShAnE” McKerral (Strategic Coach) looked into it across the whole season looking at how many games we’ve played against the top teams and I’m pretty sure around 15 games were against the top 3 or 4 teams. I wouldn't have it any other way to be honest, I’d rather have it that way than play the lower league teams. I’d rather do it the hard way, I don't want no easy routes.

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Preparing for the Call of Duty League Championships

With the Championship Weekend just around the corner, what does your practice schedule look like?

Skrapz: We’re playing two or three sets of scrims a day, just the same as usual with everyone putting in that little bit more. That's what everybody does come Champs time but the same as usual with everyone getting their heads down and improving as this is our last chance before the year ends. Just giving it one-ten as it's all on the line now.

Both of you live in the same apartment block, do you feel like living close to each other can help your gameplay or is there conflict there when things aren't going as planned?

Wuskin: I would say it's better because if you’re quote on quote grown up you can go face to face and you can talk it out properly. Being online you're at your own home so things can escalate and people just don't care and just shout at each other on the headset. Whereas if you can sit at a table and talk to each other it's a lot more simple.

You’ve played multiple online Home Series now, but how has it affected you not being able to play on LAN? Especially with you missing out on your second Home Series and the notorious London crowd.

Skrapz: Yeah I mean the biggest L there is what you mentioned, being in London and having that crowd behind us once again. That whole experience for not only the players but everybody else that goes there for the weekend as fans and even production. If you’re going to that event you know you're going to have a good weekend and you’re gonna be mind blown by what the crowd brings. It’s a tough one to swallow but this is what we’re living in at the moment and this is the current situation. We can't do nothing about it and we’re lucky enough, we’re blessed enough to actually still be able to do this and to actually still make money. It’s still a blessing, we’re just trying to get on with it and do our thing.

With the Call of Duty League Championships being played online this year, how different do you think it would feel if you were to win?

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Wuskin: Personally I think the only thing I’m going to see different is not being in front of a crowd. When it comes to it I’ve just won X amount of money and it's the biggest event ever so it’s still going to mean just as much to me, that's for sure.

Looking forward to next season

Following the conclusion of the 2020 Call of Duty League Championships we should get some more info about this year's Call of Duty. What are one or two things on your wishlist for the game either casually or from a competitive standpoint?

Skrapz: We need f**king jesus, I mean where do I even start. I think if you know Call of Duty you know that this year has been a lot different from the previous I’d say 10 plus. We haven't seen anything like this before and it hit everybody with a curveball. But if I could ask for anything I mean squad spawns, I don't know whose idea they were but that right there is a no go. I don't know what that’s about and I don't agree with that myself so that's one thing I’d probably change. For number two I’d say more communication between developers and the players on the competitive side of the game. We don't have any of that at all this year.

Wuskin: The spawns is the obvious one, but I think three game modes that everyone wants to see is important. We don’t mind SnD we don't mind Hardpoint but Domination is like a slug fest you know? That's like your break if you need to go to the toilet or anything you go during the Domination match normally so I feel like we need to see a better third game mode at least. Also more of a variety when it comes to guns I guess. People are tuning in and asking why they're only seeing an M4 and an MP5 in every single game we play but who knows because it’s like talking to a wall these days.

The London Royal Ravens begin their 2020 Call of Duty League Playoffs and Championship Weekend in Winners Round 1 against the Toronto Ultra on August 20.

Feature Image: CDL