FormaL unloads on “garbage” CoD Vanguard: “They really dropped the ball”

Brad Norton
FormaL on stage playing CoD

Having now stepped away from the Call of Duty League, retired OpTic Gaming star Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper had plenty to say about the “garbage” state of CoD Vanguard and how “happy” he is to not be playing it.

Shortly after the 2021 CDL season came to a close, former world champion FormaL announced his retirement from professional CoD. Despite hanging up the sticks on August 28, the 11-year FPS veteran soon went on to tease multiple options for his immediate future.

At first, “other options” outside of competing were at the top of his list. Though it wasn’t long before FormaL was linked to a rumored FaZe Clan roster for Halo Infinite and later confirmed his desires to compete in the title.

With Halo now in the spotlight, FormaL appears to be all-in on 343 Industries’ latest release, leaving the CoD scene behind altogether. Not only that, but he’s “f**king happy” to do so, as the OpTic member ripped into the “garbage” state of Vanguard during his latest stream.

Formal on stage
FormaL is “happy” he doesn’t have to grind CoD Vanguard for a full year.

“How happy am I not to play Vanguard? F**king happy bro,” FormaL said on November 22. “I’m not gonna lie, I think that game looks like f***ing garbage.”

FormaL, who is far from the only popular name refusing to play this year’s new CoD release, was quick to rattle off a number of reasons why Vanguard fails to meet his expectations.

“I think it looks boring,” he started. “It looks sh**ty in terms of gameplay. I think the spawns are sh**. There are glitches. There are bad maps… I think they really dropped the ball on that one.”

While his T2P duo Seth ‘Scump’ Abner was once fined for sharing his own negative take on a new CoD release, FormaL isn’t at all concerned in retirement. He joked: “I can say that now. [The CDL] can’t fine me for sh*t.”

Explaining why Vanguard launched in its current state, he pointed to Warzone as the clear culprit. “I think Call of Duty is just so focused on Warzone now,” he said. “They couldn’t give a f**k less about multiplayer.

Halo Infinite gameplay
We could see FormaL on stage again very soon, though this time, for Halo Infinite’s LAN return.

Meanwhile, “Halo looks great,” according to the former pro who got his start in Halo before transitioning to CoD in 2013. 

With just a few weeks to go before the first major LAN takes place, pro Halo appears to be gearing up for a resurgence. Meanwhile, many top CoD names are already begging for similar support.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com