Of all the games to take seriously in 2024-2025, Call of Duty 2 probably wasn’t high on anyone’s list—unless you’re Check Six. They formed out of nowhere, grinded like lunatics, and nearly won the Dallas LAN. I sat down with Eric and Will—two of the minds behind the madness—who were gracious enough to give me the time of day between scrims, setups, and what can only be described as highly coordinated “complaining” (or feedback, depending on who you ask).

Q: “What made you look at Call of Duty 2—in 2025—and decide, “Yeah, this is the game worth grinding”? Compared to everything else you’ve played, what makes it actually good now—not just nostalgic?”

A: ERIC: “Personally, nostalgia doesn’t fuel me. I barely played cod2 and have no competitive memories of it. The drive to play comes from comparison purposes only. This is a game that one doesn’t have to compete against no-life zoomers and there is general parity on the field of play. Its something you can compete in at a high level without the dilution. I don’t think I’m alone in the fact that I view this game as strategically limited due to map design, smokes, etc. I think its a mechanically sound game with limitations. Super fun to frag, but ultimately limited in delivery.”

WILL: “There are a couple reasons. Mainly, it’s just the game the community is deciding to play. If the community was playing cod4, I’d be playing that instead. However, at it’s core, cod2 is a solid game that is one of the better FPS games on the market in 2025. If you want to play a FPS game that doesn’t have abilities or some other cheesy mechanic, you don’t have many options.”

Q: “You didn’t necessarily come in hot when the team first formed. Early days looked rough. What flipped between then and LAN? What made this team start to work? And what advice do you have for up-and-coming teams that are going through the same kind of early struggles?”

A: WILL: “Yeah the beginning was pretty rough. I think we just needed to get some time on the game. With the amount of professional/invite experience we have as a team across a few different games, it was only a matter of time until we caught up with the rest of the teams. We used that experience to identify which meta/play-style most teams were utilizing. Once we figured that out, it was pretty easy. This is also the reason why I believe we need to move to the EU smoke. A team who only played the game for two months almost won a LAN by being able to identify on a very core level, you throw a smoke and push it/prone in it and you win. This either means the rest of the teams are very bad or the meta is bad. I’ll allow the community to decide.“

Q: “You came into your first LAN and finished second. Was that the expectation from the start, or did things come together better than you anticipated?“

A: WILL: “The expectation was to win. However, after only playing the game as a team for two months, I would say I am relatively content with a top 2 placing.”

ERIC: “We knew we were going to make finals, we said it Week of Dec. 18th. “When we’re in finals, we’re going to need to do ‘X’. There was never a doubt in that.”

Q: “What was your highest moment at LAN? And your lowest? I was told not to bring this up, but I’ll put my credentials on the line here—walk me through it.”

A: WILL: “The highest moment of the LAN for myself would probably be going through the upper-bracket without losing a series. The lowest moment was likely losing in the finals after a 5-hour wait period and no true upper-bracket advantage.“

Q: “Interesting. I expected a different answer but my credentials are on the line, and I specifically can’t mention a certain 13-4. On a different note, what are your expectations for GOTN Season 1? Feels like a redundant question with how confident you are—but are there any dark horses you’ve got your eye on, or teams you wouldn’t mind avoiding?“

A: ERIC: “We will be in finals, Awakening looks good but they are fucking idiots for teaming with Xlzz in 2025. Hopefully we get to see more against GOTEM because they are our primary opponent and they have slightly different, almost European looks.“

WILL: “We expect to win it and are looking forward to playing any team.“

Q: “Clear insights and unsurprisingly confident. Very well. And last but not least—if you had to describe each of your teammates with just one word, what would those words be?”

A: ERIC:

Telly: Positive

Will: Driven

Zondo: Believer

LeX: Ship

WILL:

Eric: Learned

Zondo: Aggressive

Telly: Cute

Lex: Collected

Check Six came out swinging, left with silver, and somehow used that as leverage to make the community argue about smoke grenades for a month. After this interview, the ego issues were clearly not unfounded. But honestly, it might all be part of the charm. If GOTN Season 1 goes anything like Dallas, expect them to stay at the top of the scoreboard—and at the bottom of everyone’s patience.