Call of Duty – Player of the Month | January, 2023: HyDra

The "French Phenom" is our Call of Duty Player of the Month for January 2023. Because, who doesn't love a superstar SMG?

NYSL Hydra
HyDra is our POTM for January 2023. | © HyDra via Twitter

We usually like to award our CoD Player of the Month to the underrated players who don't get as much attention from fans. You know who we're talking about; the OBJ-focused guys who do the dirty work to set their superstars up. Just last month we awarded NYSL's "Bulldog", KiSMET, for instance.

This month, however, we're going to highlight one of the superstars. It's KiSMET's duo, HyDra. Two NYSL players in a row? We can hear you protest. But yes, because there's a reason this team is so far ahead of the pack right now, and it's their SMG-line.

Who Is HyDra?

Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez, also known as the "French Phenom", is the slayer-SMG for the New York Subliners. If you're new to competitive CoD, the slayer-SMG doesn't have a responsibility to play the objective, and is generally given as much free rein as their teammates can buy them to go and get kills. So when you watch NYSL play, you'll notice how KiSMET will go straight for the hardpoint or the bomb, so that his duo HyDra can go rogue and take long routes, or simply roam for kills. And HyDra will get those kills.

HyDra is one of those young superstars whose talent was immediately recognized, although his career was slightly delayed when he turned 18 because he was stuck in France (this was back during the Covid pandemic). But since relocating to the US and joining the league he's been in the absolute top-tier of players. So far he has two chips to his name and no rings, but he's still very young and hasn't even reached his peak.

There's been lots of recent talk about who the CoD GOAT is, but for us, the answer is obvious:

Why Is HyDra our Player of the Month?

NYSL won Major 1 back in December, and during January we've only had the qualifiers to enjoy each weekend, but HyDra has been absolutely dominant in the Major 2 qualifiers. We would say he's probably the best player in Modern Warfare II right now, with only a handful of the elite slayer-SMGs on his level of raw skill; Shottzy, Afro, Pred and Simp.

There are already so many highlight clips of HyDra in MWII, but this 1v4 SnD clutch is f*cking gross:

If he keeps playing like that we're quite certain NYSL are going to have another great chance to win again at Major 2. You can find a schedule of all upcoming matches here, so stay tuned.

Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....