OpTic Texas are headed to championship Sunday for the third Major event in a row after sending the New York Subliners to the losers bracket with a dominant 3-0 victory at the Call of Duty League’s Major Four in Columbus, Ohio.
Coming off of an impressive yet disappointing second-place finish to champions Toronto Ultra at their home Major in March, OpTic have been the hottest team in the league. Since their first match with their current lineup of Dashy, Shotzzy, Ghosty, and Huke, Texas are 14-4 in league matches, which is best in the CDL during that time. The team went 5-0 in the online qualifiers for the league’s fourth major of the year, and the switch to LAN has done nothing to derail their momentum.
The series’ first map, Hotel Hardpoint, was played at a frantic pace, and OpTic were dominant for the entire 9:04 of game time. Huke, in particular, was a menace on the map. The 2020 CDL champion seemed to get two kills every time he was in an engagement, breaking hills on his own with three-pieces. New York never had a chance to get into a rhythm due to Huke’s pace of play, and that led to the loss for the Subliners. Huke finished the first map with an absurd 35-19 statline, dealing the most damage in the lobby during OpTic’s 250-138 victory.
If Huke’s 35-kill performance in the series-opening Hardpoint wasn’t enough, he kept his high level of play up during the Fortress Search and Destroy. Huke picked up all four kills in the first round for an ace, which set the tone for the rest of the map. He finished with an 11-5 statline to lead OpTic to a 6-3 win and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best of five.
There was a time when Huke was the impossible kill in the league and one of the most-feared players in the world. During the 2020 CDL season with the Dallas Empire, Huke helped Dallas capture the CDL Championship during its inaugural season, and this is the best he’s looked since.
In the series’ third map, El Asilo, OpTic and New York both won their defensive rounds. By the start of round three, Huke had a subpar scoreline compared to his earlier heroics, but he immediately turned up the heat to improve his 14-16, dropping 12 kills to establish a 2-1 lead for his team. He ultimately finished with 32 kills in the map, and OpTic were picking up kills left and right in the fourth round, leading to an offensive win to clinch the map and the series.
Huke finished with 77 kills and dealt the most damage in the lobby in the 3-0 win. While he was massive, OpTic’s young rookie Ghosty was just as good. He dropped 61 kills to only 38 deaths, good for a 1.61 series K/D. Since Ghosty and Huke were brought on to take the place of Scump and iLLeY, OpTic have arguably been the best team in the world. Now, with their tickets punched to Sunday, they have a chance to raise a trophy and cement their status as a championship-winning team.
OpTic will face the Los Angeles Thieves on Sunday, April 23, at 12:30pm CDT with a spot in the grand finals on the line. With the loss, New York fall to the losers’ bracket and will need to defeat the Minnesota ROKKR to keep their championship hopes alive. New York and Minnesota will play later today at 6:30pm CDT.
