Heading into OpTic Texas’ online qualifier match for the Call of Duty League’s Major Three today, the spotlight was firmly placed on the team’s newly-signed amateur talent, Ghosty. But it was the player who signed with the squad last month who led the charge in OpTic’s thrilling five-map victory over the Los Angeles Guerrillas.
Huke, the 2020 world champion who joined OpTic Texas in January, dropped a series-high 1.21 K/D in today’s 3-2 win. His standout performance, though, came in game five, El Asilo Search and Destroy, where he went on a 12-spree and finished the map with a 14/1 K/D in OpTic’s 6-1 victory.
Two of OpTic’s map wins in this series, including that game five stomp, were one-sided affairs, starting with map one Breenbergh Hotel Hardpoint, which they took 250-127. But outside of maps one and five, the other three games in this series were extremely close.
The Guerrillas won Mercado Las Almas Search and Destroy 6-4 and El Asilo Control 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. Map four, Al Bagra Fortress Hardpoint, also went down to the wire, but OpTic clutched up with a 250-226 victory to force a decisive fifth game.
Results: Results for 2023 Call of Duty League Major 3 qualifiers
Ghosty finished his first match in the CDL with a 0.93 K/D (65 kills and 70 deaths), according to CoD stats site Breaking Point. He acknowledged in the post-match interview that he didn’t play the best in Search and Destroy, but he had massive praise for Huke after his map five performance.
“I’m not happy that it went to a map five obviously, but it’s good to get a gritty series in for the first one,” Ghosty said. “I kinda got slammed maps two and five, but [Huke] is literally the greatest.”
The Green Wall will have to wait until next week now to get another look at their favorite team’s revamped roster. Ghosty and OpTic will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 24 against the Toronto Ultra, who made an unexpected roster move earlier today.
