It took the better part of 2023, but OpTic Texas has finally secured its guys. After months of speculation, Pred and Kenny have officially signed with OpTic to join forces with Shotzzy and Dashy, creating one of the most formidable rosters in the Call of Duty League (CDL).
OpTic previously tried to acquire Pred from Seattle Surge earlier this year, but talks fell through after Seattle raised the asking price for the star player multiple times, according to OpTic owner H3CZ.
“We wanted to pick up Pred,” H3CZ said in the Jan. 13 episode of “The Process.” “I mean, why wouldn’t we want to pick up Pred? Pred’s an explosive player. What ended up happening was that we reached out. We made what people are saying is the biggest buyout offer that has ever been.”
Despite being big underdogs, Pred and Seattle ended up eliminating OpTic Texas from the 2023 CDL Championship during the second round of the elimination bracket. The Surge, with Pred leading the charge, similarly sent OpTic home from CoD Champs in 2022. OpTic’s hope is that Pred, on their side this time, can help avoid an early exit and take the team further in 2024 than the disappointing top-six finish this year.
In Kenny, OpTic has created a pseudo-reunion with the former world champion who previously played for OpTic Los Angeles in the CDL’s first season. He then moved on to LA Thieves and won the CDL championship and CDL Championship MVP in the Call of Duty: Vanguard season.
After back-to-back Major grand finals appearances and two separate 5-0 qualifier runs, OpTic appeared to be the favorite to win the final Major of the 2023 season in Toronto. The team, however, failed miserably at trying to reach those expectations, losing all six maps in a shocking first-round dismissal.
While they managed to win a series at CoD Champs, the result still remained bitter to swallow for the Green Wall, which anticipated much more than an elimination loss to Seattle, a team that limped into the postseason.
The new OpTic squad has plenty of time to practice and get to know each other before the release of the next CoD title that will be featured in the CDL, which is rumored to drop in November.
