The latest development in OpTic Texas’ 2023 roster saga has been confirmed today with the team signing CoD Challengers player Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe to replace the departing Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal ahead of the online qualifiers for the Call of Duty League’s third Major.
Ghosty was originally set to sign with the Florida Mutineers after an impressive 2022 Challengers campaign but pivoted away from that move “when OpTic started asking around about potential amateur talent to bring into the fold,” according to a report from Jacob Hale of Dexerto. Florida is still figuring out its starting lineup after the departure of Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak and the benching of Javi “Vikul” Milagro.
During his 2022 Challengers season in Vanguard, Ghosty shined on the Boston Breach academy roster.
This move comes after OpTic’s fourth-place finish at Major Two this past weekend in Boston. Despite the improved result compared to Major One, OpTic’s gut-wrenching loss in the final moments of their match against the L.A. Thieves has evidently prompted the team to make another prolific change this year.
This year, which was billed as Seth “Scump” Abner’s final year, has been a dramatic one to say the least for OpTic Texas and their fans. Cuyler “Huke” Garland joined the team from the L.A. Guerrillas with Brandon “Dashy” Otell on the way out following a dispute with the coaching staff, but Scump’s sudden midseason retirement brought about Dashy’s return.
ILLeY himself had a rough performance during Major Two, putting up some poor numbers across all maps and ending the tournament with a 0.83 overall K/D, according to CoD stats site Breaking Point. He now enters restricted free agency, having briefly done the same at the start of the season before the team decided to run it back with both him and Dashy.
Ghosty should make his OpTic debut alongside Shotzzy, Dashy, and Huke on Saturday, Feb. 18 in a CDL Major Three online qualifier match against LAG.
