In front of a sold-out crowd, OpTic Texas were thorough in their methodical 3-1 victory over the London Royal Ravens today at the Call of Duty League’s first Major of the 2022 season. With the victory, OpTic will compete for the championship title later today.
The venue was electric heading into the series’ opening map, Berlin Hardpoint. This map heavily favored the Royal Ravens, who held a 4-1 record heading into the match compared to OpTic’s 0-2 count. After OpTic’s great start on the first hill, where they sprinted out to a 33-7 lead, the rest of the map was all London. The Royal Ravens ran away with it 250-178 to give them a 1-0 lead in the series heading into the Berlin Search and Destroy.
The Green Wall were a bit shell-shocked after a Royal Raven onslaught left iLLeY in a one-vs-three in the first round. But iLLeY is one of the best SnD players in the world and picked up all three London players to clutch the round. That round brought the fans back to life and had them on their feet. From that moment on, it was a massacre from Texas. Dashy finished the map on a nine-kill streak and picked up the final elimination to finish the game 6-0 in favor of OpTic.
It became clear Texas could smell blood in the water. OpTic started to dominate on Gavutu and that was no different in the Control. After a successful defensive stand in round one, Shotzzy took over, going on a streak to open up the map for his teammates. After putting the finishing touches on the B point, one of the most difficult Control points to capture, Texas found themselves with a massive lives advantage. They captured the A point to give them a commanding 2-0 lead. The third round was a formality, with the boys in green closing out the game in dominant fashion to gain a 2-1 series lead.
OpTic closing the series out in four games felt inevitable and the crowd could sense it. Chants of “Let’s go OpTic” showered the packed venue at Esports Stadium Arlington as fans were clamoring to see their beloved team make it to a grand final of a major event for the first time since Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez reacquired the OpTic Gaming brand ahead of the 2021 season. The eventual final map took the two teams to a Tuscan Hardpoint, where OpTic have been impressive in the game mode.
Led by dominant performances from Dashy and Shotzzy, who went a respective 25-12 and 30-17 on the series’ final map, OpTic closed out the series and punched their ticket to the grand finals of Vanguard’s first major event of the season. Every member of OpTic was positive in slaying numbers with Scump, iLLey, and Shotzzy posting 1.02, 1.12, and 1.14 K/Ds, respectively. But it was Texas’ superstar main AR, Dashy, who was straight-up dominant.
Chants of “MVP” filled the arena as Dashy stood on stage for his post-match interview. He’s been incredible in the tournament thus far and posted an absurd 1.55 K/D over the series’ four maps. Dashy has always been one of the best talents in the CDL, but he has taken his play to another level this season. He’s been more consistent than ever in his career and is one of the main reasons why OpTic are undefeated at the Major and sitting in the grand finals.
London started the series hot after taking the Berlin Hardpoint in map one, but they appeared stunned when Texas started to fight back. Their tournament hopes are still alive, but they now await the winner of the elimination round four match between the Toronto Ultra and Atlanta FaZe. The Royal Ravens knocked off the Ultra earlier in the tournament, but either team that makes it through will provide a stiff challenge.
OpTic will be waiting for whoever makes their way out of the elimination finals with a chance at a championship on the line. Coverage of the OpTic Texas Major continues on the official Call of Duty League YouTube channel.
