Who is Ghosty, OpTic Texas’ CDL replacement for iLLeY?

OpTic Texas is making another massive move in what’s been a dramatic 2023 Call of Duty League season, even by OpTic standards. The team is moving on from Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal and, in his place, is picking up a bright rising star from CoD Challengers in Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe.

The decision to go to Challengers, the official CoD amateur circuit, and grab a player who is going to be slotted into the most watched and scrutinized roster in the middle of the CDL season is certainly an ambitious one. OpTic Texas is betting on raw potential that can contribute right away alongside a dynamite trio in Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro, Brandon “Dashy” Otell, and Cuyler “Huke” Garland.

But who is this Challengers product, and can he be what OpTic needs to save their season?

Ghosty’s Call of Duty experience

Ghosty has roughly over half a decade of competitive CoD experience, with recorded results that go back as far as MLG GameBattles Amateur tournaments in 2015 during Advanced Warfare. Since the CDL’s inception, he has been involved in Challengers play for a variety of teams, across Modern Warfare, Cold War, Vanguard, and Modern Warfare 2. He’s also played collegiate CoD for the University of Illinois.

Over the past year, his stock has considerably risen after stints with both the unofficial and official Boston Breach academy teams and his more recent runs with the TFeL/Decimate Gaming team.

Less than a week before OpTic came calling, Ghosty had himself a breakout performance at the Boston Open, where Decimate took home first place, defeating RØKKR Academy in the grand finals. Just prior to that, he was named Challengers NA Elite Stage One MVP and led the entire field of players in Hardpoint K/D and overall K/D.

Qualifiers for the CDL’s Major Three are set to begin on Feb. 17.