OpTic Texas has pulled off a massive victory over Atlanta FaZe with a stunning reverse sweep in the last match of the Call of Duty League’s qualifying matches for the upcoming Boston Breach Major event in February.Â
The series started with a somewhat competitive Hardpoint on Embassy, with Atlanta jumping out to a decent-sized lead through the first few rotations. OpTic did their best to fight back, but on the backs of a 31-19 performance from Cellium, the Green Wall fell by a score of 250 to 189 to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the early goings.
Sticking with Embassy for the series’ second map, the two teams faced off in Search and Destroy for the second go around. The map’s first round was controversial, as it appeared iLLeY had defused the bomb and the meter had filled. But unfortunately for him and OpTic, the game did not register the defuse before he was eliminated, giving Atlanta the round and lead.Â
After a couple of rounds that left Dashy in one-vs-twos, OpTic found themselves in a 3-0 hole that they would never get out of. FaZe was dominant the rest of the way en route to a 6-1 map victory and commanding 2-0 series lead.
In the series’ third map, Hotel Control, OpTic did manage to gather themselves and get on the board first with an ever-important offensive round win.
This would start a string of offensive round wins by either team, with OpTic prevailing in the decisive round five and pushing the series to a fourth map, this time on Hotel Hardpoint. Huke and Dashy led the way for Texas, posting 1.17 and 1.23 K/Ds, respectively. This would be the sliver of hope Texas needed if they were to bring this series all the way back.
The Hardpoint was wildly entertaining with each team delivering blows up until the very last second. There were multiple times when the score was tied and exchanging of the leads took place in what seemed like every rotation. Ultimately, OpTic found a way to break in when Atlanta had 248 points, just two from clinching the map and series. The Green Wall held strong though and pushed the series to a map five with a thrilling 250-248 victory. Dashy was unbelievable on this map, putting up 41 kills and dealing more than 4,100 worth of damage.
The series finale headed to Fortress for a do-or-die Search and Destroy matchup between the two rivals, with the winner guaranteeing a top-two spot at next month’s major. This time, it was OpTic who came out of the gates piping hot, rattling off four straight rounds on the backs of a massive 9-2 start from Shotzzy. But it would not be easy for Texas, with Atlanta rattling off four straight of their own to knot the map up.
OpTic proved up to the test, notching back-to-back rounds to clinch the map and pull off the improbable reverse sweep, clinching a top seed at the Boston Major. OpTic finished qualifiers with a 4-1 record, tied for most wins in the stage.
The CDL’s second premier tournament of 2023 will begin on Feb. 2.
