Two of the most popular franchises in the Call of Duty League squared off today in a preseason show match during the Kickoff Classic event.
OpTic Chicago swept the Los Angeles Thieves in this fan-voted exhibition series. Although this match will have no effect on the 2021 season, it still gave fans a preview of both teams prior to the official start of the CDL next month.
Related: Here are the groups for Stage One of the 2021 Call of Duty League season
Heading into the second season of the Call of Duty League, 100 Thieves acquired OpTic Gaming Los Angeles’ spot in the league in November, marking the return of Nadeshot’s organization to competitive CoD. A few days later, Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez reacquired the OpTic brand from Immortals Gaming Club and rebranded the Chicago Huntsmen to OpTic Chicago.
These moves set the stage for this preseason showdown between two of the most popular organizations in Call of Duty history. But OpTic dominated today’s matchup from the start.
Chicago began the series with a strong 250-136 victory on Garrison Hardpoint. OpTic’s longtime duo of Scump and FormaL led the lobby with 29 and 28 kills, respectively.
Both teams traded some early rounds on map two, Checkmate Search and Destroy. But OpTic eventually pulled away in the end, taking a 6-4 win behind Envoy’s 10-kill performance. With all momentum on their side, Chicago emphatically closed out the series by taking Raid Control 3-0.
Although this outcome doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, OpTic proved today why many fans consider them a contender heading into the Black Ops Cold War season. The L.A. Thieves, on the other hand, will head back to the drawing board before they make their official CDL debut next month.
The 2021 Call of Duty League season begins with the Atlanta Home Series on Feb. 11. The L.A. Thieves will kick off the event with a match against the Minnesota RØKKR at 2pm CT, while OpTic will take on the Paris Legion at 2pm CT on Feb. 12.
