OpTic Texas wins CDL Monster Energy Invitational

OpTic Texas has won the Call of Duty League (CDL)‘s Monster Energy Launch Invitational tournament.

The defending CDL champion defeated Still Orgless in the Grand Final to cement its place as the early frontrunner in the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 esports era.

The Green Wall dominated the upper bracket from the outset, scoring 3-0 sweeps over the Carolina Royal Ravens and FaZe Vegas to book its place in the upper bracket final. Superior strategy in Search and Destroy and Overload proved the difference in OpTic Texas’s first encounter with Still Orgless, scoring another 3-0 sweep to advance to the Grand Final.

Still Orgless — which features the former Los Angeles Thieves pair of Dylan ‘Envoy’ Hannon and Dan ‘Ghosty’ Rothe — dropped into the lower bracket, with an in-form G2 Minnesota waiting

Despite losing the opening Hardpoint, Still Orgless fought back in the final two maps, taking Colossus Hardpoint 250-222 and Den Search and Destroy 6-4 to make its first Grand Final appearance.

The Grand Final needed all seven maps to determine the winner, with very little separating the two sides. OpTic’s superior Search and Destroy proved the difference once again, securing Scar 6-4 to take a 4-3 series victory.

By taking the victory, OpTic Texas secured the lion’s share of its $75,000 (~£57,273) prize pool, taking home $25,000 (~£19,091) in prize money.

With the Call of Duty League’s inaugural pre-season tournament over, attention turns to the start of the regular season, beginning in December.

The season starts with the first of five online qualifying weeks on December 5th, determining the seeding for the opening Major of Black Ops 7 hosted by OpTic Texas. The Green Wall begins its CDL title defence with matches against Riyadh Falcons and G2 Minnesota in the opening week.

For OpTic Texas, the victory puts it in a strong position to commence the season on the front foot, while the rest of the league aims to catch up and give the defending champions a run for its money.