OpTic Texas looked down and out early in their elimination match against the London Royal Ravens tonight, but the boys in green came back from a 2-1 deficit to advance at the 2023 Call of Duty League’s third Major with a 3-2 win.
The series started with a matchup on Zarqwa Hydroelectric Hardpoint and London’s Nastie left his stamp on the map. He dropped 37 kills and just 25 deaths, good for a 1.48 K/D. With the map still up in the air, the focus turned to the third hill, where both teams had a chance to win with a solid hold. Ultimately, it was the Royal Ravens winning the fight on the hill to earn the 250 points needed.
In the Al Bagra Fortress Search and Destroy, London held a 2-1 lead and enjoyed a three-vs-one retake situation that saw Huke as the lone member of OpTic still alive. London’s Asim was defusing the bomb before Huke put shots into the Royal Raven, getting him to hop off of the bomb. Huke re-peeked the bombsite to pick up the kill, cutting it to a two-vs-one advantage for London.
From there, Skrapz tried to jump on the bomb to defuse it before eventually falling to Huke, leaving it in the hands of PaulEhx. PaulEhx managed to take down Huke, but he did not have enough time to defuse the bomb, giving the round to OpTic. Texas rattled off four of the next six rounds to take the map, 6-4.
The series went to Fortress for the third map of the matchup, this time for Control. Fortress Control has been a controversial map due to its design heavily favoring the defensive team. Unfortunately for OpTic, they found themselves on offense in the decisive round five, which played just like every other round on this map. London controlled Texas from their spawns and OpTic were never able to make a push onto either point. The 3-2 victory for London gave them a 2-1 lead with a chance to win it on the Mercado Las Almas Hardpoint in map four.
London jumped out to a fast start and at one point were up over 100 points on Texas. But OpTic began to fight back one hill at a time, winning rotations and the battle for the next Hardpoint. Eventually, the Green Wall prevailed with a 250-203 victory to extend the series and their tournament life.
Related: Results for 2023 Call of Duty League Major 3
The series stayed on Mercado for game five, this time for the Search and Destroy that would decide the match. Things got off to a nefarious start for OpTic, with London winning the first three rounds to take what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead. But, just like the Hardpoint, Texas began to string together some momentum. Dashy started to hit snipes, Shotzzy was making plays on the flank, and Huke began to heat up. Eventually, the count was 4-3 for the home team and the crowd finally got into it.
London did manage to snag the next round to knot it at 4-4, but OpTic stayed hot to claim the last two rounds and stave off elimination for at least one more match.
OpTic will face the winner of the New York Subliners vs. Florida Mutineers match on Saturday, March 11 at 12:30pm CT. With the loss, London are eliminated from the Texas Major and finish top-12 for the event.
