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5 Huge Storylines for the Call of Duty League OpTic Texas Major 2

  • OpTic swaps Kenny for Skyz, hoping to rebound after the worst split in OpTic’s CDL tenure
  • Los Angeles Thieves look to avenge their heartbreaking Major 1 loss
  • Has a new team emerged as a dark horse to win the tournament?

Taven Passey

CDL Major 2 starts this Thursday
CDL Major 2 starts this Thursday / @OpTic on X.com

With the most highly anticipated major tournament of the year just days away, the Call of Duty League community has been hit with one of the most controversial roster changes in CDL history. From a new-look OpTic roster to an Atlanta FaZe team looking to go back-to-back, there is no shortage of drama adding to this weekend’s competition. 

Major 2 Bracket
Major 2 Bracket / @CODLeague on X.com

As the top teams in the world head to Dallas, Texas to compete for their share of the $500,000 prize pool, we will break down the top 5 biggest storylines that will impact outcomes this weekend. 

  1. OpTic Texas Roster Change Skyz out… Kenny in
  2. Atlanta Seeks Back to Back Championships
  3. Who is the Third Best Team?
  4. Thieves Looking to Avenge Crushing Defeat
  5. OpTic Ring Ceremony… Featuring Kenny?
  6. Where to Watch Major 2
  7. Related Articles

OpTic Texas Roster Change Skyz out… Kenny in

On a weekend that was supposed to be a celebration of OpTic’s first world championship in 7 years, it quickly turned into one filled with anxiety for OpTic fans around the world. After winning the 2024 CDL Champs, Shotzzy, Pred, Kenny, and Dashy were looking to start the 2025 season strong and cement themselves as one of the greatest rosters in COD history. The events that unfolded after the 2024 Champs could be considered the absolute worst-case scenario for the OpTic organization. 

Shortly after the launch of Black Ops 6, Pred was forced to step away from the team for reasons that are still unknown. Attempting to bandage the wound, OpTic picked Huke back up to fill his spot as he was the clear choice given his past chemistry with this roster. 

In the Major 1 Tournament, OpTic was stunned in Winners Round One by Miami, sending them into Losers Round One as the overall #1 seed entering the tournament. They were able to take down LAG before losing to Carolina in Round Two, an incredibly disappointing performance but one that was understood given the situation the team was forced into. 

With a swirl of unknowns heading into Major 2 Qualifiers, Pred made his return to the OpTic roster. 

Looking to pick up where they left off, the Champs roster had one of the worst Qualifier splits in CDL history. They went 0-6 in their first six matches (0-18 map count) before taking down LAG M8’s in their final match to finish 1-6, earning them a starting spot in the Losers Bracket heading into their home tournament. 

The only thing that was clear within all of these confusing results was that this roster wasn’t getting it done. Kenny was the clear under-performer having posted a 0.84 KD on the season while simultaneously setting the lowest single-series KD ever posting a 0.32 vs. Thieves at the end of this split. 

Hecz and the team have decided to make a change, dropping Kenny and picking up another former world champion Skyz to fill his place. It is still unclear how permanent this change will be, with their Major 2 performance surely playing a huge factor in whether or not this roster will stick together moving forward.

Skyz has recently come out and said that Shotzzy had texted him before their most recent match vs. LAG, which means this move had been in the works when OpTic was still playing with Kenny. 

Skyz has been one of the best ARs in the world when surrounded by top-tier talent. On a team that desperately needs clarity and leadership, he will bring every intangible they could ask for when making a replacement at this point in the year. 

With a Loser’s bracket start, OpTic will face off against the loser of Atlanta vs. Minnesota on March 21st. The entire COD world will be tuning in to watch one of the most drama-filled weeks in OpTic history culminate in a pressure-packed match.  

Atlanta Seeks Back to Back Championships

On the heels of their Major 1 Tournament victory, the Atlanta FaZe look to remain at the top spot in the standings with a Major 2 Championship victory. With a 6-1 record during the Major 2 Qualifiers, FaZe are looking as strong as ever heading into this tournament. 

They will be taking on Minnesota in Winner’s Round One on Thursday and playing the winner of Toronto/C9NY in Round Two. In such a crucial legacy season for Simp and aBeZy where they have been for not performing in finals matches, look for them to come out hot in this tournament. 

Who is the Third Best Team?

One of the biggest surprises throughout the Major 2 Qualifiers have been the Vancouver Surge with their recent addition of Neptune, one of the most skilled FPS players in gaming history. It seems he has finally found his rhythm in the league as he led Vancouver to a 5-2 record in the Major 2 Qualifiers, completely turning their season around. 

The battle for the third-best team in the league has broken wide open into a 3-team race between Vancouver, Carolina, and Toronto. Toronto has beaten both teams in the Major 2 Qualifiers but lost to Vancouver in the Minor Tournament. Any of these teams have a true shot to make the Grand Finals if they are playing to their potential. 

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Vancouver will face off vs. Carolina in Round One where we will get to see if Vancouver’s online success will translate to LAN against another team vying for a top 3 spot. TJ and Slasher will surely show up in top form on LAN, which will pose a tough challenge for this new Vancouver roster. Toronto will face C9NY in the first round who have been extremely inconsistent so far.

Thieves Looking to Avenge Crushing Defeat

In one of the best COD matches of all time, LAT took a heartbreaking loss to Faze in a Game 7, Round 11 finish during the Grand Finals of Major 1. With an undefeated split (7-0) in the Major 2 Qualifiers that included a Minor Tournament win, LAT looks like the strongest team in the league heading into Major 2. 

Their 21-2 Qualifiers map count tied FaZe’s Cold War map win record, which is something nobody expected to be broken. As the #1 seed, they will take on the Boston Breach in round one, where they look to keep their incredible momentum going. A tournament win would vault them into first place in the CDL standings, a scary thought for the rest of the league. 

OpTic Ring Ceremony… Featuring Kenny?

OpTic Texas will be holding their ring ceremony on Thursday to kick off the Major 2 tournament, where the players will be presented with their championship rings from the 2024 season. In what was supposed to be a celebration of OpTic’s first world championship in 7 years, this ceremony has quickly taken an awkward turn. 

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Following one of the worst individual splits in CDL history, Kenny has been dropped from the team. He will be returning (briefly) to accept his ring alongside his former teammates, who have just made the decision to release him. Kenny has historically been very professional, so we don’t expect this to cause any drama between players aside from the awkward context surrounding the ceremony. 

Where to Watch Major 2

CDL Major 2 will be streamed on the CDL YouTube channel starting on Thursday, March 20th @ 10:00 AM. Stay tuned as we will keep you updated on the biggest moments from Major 2!  

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Taven Passey
TAVEN PASSEY

Taven is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon's Sports Business program. During his time post-grad, he has developed his own website where he has covered the Call of Duty League as well as college football. He competed semi-professionally in the CDL Challengers Circuit for three years as well as for The University of Oregon's CCL team, which made playoffs and placed T48 each of Taven's three years. Taven still enjoys playing Call of Duty in his spare time, as well as World of Warcraft and any game he is obsessing over at the time.

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