OpTic Texas could have lastly met their match within the Name of Obligation League, because the back-to-back world champions stormed by way of the Main 1 bracket earlier than falling to Paris Mild Mates on the ultimate hurdle in a seven-game thriller.
During the last two seasons, OpTic have turned up when it mattered most. An honest 2024 season completed with a world championship ring, the group’s first in seven years.
In the meantime, an extremely shaky 2025 season noticed various roster adjustments – very unusual for OpTic – to lastly choose a roster that included Mason “Mercules” Ramsey, a sizzling younger rookie who fully modified the crew’s trajectory.
Once more, they gained Champs in dominant style, with MVP Mercules main proceedings and making certain OpTic had been, in each approach, the perfect crew within the league.
Whereas they hadn’t carried out brilliantly on-line, this LAN type carried on with ease into Main 1 2026, with OpTic not dropping a single map in opposition to Riyadh Falcons, G2 Minnesota, or Mild Mates till the grand ultimate – and that’s the place all of it unravelled.
Mild Mates Return from Loser’s Bracket With a Vengeance
Regardless of shedding 3-0 to OpTic within the Winner’s Finals, Mild Mates knew they’d a lot extra within the tank, and so they proved it.
A tough-fought match in opposition to FaZe Vegas in Loser’s Finals noticed them win 3-2 and advance to the Grand Last, spearheaded by a legacy-defining efficiency from Travis “Neptune” McCloud, who went on the be named match MVP.
Nonetheless, expectations for the grand ultimate itself had been considerably slim. OpTic had regarded so good, so dominant, that victory for the GreenWall nearly appeared a foregone conclusion.
That confidence was damaged instantly, nevertheless, as Mild Mates carried their momentum proper into the opening maps.
Grand Last Thriller
Map 1 noticed them win 250-158, a ruthless map win to set the tone for the sequence, earlier than a Search and Destroy Spherical 11 was as soon as once more settled in favor of M8.
OpTic then gained the subsequent two earlier than buying and selling a map every within the best-of-7, leaving it to Scar Search and Destroy because the deciding map.
M8 ended up successful the map 6-4, and thus taking the entire sequence by a scoreline of 4-3, ending the reign of OpTic in CDL competitors.
Whereas the crew has regarded like championship contenders since day one, there’s no level trying the half with out really doing the factor – and now they’ve carried out it, they’ll be hoping to go additional and proceed this way all year long.
Whereas Neptune was the person of the match, and arguably making a reputation for himself as the perfect participant within the sport, the ultimate sequence win was helped massively by Daunte “Sib” Grey. He registered a 1.30 KD, dealing over 18,000 harm – nearly 3,000 greater than the second highest, in response to stats from Breaking Level.
OpTic’s Profitable Document Hits Devastating Finish
By the point they reached the Main 1 grand ultimate, OpTic had been on a 12-game successful streak on LAN, spanning throughout CDL Champs 2025, Esports World Cup, and into the Main.
Whereas not a file within the historical past of aggressive COD – older followers will bear in mind Complexity occurring a 24-match successful streak on LAN – within the CDL period, that is each very tough to perform and a really uncommon prevalence. It’s the form of file we’ve solely seen from severe dynasty-calibre groups just like the Atlanta FaZe facet of the Black Ops Chilly Warfare season.
There’s now a brief 2-week break earlier than Main 2 qualifiers kick off, with a reasonably totally different format. As Esports.internet first reported earlier than it was introduced, Main 2 will solely function 10 groups complete, and solely 8 of these groups will really attain the principle bracket.
It will come following an 11-match qualifier cut up, versus 7, that means each crew will play one another as soon as.
The query now’s whether or not Mild Mates can maintain this run of type up and go back-to-back.
