Another OpTic dud at CDL Chicago intensifies roster change speculation

Despite their star-studded roster, OpTic Gaming Los Angeles continue to be among the bottom dwellers in the Call of Duty League standings, and their disappointing performance at the Chicago Home Series has some believing that a team change is imminent.

Coming into the 2020 season, many saw OpTic Gaming LA as one of the top teams in the CDL mainly because their roster, on paper, was more talented than most of the competition.

However, they’ve not even come close to living up to their potential; three out of the four tournaments they’ve played so far have ended winless, most recently CDL Chicago.

Fistbumps have been a rarity for OpTic Gaming LA this CDL season.

After a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Dallas Empire on day one of the event, they face a first-round losers bracket elimination match against their in-city rivals, Los Angeles Guerrillas.

This was their second match against LAG this season; the first encounter ended with OpTic reverse sweeping after falling behind 0-2. It looked as though this rematch would follow the same script – Guerrillas took the first two maps, including a dominant 6-1 win on Rammaza S&D, but OGLA stayed alive by winning the third.

• Read More: CDL Chicago Day 1 recap & highlights

However, the boys in purple stood their ground and a convincing 250-164 victory on Hackney Yard Hardpoint sealed the 3-1 series win and sent their rivals packing in the first round yet again.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1254168570248003584

The player reactions following the match were far from convincing, most notably that of TJHaLy, who tweeted “sh*t like this just makes me not even wanna play anymore.”

Dashy and SlasheR, considered to be the two biggest stars on the team, both had similar things to say on Twitter.

Kuavo didn’t have much to say in his post-match tweet, but Seattle Surge star Octane’s reply featuring the two together from their 100 Thieves days sparked some speculation among fans.

Rumors of roster changes have surrounded OpTic for a while now, admittedly calming down a bit after their seemingly improved form led them to a rare semifinal appearance at CDL Los Angeles in March.

But now their form appears to have dipped right back down to where it had been before that, and a frankly inexcusable loss to Guerrillas could be enough for the team to make a change.

• Read More: Gunless explains why Huntsmen were upset by Florida

Longtime Call of Duty caster Clint ‘Maven’ Evans, who had predicted OG would be one of the best teams this season, now believes we may have seen the last of this Green Wall roster.

If OpTic were to make a change, they’d have two options. The first would be to promote either of their two substitutes – Chino or Goonjar – who have been riding the bench since being picked up prior to the start of the season.

• Read More: CoD power rankings heading into CDL Chicago

However, if the team feels that neither would provide the spark needed to improve performances and results, they could look to either make a trade with another CDL team or pick up someone from the amateur Challengers circuit.

The latter might seem like an attractive option, considering the difference that newcomer Mack has made for the New York Subliners in his first-ever pro event.

Either way, most fans are of the opinion that the time has come for OGLA to make some sort of decision regarding their roster because the team continues to be around the bottom of the CDL standings and time is running out for them to break into the playoff picture.

Whatever they decide, they’re faced with a short turnaround before the next Home Series, hosted by Florida, where they will be competing against several top teams like Atlanta FaZe, Minnesota ROKKR, and Mutineers.

You can keep up with all of this weekend’s Call of Duty League action via our CDL Chicago hub, which includes streams, updated scores, brackets, and more.