Who is Ghosty? OpTic Texas’ new unknown CDL star

OpTic Texas just added Daniel ‘Ghosty’ Rothe as the newest member to its CDL roster, and most people don’t know the story of this remarkable young talent.

OpTic Texas constructed a roster of Brandon ‘Dashy,’ ‘Huke,’ ‘iLLeY,’ and ‘Shottzy’ for the Major 2 cycle. The new-look team went on a tear in the final two weeks of qualifying, going 3-1 and securing the first seed for Major 2.

In Boston, OpTic had a fine showing before falling to the Los Angeles Thieves in the loser’s semi-finals. A fourth place wasn’t good enough as OpTic once again reshuffled its deck, this time turning to an amateur player.

Ghosty steps into the CDL spotlight after balancing life as a college student while chasing his dream of becoming a professional Call of Duty player.

Who is OpTic’s new player Ghosty?

On February 9, OpTic Texas announced the signing of Ghosty in place of iLleY.

Ghosty is currently a pre-law student at the University of Illinois, and he started his CoD career by joining the schools esports team in 2020.

It wasn’t until 2022 that Ghosty got his first big break with the Boston Breach Academy team. He moved in with popular professional CoD player Doug ‘Censor’ Martin at the end of Call of Duty: Vanguard.

However, his time with Boston was short-lived, as he started the Modern Warfare 2 Challengers season with Iron Blood Gaming (IBG).

IBG had a slow start to the season, placing top 16 and top 8, respectively, in the first two North American Cups, and then placed top 12 at the CDC Raleigh Open.

The roster decided to go separate ways, heading into CDC Elite Stage 1. Longtime CoD veteran Tyler ‘Felo’ Johnson created a Challengers team called TFeL Enterprises and picked up Ghosty. The team gelled well, placing second in the Elite Stage 1 Playoffs.

The Rotation named Ghosty as the Elite Stage 1 MVP, leading the amateur league in hardpoint and overall KD.

After finding success together, FeLo and Ghosty joined forces again on Decimate Gaming with ‘Ulisses’ and former CDL pro ‘2Real.’ Decimate Gaming went on to win the fifth NA Cup and the CDC Boston Open.

In the Boston Open Final against the RØKKR Academy, Ghosty posted an unreal 1.35 KD, and 98 of his 131 kills were non-traded kills, meaning he was doing a lot of the work on his own.

And in the Semi-finals against Elevate, Ghosty had a 1.45 KD in a dominant 3-0 series sweep. Against former CDL pros Spart, Neptune, and Diamondcon, the rising star had a 1.30 KD in a 3-1 series victory as well.

OpTic Texas doesn’t usually rely on amateur talent, but the Green Wall may have just swooped up the next big name in Call of Duty.