OpTic Texas rewrite CDL history with storybook back-to-back Champs win

One of the most unbelievable stories in esports history has been written, with OpTic Texas taking home the Call of Duty League Champs trophy in 2025. This is the first time in the CDL era that a team has won Champs back-to-back, with OpTic also winning just over a year ago in MW3.

While OpTic came into the Black Ops 6 season as one of the favorites to eventually take home Champs, there was a point in 2025 where we didn't know if the team would even make the Champs bracket. During the Major II qualifiers, Texas went on a 0-18 map streak, made a flurry of roster changes, and the legacy of the team was in serious question. However, after the move was made to pick up rookie Mercules and stick with Huke alongside Shotzzy and Dashy, the stars aligned, and the team turned on a switch to save their season.

Now, we're crowning OpTic Texas as champions of the world for the second straight year.

OpTic Texas went up against Vancouver Surge in the grand finals, who made a shocking run from loser's bracket round one. The Surge defeated the number one seed LA Thieves in the first round and kept going from there.

Coming into the day, Texas had not lost a single map en route to the grand finals, going 9-0 against Atlanta FaZe, Toronto Ultra, and Boston Breach. The grand finals started with another Hardpoint win for OpTic, but Vancouver took the first map off them in the second map Search and Destroy.

From there, the two teams went back and forth, with the Surge taking a majority of the Controls and Search and Destroys and OpTic dominating in Hardpoint. It all culminated with a map eight Hardpoint on Rewind, and Vancouver actually controlled the score for a majority of the match. They couldn't stop Shotzzy and OpTic, though, as they came back from a 60-point deficit to close out the match and series on the final two hills of the map.

In the end, rookie sensation Mercules wound up winning Champs MVP, being the most consistent player for OpTic throughout the event. However, it was Shotzzy who dominated in the grand finals, posting a 1.22 KD against the Surge.

It was only fitting that Mercules won his first Champs and the MVP award in an event hosted by the team, Toronto Ultra, who didn't offer him a starting spot after he filled in for the team during Major II. That led to OpTic Texas swooping in, and the rest is history.

This is Shottzy's third Champs win, Dashy and Huke's second, and Mercules' first. As an organization, this is OpTic's third Champs title, the most in Call of Duty history, joining the 2017 and 2024 teams. However, the 2025 team is the most unlikely of the bunch, but it's also the most dominant Champs performance that OpTic and possibly COD esports have ever seen.