OpTic Gaming

OpTic Gaming

Nickname	The Green Wall
Short name	Optic
Divisions	Halo Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Call of Duty Gears of War
Founded	2006
Location	United States
Owner(s)	Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez Jr.
Partners	Turtle Beach Brisk Chipotle Scuf Gaming DXRacer Turtle Wax Twitch.tv
Website	http://optic.tv/

OpTic Gaming, LLC., also known as The Green Wall, is a professional American eSports team and competitive gaming company specializing in the FPS genre. OpTic currently has teams playing Call of Duty, Halo, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Gears of War. It was founded in 2006 by Ryan "OpTic J" Musselman and "OpTic KR3W". The company is owned by Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez. OpTic Gaming are two time X Games champions, winning in 2014 and 2015 respectively. On 3 December 2015, OpTic Gaming won the Best eSports Team of the Year at The Game Awards 2015. The organization holds many rivalries most notably eClasico with Team EnVyUs and The eWar with FaZe Clan.

History

Beginnings

In 2006 Ryan "OpTic J" Musselman and "OpTicKR3W" developed OpTic Gaming. The team played Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360. In 2007, OpTic Gaming being owned by Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009–2010 season)

OpTic took 8th in the Online Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 National Championships before placing 4th at the MLG National Championships 2010 and picking up $500 before the start of the next Call of Duty: Black Ops season.

Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010–11 season)

Matthew Haag was dropped from the team for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2011 season -- which was the first season of Call of Duty on the Major League Gaming circuit since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He briefly returned to the OpTic Competitive team, replacing a player who felt ill, at MLG Dallas where OpTic Gaming finished 3rd with virtually no practice as a squad. Subsequently, after mentioning the possibility of replacing the teammate that had fallen sick, he did not get picked up. Haag played on several different teams in the professional scene and created his own OpTic Nation competitive team and started making videos and streaming footage. For the next two events he played for Team EnVyUs finishing 8th at MLG Anaheim and then 3rd at MLG Raleigh before playing on Surreal Legacy for the final two events of the year placing 7th at MLG Orlando and then finishing in 15th at the MLG Providence national championships to finish off the Call of Duty: Black Ops Major League Gaming season.^[1]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011–12 season)

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 looming, Call of Duty announced Call of Duty XP where Activision hosted a $1 million tournament to showcase the newest edition of the franchise. With 2 members of the OpTic Gaming team not being available to play, Haag was picked up again. They made it to the Grand Final. They took the series 3-1 and the team won $400,000 and the trophy.^[2] Again, Matt 'NaDeSHoT' Haag was not picked up for the main OpTic Gaming team and instead created his own OpTic team under the OpTic Nation brand, which did not go on to win any events. MW3 did not make the MLG 2012 season, reportedly due to the absence of a LAN function in the game. Because of this, only a few tournaments were held (notably 360 iCoNs and EGL) in North America. However, at Blackpool's EGL 8 Haag placed 7/8th playing under Leverage with notable players TeePee, ACHES and John.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012–13 season)

Treyarch were to make Call of Duty: Black Ops II which was the second game in the Black Ops franchise. The game was a success competitively and attracted a bigger audience through the season. With Frag Cup 4, an annual online tournament at the start of a new Call of Duty title, coming up a member of the OpTic Gaming competitive team was unable to play due to gambling restrictions in his province, and after impressing early on in the game, OpTic Gaming picked up NaDeSHoT, who rejoined the OpTic Gaming competitive team on a permanent basis. They finished in the 7th/8th position in Frag Cup 4 before going to the first LAN event which was UMG Chicago. OpTic Gaming started the tournament strong, making their way to the finals without losing. The team then lost the first series in the final. However, because they were the winners of the 'winners final' the match went into a final and decisive series, in which they were able to win 3-2 and become the first Call of Duty: Black Ops II champions.

The next tournament was MLG Dallas. Here, the top 8 teams qualified to compete at that year's Call of Duty Championships, which was an annual $1,000,000 event. OpTic Gaming went on to finish in the 5th/6th position.^[3]

At the Call of Duty Championships, OpTic Gaming finished in third place losing to the eventual winners of the tournament. They then played in Gfinity 1 (G1) in London, United Kingdom and MLG Anaheim in Anaheim, California where were placed in third respectively at both events.^[4] The next event OpTic attended was Gfinity (G2) in London. However, their new roster finished 9th–12th.^[4] Their performance at the MLG Fullsail Invitational, where the four highest ranked Black Ops II teams competed, (and which was to be OpTic Gaming and MLG's final event of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 competitive season) was much improved, finishing in second place.^[3]

Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013–14 season)

The next title of the Call of Duty franchise was Call of Duty: Ghosts which MLG announced that it would be their featured FPS title for the upcoming season again. OpTic Gaming disappointed at both of their first two events which were to be MLG Columbus (13-16th place) and UMG Philadelphia (9-12th place) before a roster change occurred with one player retiring, two leaving and one later rejoining. During this time Haag teamed with Christopher Duarte, who goes by the name of 'Parasite'. At this time, the team consisted of 'NaDeSHoT', 'Clayster', 'Ricky' and 'Parasite'. However, after only a handful of days, 'Parasite' and 'Ricky' left OpTic to join Curse Las Vegas. OpTic then picked up 'Saints' and 'MBoZe', before 'Scumpii' rejoined OpTic to replace the departing 'Saints', who returned to Strictly Business. After the retirement of 'BigTymer' following UMG Philadelphia, NaDeSHoT became the captain of OpTic Gaming.^[3]

OpTic qualified for the Call of Duty: Ghosts national qualifiers for the annual Call of Duty Championship $1,000,000 tournaments after qualifying via MLG's online qualifying tournament. At the US Championship Finals OpTic Gaming finished in 7th place to qualify for the Call of Duty World Championship, after eliminating Curse New York in an elimination game in a best of 5 series. This allowed the team to qualify for the annual $1 million tournament. The OpTic Gaming squad played in the MLG Pro Circuit Season 1 online league where after a promising start they suffered problems online and were not able to qualify for the MLG PAX East Championship; eventually OpTic Gaming finished bottom of the league in 10th place. OpTic Gaming later announced they were hosting the winners of the US Regional finals, Strictly Business Gaming for a pre-LAN event for the World Championships.

At the Call of Duty World Championships, OpTic were placed in a group with Epsilon eSports, NSP, and SSOF. Controversy was caused when 'SSOF' were disqualified and OpTic only had two teams in their group. OpTic first played 'NSP' and beat them 3-0 leading to a group decider against Epsilon where OpTiC Gaming lost 3-0. However they advanced as the second seed and faced tK in the first round of the winners bracket. OpTic had a 3-0 victory against a team considered to be a top three team by many. In the second round OpTic was to come up against Strictly Business Gaming who they had hosted in a pre-LAN event, however they won 3-2 and played Australian team Trident T1 Dotters for a guaranteed top three finish. OpTic Gaming won the series 3-1 and guaranteed themselves 3rd and $120,000. OpTic were then to face CompLexity who were undefeated on Call of Duty: Ghosts and came up short in the winners bracket finals losing 3-2. OpTic then lost to Team EnVyUs in the losers bracket finals, finishing with a top three finish and winning $30,000.^[5]

On the April 15, 2014, OpTic Gaming announced that Marcus 'MBoZe' Blanks would be leaving the team in order for Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon to join the team. The OpTic Gaming roster for UGC Niagara and for the 2014 season Call of Duty: Ghosts season was Seth "Scump" Abner, James 'Clayster' Eubanks and Jordan 'ProoFy' Cannon.^[6]

At the new roster's first tournament together, a disappointing first day lead to them having to play the worlds best team, and eventual winners of UGC Niagara, CompLexity Gaming, who proved too strong for OpTic team. They narrowly won every map to take a 3-0 series win and knock Haag and his OpTic Gaming team out of the tournament. Before and after UGC Niagara OpTic competed at the MLG Pro Circuit Season 2 in order to qualify for MLG Anaheim's pro team tournament to contest for a $70,000 prize pool. OpTic qualified, being second place in the league.

OpTic Gaming team were invited to the MLG X Games^[7] on the Xbox One after finishing in the top 3 at the Call of Duty World Championships. They went into the event as underdogs after a disappointing tournament at UGC Niagara, however Haag and his team were able to win their group after beating Team EnVyUs and FaZe Red 3-1 to set up a semi final match against Evil Geniuses,(formerly known as CompLexity). Evil Geniuses were favorites to win the event after a dominant year at LAN events, but OpTic were able to beat them 3-1 to face Team Kaliber in the Grand Finals. They managed to beat Team Kaliber in a match that came down to a Game 5, Round 10 in Search & Destroy, and Haag was able to win a Gold Medal and his first MLG Championship at the X Games in Austin,^[8] Texas.^[9]

NaDeSHoT was voted by fans as The Game Awards 2014 eSports Player of the Year.^[10] He took a trip out to Las Vegas with some of his teammates and sponsors to accept this award.^[11]

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014–15 season)

Advanced Warfare was the next installment in the Call Of Duty Franchise for the e-sports circuit. The season began in November 2014. On October 28, 2014 OpTic Gaming, participated in an exclusive Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare streaming event at the so-called 'OpTic House' in Chicago, in order to promote the new edition in the franchise for its creators, Sledgehammer Games.^[12]

In season opening competition, MLG Columbus on November 28–30, OpTic achieved second place, losing out to FaZe in the Grand Final.^[13] They hadn't dropped a map all day until the grand finals.^[14] FaZe narrowly took the victory, going all the way to a second best of five series.^[14]

The second tournament of the year was UMG Orlando on January 1–2. OpTic achieved first place this time around. They went 0-2 in the first day of competition but his team managed to bounce back and with their other two games in pool play on the second day of competition. On Championship Sunday OpTic beat a young team called Stunner Gaming 3-1 in the grand finals.

OpTic was one of twelve teams to qualify for Pro League Season 1, the others being Prophecy, FaZe, Justus, Aware, Automatic Reload, EnVyUs, Denial, eLevate, Rise Nation, Team KaLiBeR, OpTic Nation, and OpTic Gaming.^[15] The Pro League ran from December 8 through February 28. The team now consists of Ian "Crimsix" Porter, Seth "Scump" Abner, and Matthew "Formal" Piper. OpTic Gaming went 38-6 in the MLG Season 1 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and qualified with the number one seed for the playoffs which they completed at with a $75,000 prize pool. OpTic Gaming went into the event led by NaDeSHoT and hoped to become the first team to win a LAN tournament without dropping a map. They went on to beat Rise Nation 3-0, they then came up against a team with young players called Aware Gaming who they beat 3-1 however this meant they did not become the first team to win an event without dropping a map. They then faced Team Kaliber in the winners bracket final who they narrowly beat 3-2 before progressing to the grand finals where they beat Denial eSports 3-0 to win their second event in a row.^[16] This was OpTic's first win of an MLG event since winning previously at X Games during the Call of Duty: Ghosts season.

At the Call of Duty Championships on March 27–29, Optic announced their official long-awaited partnership with Red Bull, after only Matt "NaDeSHoT" Haag, and Michael "Flamesword" Chaves were the only ones sponsored. Unfortunately Optic placed a heartbreaking 7th-place finish after being eliminated by FaZe Clan in losers bracket. Denial eSports ended up winning Call of Duty Championships.

On April 4, 2015, NaDeSHoT announced that he was stepping down as captain and member of the OpTic Gaming pro-team, partially due to disappointment from OpTic's CoD Championships placement. He said that he will become a full-time content creator as well as co-owner of the OpTic organization.^[17] He was replaced on the lineup by Damon "Karma" Barlow.^[18] However, Karma missed ESWC 2015 and the Gfinity Spring Masters competitions because of a pending United States citizenship application.^[19] He was replaced by Ian "Enable" Wyatt, who was on loan from FaZe Clan. After the departure of NaDeSHoT, Scumpii replaced his place as a captain.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015–16 season)

Heading into the Call of Duty: Black Ops III season, many teams were looking to make roster changes, while OpTic Gaming was going in as the most dominant team in the previous title and season. After winning 9 championships in AW, many people still asked whether or not OpTic Gaming would be making any roster changes for the new game. It was confirmed by the captain of the team, Scump, on stream and in some of his videos that they would not be making any changes to their roster because of their recent and past success.

The first live LAN event was announced on November 11, 2015. It was the Totino's Invitational 2015 and it would be a one-day event that would be streamed on Twitch and hosted on November 14. The team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and their first match was against the former Team Revenge, now playing under Team eLevate. OpTic took the Hardpoint on Breach with ease, winning with a score of 250-148, then lost the Uplink on Evac 6-13, and finally took the Search and Destroy 6-3 to take the series 2-1. They then advanced to the semi-finals to play the returning organization of compLexity. The Hardpoint on Fringe was a little bit closer with OG winning 250-185, lost Stronghold CTF 1-2, and then winning the Search and Destroy in a dominating fashion with a score of 6-1. With the 2-1 victory over coL, OpTic Gaming advanced to another grand finals with their opponent being Rise Nation this time. Rise put up a fight that most people didn't see coming, they dominated OpTic on Combine Hardpoint with a score of 250-136. OG bounced right back by taking both the Search and Destroy on Evac and the Uplink on Stronghold with scores of 6-1 and 9-4 before dropping the Capture The Flag on Fringe 1-3. The game 5, Breach Search and Destroy went the distance as the two teams battle back and forth to round 11. Slacked ended up getting a very important 2 piece with his specialist that ultimately left Karma in a tough situation. The clock ended up running out, thus meaning that Rise Nation were victorious and giving OpTic their first second-place finish in the Call of Duty: Black Ops III season.

After qualifying for the 2016 NA CWL Stage 1 Regular Season, OpTic Gaming played 22 matches against 11 other teams, and ended up with a record of 20-2. In between the Stage 1 duration, OpTic headed out to UMG South Carolina 2016, where they sought redemption for their 2nd-place finish at the Totino's Invitational 2015. They started out the tournament by playing against Jester eSports first round, where they ended up winning the series 4-0. From then, OpTic went on to play against H2k-Gaming. During this time, multiple complaints about Bluetooth interference with the PlayStation 4 controllers ended up becoming a serious problem during the event. OpTic took Map 1, but H2k ended up winning 3 more games to have themselves up 3-1 in the BO7. With resilience, OpTic ended up taking the next 2 maps to force a Game 7. Before the Game 7, all spectators were warned to turn off their cell phones, as they believed that the Bluetooth signal would affect the controllers of the players. H2k ended up closing out the SnD, 6-2, and sent OpTic Gaming home with a 5-8th-place finish.

Disappointed and angry, OpTic Gaming went into the 2016 NA CWL Stage 1 Playoffs with the number 1 seed, determined to conquer the event and dethrone Rise Nation as the best team in Black Ops 3. OpTic faced off against Team SoloMid first round, where OpTic took first map with Karma making insane plays with the Tempest. TSM fired back and took Map 2, as well as a Map 3: Breach Uplink. Going into Map 4, OpTic ended up taking it to tie the series 2-2 in the BO7. TSM took Map 5, and were up 3-2 in the BO7, making OpTic face elimination. However, OpTic won Map 6 and Map 7: Stronghold SnD, 6-3 to win the series 4-3, and eliminate TSM from the tournament. Championship Sunday, OpTic faced off against Team eLevate, where they swept them with a 4-0 win to face no other than Rise Nation in the grand finals.

OpTic started out the series with a 3-0 advantage in the BO7, including a Fringe Uplink win with a score of 14-2. However, Rise started to climb their way back into the series into ultimately forcing a Game 7, in hopes of completing a reverse sweep. On Infection SnD, OpTic were up 5-3, and Rise took the next two rounds of SnD to force a Round 11. FormaL and Scump killed 2 players, giving themselves a 4v2 advantage, but quickly after, Classic and Octane killed Scump and Crimsix, evening the round in a 2v2 situation. However, Karma ended up picking up a massive 2 piece against Classic and Octane, to win the round and ultimately OpTic beats Rise in an intense BO7, winning 4-3. In addition, this tournament win gives OpTic their first 1st-place finish at a LAN event for Black Ops 3.

After qualifying for 2016 NA CWL Stage 2 Playoffs after a 2nd-place finish in the Online League losing out to Team Envyus for 1st by map difference; Optic was up against Luminosity in the first round of the playoffs and were looking to keep there throne of CWL champions. Optic started out the series with a 2-0 series advantage by winning Breach Hardpoint 250-125 and then an Evac Uplink 11-10.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016–17 season)

Heading into the Infinite Warfare season, Optic Gaming's roster remained the same as the Black Ops 3 Season even after a disappointing 7th-place finish at COD Champs 2016. Optic's first LAN tournament was CWL Las Vegas which took place on 16–18 December 2016. Prior to the event Optic had a mediocre start to Infinite Warfare online in 2K tournaments with some 2nd-place finishes throughout the weeks leading up to the event. Optic's first game was against Team Revenge; they took the Hardpoint with confidence winning Retaliation 250-113, they then won Scorch Search and Destroy 6-0 and closed out the series 3-0 with a win on Throwback Uplink 11-0. The second pool play match was against Black Ops 3 rivals, Rise Nation. The series proved to be tough for Optic and they went onto lose the series 3-2 by losing Throwback SND 6-4 on Map 5. The last pool play match was against Enigma 6 who was the open bracket team who got placed in their pool, surprisingly they came out and beat Optic 3-0; this meant Optic would end up finishing 3rd in their group. The 3rd-place finish meant Optic would be placed in the losers bracket straight away and their first game was against Elevate which they then went onto win 3-1 and proceed to losers bracket round 4. Round 4 was a rematch of the shocking result in pool play against Enigma 6. This time however things were very different and Optic came out and won 3-1 closing the series out on Throwback Hardpoint winning 250-117. Round 5 was against Call of Duty rivals, Faze Clan; this was a match highly anticipating due to the two biggest organisations in the esport playing against each other. The series ended in 4 maps with Faze taking the victory 3-1 with a victory on Breakout Hardpoint to close it out. This meant that Optic would still be without a win against Faze with the current lineups since Advanced Warfare in Mid 2015. Optic finished 5-6th and went home with 3,200 pro points each and $4000 total.

Disappointed with a 5-6th finishing Optic was looking for revenge at CWL Atlanta which took place between 10–12 February 2017, Optic went into the tournament with the 2nd place seed just behind eUnited. OpTic started the tournament out with a 4-0 record in pool playing winning every game possible and only dropping 3 maps out of 15; resulting in a 1st-place finish in their pool. In the first winners bracket round OpTic came up against rivals, Team EnvyUs; however things did not go as planned and OpTic crashed out to losers bracket due to a 3-1 loss against EnvyUs meaning a near perfect losers bracket run would now be needed. OpTic's first losers bracket match was against Team Elevate who they previously met at CWL Vegas; identical to that match OpTic knocked them out of the tournament with a 3-1 series win and progressed onto Losers Bracket Round 5. OpTic then met Pnda gaming, these teams played in pool play against each other the previous day where OpTic won on map 5. This series also went the distance and required OpTic to pull of a near impossible performance to bounce back from 5-1 down to a 6-5 win on map 5 to move onto Round 6. Faze were OpTic's next opponents and history suggested this could be the end of the line for them as OpTic's current lineup has not beaten Faze since mid 2015. However this time round OpTic bounced back and easily swept Faze 3-1 and broke the long running curse of playing Faze. That win secured OpTic a place in the Losers Bracket Final, they played Luminosity Gaming and ended up winning 3-2 to proceed to play the loser of the Winner Bracket Match. The rematch against Team Envyus was back on due to them losing against eUnited in the winners bracket final, OpTic this time took all there chances and whitewashed EnvyUs 3-0 to proceed to the grand final. eUnited would be the last hurdle of potentially the greatest loser's bracket run of all time, however the dream was not on for OpTic. OpTic won the first series in impressive fashion 3-0, however in the second series eUnited clutched up and won Throwback SND to take the championship title. Optic's run in the losers bracket however was deemed very impressive and signs of the winning ways of OpTic.

One week later after CWL Atlanta, it was time for CWL Paris Open (ESWC), an event that OpTic's player 'Crimsix' has won every time since the event has existed. OpTic's rivals eUnited who beat them the week before crashed out in the open bracket increasing OpTic's chance to take the championship home. OpTic went undefeated again in Pool play and finished with a 3-0 record, only dropping 3 out of 12 maps. In Winners Bracket Quarterfinal OpTic faced Team EnvyUs, similar to the last match-up OpTic swept them 3-0 to proceed to Winners Bracket Semifinals. In the semifinal, OpTic came up against Team Infused (which was deemed the best EU team at the time) and also swept them 3-0 to move onto the winners bracket final. For the 3rd event running OpTic met Faze but this time in a Winners Bracket Final, this time work was much simipilar for OpTic and they took the series 3-0. The grand final was a rematch of the Winners Bracket Final against Faze due to them knocking out Rise in the Losers Bracket Final. Faze would have to win 2 series to take the championship, something they did in MLG Season 3 Advanced Warfare Playoffs. However this time OpTic did not let them and closed the event out in fashion with an easy 3-0 victory; OpTic's overall bracket play record was 12-0. This event ended OpTic Gaming's drought of championships (6 months) and rose them to 2nd in the Pro Points Standings.

After Optic's convincing win at ESWC Paris, they were headed to CWL Dallas as favorites to win the tournament. In pool play, Optic finished 4-0 only dropping 1 map against The Gosu Crew. Their first play-off match was against LG in the Winner's Bracket Quarter-Finals. Optic won the first twos maps with insane comebacks for the wins. LG however did not give up so easily pushing Optic to a Game 5 Search & Destroy. Optic were able to pull through and win 6-2 to go into the semi-finals against Splyce. Optic went into a Game 5 Search & Destroy against Splyce with Optic again coming out on top winning 6-4. After that game Optic were set to face FaZe Clan who were in a very dominant form after beating eUnited 3-2 to advance to the Winner's Finals. Optic however 3-0 swept FaZe easily heading into the Grand Finals. eUnited got revenge against FaZe Clan and beat them 3-1 to advance to the Grand Finals to face Optic. eUnited had to win two best of fives to win the tournament. Optic came out with dominance winning the first two maps. However, eUnited pulled a reverse sweep against Optic and won the series 3-2 bringing them to play another best of 5. Once again Optic won the first two maps and somehow eUnited were able to bring it to a Game 5 Search & Destroy. In the final map Optic swept eUnited 6-0 to become CWL Dallas Champions with a god-like performance from Karma going 12-1 to secure the win. Scump won MVP of the tournament with his incredible performance overall. Optic were able to prove they truly are the best team in Infinite Warfare.

Almost two months after CWL Dallas, Optic were heading into the CWL Global Pro League in Group Green. Group Green consisted of Optic Gaming, Red Reserve, Enigma 6, and Team Elevate. The top 2 teams qualify for CWL Global Pro League Playoffs. Optic began their weekend on Friday against Red Reserve and won 3-1 with Red Reserve only taking the Throwback Search & Destroy. The last match of the day for Optic was against Enigma 6. Optic won the series 3-1 and successfully went 2-0 for the first day. On Saturday, Optic faced Elevate for the first time this week and won the series 3-0. In the final match on Saturday, Optic face Red Reserve again and the same result occurred with Optic winning 3-1 in the series. They finished Saturday unbeaten with their overall record so far in the GPL 4-0. Sunday arrived and Optic started off the day facing Elevate. What everyone thought was going to be a clean 3-0 like last time due to Elevate being the 4th placed team in the group so far was actually a Game 5 SnD. Optic however clutched up and won 6-3. Once again Optic were set to face Enigma 6 in the final match of the CWL Global Pro League Group Green and a lot was on the line. If Enigma 6 were able to sweep Optic 3-0 they would be in 1st place while Optic finishes 2nd. Optic however came on strong as always and 3-0 Enigma 6 which gave Optic a perfect 6-0 record, a feat that no other team accomplished. With this first place finish Optic successfully qualify for the CWL GPL Playoffs, CWL Anaheim Pool Play, Stage 2 GPL, and the Call of Duty World Championship 2017.

2 weeks after CWL GPL Group Green, Optic were heading into the CWL Global Pro League Stage 1 Playoffs. Once again they were favorites to win due to their most recent performances. Optic had the last match on Friday against FaZe Clan. Optic came out strong and took the first Hardpoint 250-212 giving them a 1-0 series lead. FaZe bounced back with a 6-3 victory in Search & Destroy with a solid performance from Clayster tying the series 1-1. FaZe then took the series lead 2-1 with a 10-5 win on Frost Uplink. The next game after FaZe closed out the series with a 250-212 victory in Hardpoint sending Optic into the losers bracket. On Saturday Optic would have to win 2 matches in order to make it to Championship Sunday and their first match of the day was against Team EnVyus. Optic made quick work of Team EnVyus sweeping them 3-0 sending them home. Their final match on Saturday was against Enigma 6. Once again Optic sweeped them 3-0 sending E6 home and Optic successfully made it to Championship Sunday. Optic had the first match of the day against Luminosity. Optic came out short the first Hardpoint with LG winning 250-111 and giving them a 1-0 series lead. In the Search & Destroy after 6 rounds, Optic were down 1-5 but through resilience and determination Optic brought it back and won the S&D 6-5 giving them a huge boost of confidence evening the series 1-1. Sadly their effort was not enough as Luminosity took the next two maps, winning the series 3-1 sending Optic home with a 4th placed finish.

Optic were not proud of their 4th placed finish at the CWL Playoffs Stage 1. CWL Anaheim was the final Major LAN Event and Optic were looking to bounce back. Optic were placed in Pool D, with the pool consisting of eUnited, MindFreak, Fnatic and Fury Gaming. Optic opened up the event against MindFreak. Optic quickly dispatched of MF winning the series 3-0. Soon after Optic faced Fnatic and once again won the series 3-0 but Fnatic pushed Optic to a Round 11 SnD but OG prevailed. Finishing off Friday Optic were set to face eUnited. Both teams were looking to bounce back from poor performances from the Stage 1 Playoffs. Also, eUnited had recently had problems regarding Gunless and Swarley joined the team as a stand-in. Optic won Retaliation Hardpoint 250-133 despite a strong start from eUnited. The Throwback SnD was anything but close. Optic came out with absolute dominance, winning the map 6-0 giving them a 2-0 series lead. Precinct Uplink had the same dominance just as before. Optic won 16-4, winning the series 3-0 and giving them a flawless 9-0 map count to end the day. On Saturday, Optic were up against Fury Gaming in their final Pool Play match. Optic opened up the series with a 250-71 Hardpoint victory giving them a 1-0 series lead. Optic would close out both Breakout SnD 6-3 and Precinct Uplink 11-1 winning the series 3-0 giving them a perfect 12-0 map count. To finish off Saturday, Optic were heading into the Winner's Bracket Round 1 to face Luminosity Gaming. Optic of course are looking for revenge after LG knocked them out of Stage 1 Playoffs. Luminosity won Throwback Hardpoint 250-237 despite Optic building a comeback in the last hill giving them the series lead 1-0. Optic bounced back in Retaliation SnD 6-3 tying the series 1-1. Optic then won Frost Uplink 7-6 leaving them with just one map win left to win the series. LG however did not lose hope as they beat Optic in Retaliation Hardpoint 250-197 evening the series 2-2 bringing the match to a Game 5 SnD. Sadly, LG pulled through beating Optic 6-3 in Breakout SnD sending Optic to the Losers Bracket. Starting Championship Sunday, Optic were going to face Rise Nation in their first match in the Losers Bracket. They opened up with a 3-0 sweep against Rise winning the Hardpoint 250-171, SnD 6-3 and the Uplink 13-5. Soon after Optic were set to face Enigma 6, a team OG has faced several times in the Infinite Warfare Season. Enigma 6 came out with the win first after a 250-140 victory in Hardpoint giving them a 1-0 series lead. Optic came back and won Crusher SnD 6-4 and Throwback Uplink 12-5 giving them a 2-1 series lead. Enigma 6 did not give in and won the Hardpoint 250-222 bringing the series to a Game 5 SnD. Enigma 6 would eventually come out on top, winning the SnD 6-2 sending Optic Gaming home with a 7-8th placed finish.

Optic is now preparing for CWL Global Pro League Stage 2 Group Green beginning in July.

Call of Duty Championship Results

• 1st – Call of Duty XP 2011 - Modern Warfare 3
• 3rd – Call of Duty Championship 2013 - Black Ops 2
• 3rd – Call of Duty Championship 2014 - Ghost
• 7th – Call of Duty Championship 2015 - Advanced Warfare
• 7th – Call of Duty XP 2016 - Black Ops 3

Halo 2: Anniversary

OpTiC's first Halo 2 event was the ESL Master Chief Collection Launch Invitational. Consisting of Michael "FlamesworD" Chaves, Aaron "Ace" Elam, Justin "Pistola" Deese and Eric "Snipedown" Wrona, the team placed 5-6th.^[20] Pistola and Snipedown left the team on November 15, 2014 to join Evil Geniuses.^[21] Clete "Assault" LoRusso joined on November 23, 2014 and Mason "Aries" Miller joined on December 1, 2014. At the Halo Championship Series tournament Iron Games Columbus 2014 the team placed third, losing to Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket finals.^[22]

Bradley "aPG" Laws replaced Aries on January 10, 2015.^[23] Cody "ContrA" Szczodrowski replaced aPG on February 5, 2015.^[24] The team placed third at Gamers For Giving 2015.^[25] At the Halo Championship Series Season 1 Finals, the team was seeded fourth and ended up placing 7-8th, losing to Noble Black in the lower bracket.^[26]

ContrA left OpTic on March 9, 2015.^[27] Nick "MaNiaC" Kershner joined OpTic on March 15, 2015 after leaving Noble Black.^[28] On April 19, 2015 the team placed 5-6th at Iron Games Atlanta 2015, defeating the top seed Winterfox.^[29] At PGL Indianapolis 2015 the team placed fifth, losing to Denial eSports and Counter Logic Gaming.^[30]

At the Halo Champship Series 2 Finals, the team placed 5-6th after losing to Counter Logic Gaming.^[31]

Halo 5: Guardians

OpTic was invited to the pre-launch tournament Gamescom Invitational 2015 on May 15, 2015 where they placed last placed at 3rd-4th.^[32] Aaron "Ace" Elam left the team on August 27, 2015 to join Team Liquid.^[33] On January 24, 2016 Clete "Assault" LoRusso left the team.^[34] Justin "FearItSelf" Kat and Shane "Posey xR" Posey were announced as their replacements in January 2016.^[35] FearItSelf and Posey were shortly after replaced by Garrett "LifeStyle" Miller and Ian "Chaser" Contorelli before the Halo World Championship 2016 Last Chance Qualifier in February 2016. OpTic won the qualifier on February 6, 2016.^[36] On March 24, 2016 OpTic announced the departure of LifeStyle and Chaser.^[37]

On April 6, 2016 Brett "Naded" Leonard joined OpTic and on April 11 Aaron "Ace" Elam rejoined the team.^[38] After failing to qualify for the Halo Championship Series Pro League through the HCS Pro League Invitational 2016 and the HCS Pro League Summer Qualifier 2016, Michael "FlameSword" Chaves moved from a player to OpTic's coach and the day later on April 26, 2016 Cory "Str8 SicK" Sloss joined the team.^[39] OpTic qualified for the HCS Pro League through the last chance qualifiers on May 23, 2016.^[40] Two days before the HCS Summer Pro League, Naded left the team.^[41] Bradley "APG" Laws was announced as his official replacement on June 13, 2016.^[42] OpTic ended up placing last place in the HCS Summer Pro League^[43] On August 16, 2016 Str8 SicK was released from the team.^[44]

OpTic dropped their Halo team and acquired the roster of Counter Logic Gaming on September 14, 2016. The roster consisted of Tony "LethuL" Campbell, Mathew "Royal2" Fiorante, Paul "SnakeBite" Duarte and Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom.^[45]

OpTic Halo went on to compete in the Halo World Championship, competing against the worlds best. They went on to win the tournament, solidifying them as the best Halo team in the world.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

On January 4, 2016 OpTic Gaming announced that they had signed the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team of Conquest. The new roster consists of Shazheb "ShahZaM" Khan, Damian "daps" Steele, Will "RUSH" Wuerzba, Keith "NAF" Markovic, and Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz.^[46] OpTic announced that Óscar "mixwell" Cañellas would be replacing ShahZaM on April 13, 2016.^[47] OpTic qualified for ESL One Cologne 2016 after defeating FLuffy Gangsters, Flipsid3 Tactics and HellRaisers in the offline qualifiers.^[48] On June 21, 2016 Jonatan "Devilwalk" Lundberg was announced as the team's new coach.^[49] OpTic acquired Tarik "tarik" Celik from Counter Logic Gaming on August 20, 2016 and announced the departure of stanislaw.^[50] Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz rejoined the team shortly after and Damian "daps" Steele officially left on September 27, 2016.^[51]

Selected results

Bold denotes a CS:GO Major

2016

• 1st ELEAGUE Road to Vegas ^[52]
• 1st Americas Minor Championship - Cologne 2016 ^[53]
• 1st Northern Arena 2016 - Montreal ^[54]
• 1st ELEAGUE Season 2 ^[55]
• 2nd Esports Championship Series Season 2 - Finals ^[56]

2017

• 12-14th ELEAGUE Major 2017 ^[57]
• 3rd cs_summit Spring 2017 ^[58]

Current rosters

Call of Duty

Alias	Name	Role	Country
Scump	Seth Abner	SMG Slayer/Captain
Karma	Damon Barlow	Flex
Crimsix	Ian Porter	Flex
Formal	Matthew Piper	AR Slayer

Halo

Alias	Name	Hometown	Country
LethuL	Tony Campbell Jr.	Michigan
Royal 2	Mathew Fiorante	Saskatchewan
SnakeBite	Paul Duarte	New Jersey
Frosty	Bradley Bergstrom	California
Royal 1 (Coach)	Chris Fiorante	Saskatchewan

CS:GO

Alias	Name	Role	Join date	Country
NAF-FLY	Keith Markovic	Lurker	January 4, 2016
RUSH	William Thomas Wierzba	Rifler	January 4. 2016
mixwell	Óscar Cañellas	AWPer	April 13, 2016
tarik	Tarik Celik	IGL/Entry Fragger/AWPer	August 20, 2016
hazed	James Cobb	Rifler	April 17th 2017

Gears of War

Alias	Name	Country
Red Icy	Nicholas Cope
MentaL	Billy Putnam Jr.
Xplosive	Gilbert Rojo
Kenny Bounce	Justin Kenny
SuMuNs	Alex Ascencion
Ashes (Coach)	Nick Ridgeway

Former players

OpTic Gaming - Gears of War

Name	Alias
Chris Anderson	LLava

OpTic Gaming - Call of Duty

Name	Alias
Matthew Haag	NaDeSHoT
Jordan Cannon	ProoFy
James Eubanks	Clayster
Joey Deluca	MerK
Chris Arinder	ShanX
Joey Comrade	Soda
Will Johnson	BigTymeR
Raymond Lussier	Rambo Ray
Jordan Kaplan	JKap
Marcus Blanks	MBoze

OpTic Nation - Call of Duty

Name	Alias
Marcus Blanks	MBoZe
Chris Bricker	Option
Jake Sabo	Felonies
Callum Swan	Swanny
Jordan Cannon	ProoFy
Damon Barlow	Karma
Tyler Polchow	TeePee
Adam Sloss	KiLLa
Steve Canle	Mochila

OpTic Gaming - Halo

Name	Alias
Cody Szczodrowski	ContrA
Mason Miller	Aries
Justin Deese	iGotUrPistola
Eric Wrona	Snip3down
Justin Kats	FearItSelf
Shane Posey	PoseyXR
Garrett Miller	LifeStyle
Ian Contorelli	Chaser
Michael Chaves	FlamesworD
Brett Leonard	Naded
Clete LoRusso	Assault
Braedon Boettcher	StelluR
Nick Kershner	MaNiaC
Aaron Elam	ACE
Bradley Lewis	APG
Cory Sloss	Str8 Sick
Richie Heinz	Heinz

OpTic Gaming - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Name	Alias
Damian Steele	daps
Shahzeeb Khan	ShahZaM
Peter Jarguz	stanislaw
Jason Ruchelski	jasonR

Other ventures

OpTic Gaming was a sponsor of UFC fighter Joe Lauzon before reebok.^[59]

In popular culture

The logo of the "World Gaming League" in the television show Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything resembles the OpTic logo.

A book about the history of the team entitled OpTic Gaming: the Making of Esports Champions, was published by Harper Collins on April 26, 2016.^[60]

The movie rights of "OpTic Gaming: the Making of eSports Champions" were bought by Matt Groesch & John Sacchi ^[61] a former Lionsgate executive on 26 July 2016. As of March 2017 there are no updates as to if or when a movie will go ahead.

References

External links

• Official YouTube channel
• Official website
• Twitter account