Why OpTic Chicago struggle to beat top CDL teams – Enable & Pacman

Jacob Hale

With OpTic Chicago slowly falling down the Call of Duty League pecking order, Reverse Sweep’s Ian ‘Enable’ Wyatt and Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker discuss what’s stopping them from beating the top teams — and becoming one.

With the talent on the OpTic roster, they should (and likely will) always be aiming to win championships. It’s a stacked squad full of proven winners and, at the start of the season, many expected them to be a top two or three team without much struggle.

Halfway through Stage 3, though, and the Chicago side seem to be losing steam. They’re fourth in the overall standings at the time of writing, tied with New York Subliners, and only slightly ahead of a resurgent LA Thieves side.

Meanwhile, their results aren’t improving and they’re letting their grasp on the top three slip. But why exactly is this happening?

OpTic Chicago CDL roster 2021
This team should be competing for championships week in, week out.

On the Reverse Sweep CDL review show, Enable and Pacman discussed exactly this, pinpointing what is going wrong for OpTic.

“They’re starting to look like a team that doesn’t have the next gear,” Pacman says. “I feel like we’ve seen it, but it’s never consistent. It’s always in these little spurts.”

He adds that he “feels like they’re a top 6 team,” but that “it doesn’t feel like they’re ever going to hit that point where they’re the best team in the game.”

Consistency is actually something that Enable believes they struggle with too, but in more of a long-term sense.

“I think their number one problem has been an issue historically for OpTic,” the 100 Thieves man said. “They are so good in the beginning of these games, just because they have some of the most talented players on their team. Then once you hit that midway point, teams start figuring out the game… OpTic doesn’t. They’re not as disciplined as these other teams.”

OpTic will be hoping to turn around their fortunes in Stage 3 and throughout the rest of the season, especially with Champs seeding on the line throughout the final half of the year. Whether they manage to get back on top, though, remains to be seen.

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About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.