How OpTic Chicago are saving their season in CDL Stage 5

OpTic Chicago look like they’ve got a new lease of life at the start of the fifth and final stage of the 2021 CDL season, and there are some key changes they’ve made to try and finally become championship contenders again.

OpTic have had countless struggles throughout this season. They’ve stuck by the same roster through thick and thin, but more often than not it has ended in disappointment and with results far below what both players and fans expect.

A top 4 placement at Major 4 definitely turned some heads, but considering they got ousted as soon as they came up against a top team, there has been a little confusion over just how good they actually are.

While they may not yet be ready to beat the Atlanta FaZe’s of the world, there have been marked improvements in their gameplay, and this boils down to some key tactical tweaks made by the team ahead of Stage 5.

As explained and analyzed by Andrew ‘Enigma’ Campion on Reverse Sweep Round 11, some key changes across each mode saw them win maps much cleaner than before, including against New York Subliners.

• Read More: Are OpTic Chicago fans jealous of “boring” Atlanta FaZe?

The first change, with the best example being on Moscow Hardpoint, is how they set up for rotations, prioritizing team pushes rather than relying on Envoy to try and win multiple gunfights to win a rotation.

They’ve also shifted FormaL to their hill-time player, allowing the team to work together better and defend hills with much more dominance. Finally, their SnD first blood percentage rocketed, from 52.7% to 68.2%. Dashy has been the key to this, opening things up on the map and working the sites with far more ease.

Obviously, the sample size is small, but OpTic did look like a much better team in their opening games of Stage 5.

If they can keep this up against the rest of the field, they might be ready to truly challenge by the time Champs rolls around.