One of the most anticipated StarCraft 2 tournaments is just around the corner, with the world's best players getting ready to fight for their share of $500,000 in prize money.
A legendary esports event, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice is a CS:GO tournament held in Poland. In this guide, we'll go over all the participating teams, details about the schedule, as well as everything you need to know about IEM CS:GO betting!
The Dota Pro Circuit is in full flow. The next big tournament in this seasonal circuit is the PGL Arlington Major. Texas is the location, Esports Stadium Arlington is the venue of choice, and seventeen brilliant Dota 2 teams will be eyeing their chances here.
The LEC (League of Legends European Championship) is entering a new decade starting with the inaugural Winter split. From team rosters to an all-new tournament format, the league will be seeing much more competition.
OpTic Gaming has been around for quite a while; 15 years in fact. The organization was originally started as a Call of Duty team but later expanded into being a fully-fledged Esports organization. This is where your OpTic betting journey begins – let’s dive into it.
OpTic Gaming is an American Esports organization started by ‘Kr3w’ and Ryan ‘J’ Musselman. Originally, they participated only in Call of Duty tournaments and were predominantly a sniping team.
The current owner, Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez took over the team in 2007 and has since then drastically expanded the organization. OpTic Gaming have, since their inception, participated in a wide variety of tournaments from a couple of Esports games, including CSGO, Halo (a couple of titles), PUBG, Fortnite, Dota 2, and League of Legends.
Compared to other Esports teams, OpTic Gaming has had some resounding success in Esports tournaments. However, their main source of fame comes from CSGO, Halo, and Call of Duty. In these three games, for a limited period, the OpTic organization was feared.
Unfortunately, their rise to fame was as quick as their downfall. The organization is currently only active in two games – Halo: Infinite (the team was just recently formed), and Call of Duty. Even so, it’s worth going over their past achievements as well as future expectations to help you with OpTic betting.
The organization’s Call of Duty team has recently been rebranded as ‘OpTic Texas’ following the merger with Team Envy. The OpTic Envy merger came about following their previous partnership with NRG Esports.
Welcome to a new era. @OpTic #GreenWithEnvy pic.twitter.com/IEuVRWtAEz — ENVY (@Envy) November 8, 2021
Welcome to a new era. @OpTic #GreenWithEnvy pic.twitter.com/IEuVRWtAEz
— ENVY (@Envy) November 8, 2021
OpTic Gaming’s Esports history is an intriguing one. With these results, it is evident that at certain times, the organization can put out incredible performances. But these are usually short-lived and can’t seem to translate into long periods of domination.
Nevertheless, their legacy remains. Here’s what it looks like:
Let’s first go over their League of Legends tenure as it is the shortest one. The team’s first tournament was the NA LCS 2018 Spring and their final one was just a year and a half later – the LCS 2019 Summer Playoffs.
Their highest finish was 5th/6th in the last tournament they attended. The team disbanded shortly after; there’s not a lot of note here. Well, they did have Meteos (a very experienced LoL player) on the team but that’s about it.
OpTic Gaming’s PUBG experience wasn’t very good either. Their best finish came in the A-Tier Global Lool League Season 3 – 2nd place. Overall, they’ve participated in some 23 tournaments without much success.
Now we’ve finally gotten to the first Esports game they were truly good at – Dota 2. Their existence in Dota 2 Esports lasted from late September 2017 to late August 2018. Essentially, less than a full year.
However, throughout this time, OpTic did achieve some impressive results. They came 1st and 2nd in the first two Tier-2 tournaments they entered. And they’ve won the StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5; arguably their greatest feat in Dota 2. Surprisingly, OpTic Gaming also came in 2nd place at ESL One Birmingham 2018 after losing to Virtus.Pro in the finals.
OpTic did partake in The International 2018 but resulted in a disappointing 7th/8th place.
The organization’s Halo roster was rejuvenated by the arrivals of SnakeBite, Royal2, Frosty, and LethuL in 2016. Between then and late 2018 (when the roster changed), OpTic Gaming participated in 20 Halo tournaments – ending up in the finals in all but 1 of them.
Their biggest success was winning the Halo World Championship in 2017. Unfortunately, team performances plummeted with the 2018 roster changes but – OpTic seems to be making a comeback with the release of Halo: Infinite.
CSGO is their second most successful game with multiple tournament victories and 1st places throughout the team’s competitive years. The first tournament they competed in was the A-Tier ELEAGUE Road to Vegas that they promptly won.
Grats @OpTic_ShahZaM @OpTic_daps @OpTic_RUSHH @OpTic_NAF @OpTic_Stanislaw And thank you @EL @FACEIT for the show pic.twitter.com/jqgyfNNeCI — OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) January 8, 2016
Grats @OpTic_ShahZaM @OpTic_daps @OpTic_RUSHH @OpTic_NAF @OpTic_Stanislaw And thank you @EL @FACEIT for the show pic.twitter.com/jqgyfNNeCI
— OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) January 8, 2016
OpTic Gaming won a couple more A-Tier and S-Tier tournaments including Northern Arena 2016 – Montreal, ELEAGUE Season 2, ESL Pro League Season 6 – North America, and the DreamHack Open Summer 2019.
Additionally, the team had a few 2nd place finishes as well at the Esports Championship Series Season 2 – Finals, Esports Championship Series Season 4 – North America, DreamHack Open Summer 2018, Europe Minor Championship – London 2018, and the cs_summit 3.
That’s quite a lot of great results in CSGO and Halo – but both are trumped by their Call of Duty legacy.
Call of Duty is and was OpTic Gaming’s best game. The OpTic COD roster has changed many times over the years but they’ve always been somewhere near the top. Most of the time, they were sitting at the throne. So let’s go over their competitive years in quick succession, shall we?
I’ll be going over their biggest tournament wins here so just remember that there are plenty more apart from these most prestigious ones.
That’s about it for OpTic Gaming’s team history; a well-established team with a few decorated and prestigious wins to their name.
Currently, OpTic Gaming is active in only two games – Call of Duty and Halo. The organization restarted their Halo division with the appearance of Halo: Infinite so they’ve decided to sign a fresh new roster. Their Call of Duty team is listed as active, but there are only two players on the team. Here’s a breakdown:
With almost 10 years of professional gaming experience, the OpTic Gaming Halo division has seen countless successes. Almost all of their rosters were strong which is an unusual sight in Esports; usually, a roster gets better or worse once players are switched around.
Nonetheless, OpTic Gaming kept tearing up tournaments and finishing high, only to stop participating after November 2018. This sabbatical lasted for 3 years and, in November 2021, a new roster was announced for the newly released Halo: Infinite.
The new roster consists of aPG, iGotUrPistola, Lucid, and Trippy. The team is already looking good after winning the Halo Championship Series Open 2021 and fans are hopeful a new period of dominance will arrive.
#OpTicHalo is back. Welcome, @iGotUrPistola @aPureGangster @Lucid_TW @TriPPPeY @Lunchbox#GREENWALL pic.twitter.com/M2apaoVFCX — OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) November 15, 2021
#OpTicHalo is back.
Welcome, @iGotUrPistola @aPureGangster @Lucid_TW @TriPPPeY @Lunchbox#GREENWALL pic.twitter.com/M2apaoVFCX
— OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) November 15, 2021
OpTic Gaming stopped participating in CoD tournaments after 2019. Their entire roster left and the future looked grim. It wouldn’t be until 2021 that the OpTic Gaming Call of Duty team would reassemble and start competing once more.
After all, with such a decorated history, it would have been a shame to see OpTic completely out of Call of Duty Esports. However, there was one major change with the reappearance of OpTic. They would compete under the name OpTic Texas due to the Team Envy takeover on November 8th, 2021.
With this, the new age of OpTic Call of Duty Esports would begin. The good news is, they’ve started as well as their Halo brothers – winning the first tournament they entered.
The current OpTic Texas lineup consists of Dashy, iLLeY, Scump, and Shotzzy.
Bigger than Dallas. Welcome to OpTic Texas. @scump @DashySZN @Shotzzy @iLLeYYY pic.twitter.com/1AdeP8q1mP — OpTic Texas (@OpTicTexas) November 8, 2021
Bigger than Dallas.
Welcome to OpTic Texas. @scump @DashySZN @Shotzzy @iLLeYYY pic.twitter.com/1AdeP8q1mP
— OpTic Texas (@OpTicTexas) November 8, 2021
There are currently no upcoming OpTic Gaming event participations. As soon as we learn more, we will update this section with a table and relevant information.
OpTic Gaming have gone through turbulent times, but they have been a versatile and successful team across multiple Esports games. In recent years, they’ve stopped participating in most of these games, leaving only their Halo and Call of Duty teams active.
Even so, the new OpTic Gaming rosters are looking promising. Both the OpTic CoD and Halo divisions have already gotten their first tournament wins – just a week or two after they were created.
It seems that the OpTic Envy merger was a resounding success, and the team is looking great so the potential to win your OpTic bets is definitely here. However, there are a couple of nuances that evoke caution.
While it might be tempting to think that almost all OpTic bets will be positive and bring you some winnings, the reality is slightly different. Sure, OpTic’s Halo and CoD rosters are doing a great job right now, but they’ve only played at one tournament since their inceptions.
As such, it might be best to wait a while before placing bets, or at the very least, you should stick to the basic ones – match winner or outright.
In other words, betting on OpTic is a good choice if you place your bets smartly and don’t rush it due to the newly-developed hype around their performances.
Although they are active in two games, the current consensus is to keep the types of bets to outrights and match-winner bets. It will take a bit more time before we get a clearer picture of what to expect from OpTic across both Halo and CoD.
Theoretically, both Halo and Call of Duty are great choices at this point. As with everything else, we will have to wait and see what the teams manage to do in future tournaments. Until then, they’re equal in terms of bet winning percentages.
OpTic Gaming has a rich Esports history; one that is both admirable and prestigious. They’ve achieved quite a lot in their history but ultimately, they have only two teams left. There were periods where they didn’t compete at all – anywhere.
But when all is said and done, OpTic is one of the greatest Esports organizations, at least when talking about Halo and Call of Duty. And since their two teams are active in these two games, the enthusiastic punters of the world will have something for them pretty soon.
The organization is looking great and everyone’s pretty excited about the future. But for now, it’s best to sit back, watch, and enjoy the show that OpTic prepares in 2022.
OpTic Gaming is an Esports organization with a rich history in professional tournaments. They’ve been constantly performing at most prestigious tournaments, especially in Call of Duty and Halo.
OpTic has been one of the strongest teams on a consistent basis in said Esports titles, but they’ve also dabbled in other games such as Dota 2 and League of Legends.
For now, you should avoid all bets that aren’t match-winner and outrights. Any special bets are impossible to figure out right now due to OpTic playing in only two tournaments (one per team) in recent times.
The safest bet right now is the match-winner one. Your chances of winning are highest, especially in the early stages of a tournament.
Scump has earned the most with OpTic out of all other players. Throughout his tenure at OpTic Gaming, Scump has earned $777,959. A pretty hefty sum considering OpTic doesn’t have a presence in games with larger prize pools.
If we are to judge the future based on the present, OpTic Gaming’s is a bright one. Two new teams, both kicking it off with a tournament victory, and a dedication to do even better. If OpTic keep this momentum, we’ll see their domination return in the Esports world pretty soon.