Rivalry Weekend

The Call of Duty League has officially started and so far the opening weekend has been absolutely explosive for the Chicago Huntsmen. The Huntsmen faced off against one of their rivals, the Dallas Empire in a glorious opening match. Now they will face off against who many are considering their other rival, the Los Angeles OpTic on Sunday, January 26. From an outside perspective this will seem like any other match, but these two teams have quite the story behind them. The War of the Green Wall will soon begin.

The History of OpTic

The Leader of the Chicago Huntsmen is none other than Call of Duty legend Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez. H3CZ was the soul of OpTic Gaming from 2007 to 2019. There he turned OpTic Gaming into a staple of early Call of Duty gaming content. The team was notorious for epic sniping montages and pushed vlog style content with their players. The videos were a massive success and saw the uprising of OpTic Gaming. Throughout the years and different iterations of Call of Duty the team continued their ascent. During this ascent they would gather a massive amount of fans who were dubbed the Green Wall.

The Sale of OpTic

In 2017 OpTic Gaming was acquired by Neil Liebman, Co-Owner of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. During this acquisition OpTic Gaming was put under parent company Infinite Esports and Entertainment. In July of 2019 it was announced that Immortals Gaming Club would purchase Infinite Esports and Entertainment. With this purchase they would acquire OpTic Gaming. H3CZ wanted to purchase OpTic for himself but was outbid by the Immortals. This buyout had H3CZ rethinking his position within the organization.

The Creation of the Huntsmen

While H3CZ was rethinking his position there were other plans being set in motion from another esports titan, NRG Esports. On September 13, 2019 NRG had announced they were joining the Call of Duty League. On September 15 H3CZ announced he was joining NRG as Co-CEO. H3CZ would now be in charge of NRG’s newly formed Call of Duty League team. They would later reveal their new branding as the Chicago Huntsmen. Here H3CZ would develop a roster of former OpTic Gaming talent such as Seth “Scump” Abner and Matthew “FormaL” Piper. He would also acquire other acclaimed Call of Duty players Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson, Dylan “Envoy” Hannon and Pierce “Gunless” Hillman. The team also has substitute players Jordon “General” General, Marucs “MBoZe” Blanks and Troy “Sender” Michaels.

OpTic and The Green Wall

After their acquisition of OpTic Gaming the Immortals would go on to create OpTic Gaming Los Angeles as their Call of Duty League team. Now they would be playing against their former creator and talents. While OpTic LA retains the brand of Optic Gaming, H3CZ is determined to continue building the fandom he helped create, the Green Wall. H3CZ is now hoping the Green Wall will follow him to new pastures and put their loyalty in a darker shade of green as the Huntsmen have adorned green and brown as their brand colors. So far many fans have followed H3CZ, Scump and FormaL into their new endeavor as the Chicago Huntsmen. This team has a strong reputation with Call of Duty legends and that reputation has stood for quite some time.

The War of the Green Wall

The Chicago Huntsmen will now be facing off against OpTic Gaming Los Angeles, their former organization, for the 2020 season of the Call of Duty League. On launch weekend they will be playing against each other for the first time on Sunday, January 26. A rivalry is born as even though these teams have never met in an official game there is already a massive interest into how this will play out. Where does the legacy of OpTic truly lie and where does the loyalty of the Green Wall stand? Will The Green Wall stay loyal to the brand of OpTic, or will they follow the legacy of H3CZ? The first match between these teams is poised to be an epic standoff between two pillars of the Call of Duty competitive scene. The War of the Green Wall has begun and it will surely be a sight to behold.

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