Full Wrap #19

The winter break is over, and it’s time to find out which teams used the time effectively. A few roster changes at the bottom and a couple highly touted rookies signed to top-tier teams shake things up for the new year.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Exceeding Expectations

Carolina entered 2026 with a new roster following SlasheR’s retirement, still seeking their first win of the Black Ops 7 season. Early rumors had Nium joining, but a last-minute shakeup forced them to go in a different direction. That direction was with Exceed, who got his first chance in the CDL since the MW2 season. The Burger King is back.

After going down 0-1 against Miami, Carolina bounced back behind an 11/3, three first-blood performance from Craze in the Search. A much-needed bounce-back map win for their confidence, which kept growing throughout the rest of the series. The AR duo of Nero and Exceed led the way Map 3, combining to go 56/47 (1.19). The Ravens' momentum didn't slow down and they closed out the series 3-1, with Nero finishing as the only player positive for Carolina with a 1.05.

After winning their last series on an Exposure Hardpoint, Ravens were lucky enough to start their second series against G2 the same way. A map that teams will need to veto against them moving forward; Carolina was able to take advantage of their unknown map pool this weekend. Nero had a takeover Hardpoint, finishing 30/14 (2.14), while the team went a ridiculous +40.

The series went back and forth, with Carolina once again having the chance to close out Map 4, but they couldn’t survive Kremplossus. Kremp went 54/38 (1.42), setting the Black Ops 7 kill record and tying the all-time CDL Hardpoint kill record, previously set by Capsidal in Vanguard. G2’s Map 5 struggles continued, and it's extremely clear why they don't go by G5 Minnesota.  Nero was the MVP once again with a lobby-leading 117 kills and 1.38 K/D. How long will the honeymoon last?

CEO Strikes Back

OpTic started off their new year with a match against FaZe. This wasn’t their first match against the new FaZe Vegas roster, having beaten them 3-0 in the CDL Kickoff tourney and at the Kaysan Showdown. That made it three straight 3-0’s against FaZe dating back to Black Ops 6 Champs. The CEO’s job was at risk.

Drazah felt the pressure from the losing streak and the recent Alluka signing and put together his best series of the season. Starting out hot and roaring early, Drazah posted a 43/27 (1.59) Map 1 alongside his AR duo Abuzah, who finished 40/24 (1.67). The rest of the series followed a similar theme, with Simp kicking up in Map 2 with an 11/5 and in Map 3 with 29/18 (1.61) en route to a 3-0 of their own. Abuzah and 04 picked up their first win against OpTic following their back-to-back Grand Finals losses to them at Champs and EWC. Will their first chip come next?

It was an all-around struggle for OpTic; everybody went negative, and of the three maps, Dashy’s 1.23 in the Overload was the only map any of them went positive. Shotzzy did his best to get the MPC unGA’d by putting up an absolute stinker, going 46/76 while primarily running the less commonly seen SMG. Botzzy’s back.

In need of a bounce back, OpTic got served up the last-place Surge on a silver platter. Mercules put his foot down and farmed Vancouver in the opening Hardpoint, finishing 38/18 while leading the lobby in damage (4,075) and hill time (128 seconds).

The rest of the team got the message as Shotzzy (8/2) and Dashy (9/3) dominated Map 2 to win 6-0, including a 1v3 Round 1 from a one-shot Shotzzy. A Lunarz 32/19 (1.68) masterclass in the Overload led to a 4-3 win, narrowly extending the series. The OpTic SMG duo took over in Map 4, with Huke going 31/17 (1.82) and Shotzzy going 26/18 (1.44) with 106 seconds of hill time. The performance from Shotzzy moved him out of last place in Hardpoint K/D for the year.

Mercules got himself another series MVP with his 86/62 (1.39) showing, while Shotzzy followed closely behind, leading the series in kills going 95/75 (1.27). Is OpTic still the team to beat?

#M8WIN Again

The Paris Gentle M8s were the consensus #2 team in the BreakingPoint coaches poll, but they seemed to have a break hangover. Their first match back was against the lowly C9, and they made it very difficult on themselves. 

C9 nearly took the first map as they led late 248-228, but the M8s managed to steal the map away with a late surge. Ghosty and Envoy, now in their second year as a duo, combined for 66 kills and 216 seconds on the point to secure the map.

Map 2 ended in a comeback in the opposite direction, with the 5-3 curse helping C9 secure the last three rounds despite Envoy’s record-setting 14 kills, the most of any player in an SnD this season. Beans had the final say on this map, closing Round 11 with a sniper ace. Scrap punching air.

Map 3 turned into a duel between two players, Ghosty (31/23) and Afro (33/24). The two were the only players that ended the map positive. C9 jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, and this time the M8s' comeback rally fell short, dropping the map and falling behind 2-1 in the series. Trailing in the series seemed to wake them up, as the last two maps were anything but close. Paris closed out the series 250-136, 6-2 to take the victory. C’est la vie.

Feeling Like Teej

It didn’t take long for TJHaly to find his way back into the league. After just three matches, Vancouver dropped former Halo pro, Lqgend, trading the not-so-promising rookie for a veteran presence. Having lost nine straight maps to open the season, the only way to go was up. Or so you would think. 

Map 1 began, and somehow Vancouver seemed even worse. Boston ripped off the first 80 points of the game before Vancouver finally touched the hill, and the damage had been done. The Surge dropped their tenth consecutive map, over halfway to breaking OpTic’s record of 18 straight. Things got even uglier as they tacked on an eleventh straight map loss, punctuated by getting 1v3 clutched on by Cammy.

Finally in Map 3 things turned around. After not leading for a single second or round in Map 1 or 2, Vancouver finally broke their curse with a 3-2 Overload victory on Exposure. All of a sudden they were headed into unfamiliar territory: Map 4. Their momentum carried over, and they tied the series with a second map win, 250-179 on Den. They then closed out the series with a dominant 6-1 win in Map 5, grabbing their first series win of the year. Teej effect.

ShitKenned

Much like FaZe, LA Thieves also signed a substitute over the break: Huntsmen player Nium. If they expected it to light a fire under Kenny in the same way the Alluka signing did for the FaZe ARs, they were sorely mistaken. For the second time this season, the Thieves got absolutely steamrolled by a top four team. A 300 looks like a Phantom until a Phantom pulls up.

LAT led 218-202 going into the penultimate hill of Map 1, but Joe would call game by picking up five on the P4, ending the map at 250-224. He did the exact same in Round 9 of Map 2, picking up the ace to end the game. He also tied Envoy’s record from earlier in the weekend with 14 kills in an SnD. KOI took a narrow 1-0 lead into halftime of the Overload, but LAT collapsed in the second half with a 4-0 loss. In the words of the newest 100T CS team member dev1ce: Lets f*cking go, their cod team sucks tho.

There is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed for the Thieves. After Kenny’s 41-62 performance today (0.66 K/D), he has now fallen to a 0.82 K/D on the season. That drops him beneath Purj and now gives him the second-worst K/D of any active CDL player, ahead of only Skyz. It was revealed after Nium’s signing that the Thieves only control his rights through the end of Major 1 unless they decide to promote him to the active roster. If there’s a move that is going to be made, it will be sooner rather than later. With a matchup against OpTic looming next Sunday, it would be no surprise if Kenny has played his last CDL match.

TOP PERFORMERS

Nero: You never know which Nero you’re going to get before a series starts. Some days he runs like a headless chicken, but others he looks like one of the best players in the league. In the first map he played this weekend, it looked like he might be the chicken, clocking in with a lowly 22/31 (0.71 K/D) performance with the least hill time in the lobby. But after that he locked in. He ended the series 91-87, closing out the 3-1 win over Miami with a 34/29 (1.17) while leading the lobby in time with 128 seconds. He picked up right where he left off against his former team, Minnesota, dropping a 30/14 (2.14). He would end that series at 117/85 (1.21) and 15,172 damage, the most damage of any player this weekend; no one else managed to break even 14,000. He tacked on a 25/15 (1.67) combined stat line in SnD and a 56/46 (1.22) in Overload as he was dominant in every game mode.

Pred: Facing a lot of criticism over the past year, Pred showed why the Falcons didn’t hesitate to sign him last season with a 101/89 performance against G2. He finished with the highest K/D in the series and the second most kills. If Pred can keep this pace up, it’s possible the Pred of old could be back. On top of that, he found his footing in the SnD’s, where he went 15/9 (1.67) across the two maps to help Riyadh close out the series in a Neslo fashion.

Abuzah: Replacing Cellium is never an easy task, but Abuzah showed why FaZe chose the Belgian with his performance against OpTic this weekend. Being the best player in a lobby highlighted by the likes of Simp, Shotzzy, Mercules, and Dashy is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what Abuzah did. His 76/55 topped the series in kills and K/D, largely because his respawn play was undeniable. He led Hardpoint in K/D (1.67) and hill time (93 seconds), as well as the Overload in scores with three while still posting a 1.21 K/D. His presence in the SnD’s was also felt, finishing 7/7 with 3 first bloods. If you see Abuzah's glint, you're probably dead.

Ghosty: After being dropped from the Thieves for Kenny this offseason, Ghosty has become a consensus top 3 player in the league. He continued his dominance this weekend against C9 with a 112/85 statline (1.32) while leading the lobby in damage (13,866) and hill time (191 seconds). If that wasn’t enough to convince you, his performance actually brought his overall season K/D down to a 1.35, still good enough for #1 in the league.