 | |
| Founded | September 13, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-09-13) |
|---|---|
| League | Call of Duty League |
| Team history | Dallas Empire (2019–2021) OpTic Texas (2021–present) |
| Based in | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Colors | |
| Championships | 1 (2020) (Dallas Empire) 1 (2024) (OpTic Texas) |
| Stage titles | 2 (2022 Major 1) (2024 Major 3) |
| Partners |
|
| Parent group | |
| Website | Official website |
OpTic Texas (formerly theDallas Empire) is an American professionalCall of Duty League (CDL) esports team based inDallas, Texas. OpTic Texas is owned byOpTic Gaming. Dallas was announced as one of the first five cities to host a CDL team.
On May 2, 2019, Activision Blizzard announced thatEnvy Gaming had purchased one of the first five franchise slots for theCall of Duty League.[1] According toESPN, the publisher was looking to sell slots for approximately $25 million per team.[2][3] Starting on October 14, 2019, and over the next 5 days Dallas announced their starting 5 man roster culminating with the announcement of their branding, the Dallas Empire.[4] On August 30, 2020, Dallas Empire won the 2020Call of Duty League Championship.[5] On September 1, 2020,Clayster announced on his Twitter account that he would go into the 2021 as a restricted free agent as a result of the Call of Duty League moving back to a 4v4 format.[6]
The team started the2021 season well, finishing 2nd at Stage 1 and 3rd at Stage 2. However, during Stage 3 the team announced that Huke would be moved to the substitute position with FeLo joining the starting roster.[7] Following a disappointing 7th/8th finishing during Stage 3 the team announced another change to the team's roster with Vivid being acquired from theLos Angeles Guerrillas, resulting in FeLo once again being moved to the substitute position.[8] The team showed improvement, resulting in a 2nd finish at Stage 4 after a 5–4 loss to theAtlanta FaZe in the Grand Finals. This result was followed up with a 4th finishing during Stage 5, resulting in the team finishing 3rd in the Regular Season standings. At the Championship Weekend the team finished 3rd following losses to the Atlanta FaZe andToronto Ultra. After the end of the 2021 season the team announced Ian "Crimsix" Porter and Reece "Vivid" Drost would be leaving the team with both players becoming a Restricted Free Agent.[9][10][11][12]
Ahead of the2022 season, the team was renamed to OpTic Texas following the merger of Envy and OpTic Gaming.[13]
In November 2021, it was announced that Envy Gaming would acquire theOpTic Gaming brand as part of a merger. OpTic Gaming leader Hector “HECZ” Rodriguez joined the combined companies’ ownership group and was to serve as President of OpTic Gaming. This also brought the OpTic Texas roster for Activision Blizzard'sCall of Duty League into the Envy family. In June 2022, it was announced Envy Gaming would retire the Envy brand, and fully becomeOpTic Gaming, thus moving the ownership of the OpTic Texas brand officially under the OpTic Gaming banner completely.[14]
During the 2022 season the team won Stage 1, followed by a top 6 place finishes at Stage 2 & Stage 3 and a top 4 finish at Stage 4, resulting in a second-place finish in the overall standings. At the 2022 Championship the team finished 4th following a 3–0 loss to theLos Angeles Thieves and a 3–1 loss to theSeattle Surge.
In August 2022, the team announced that it would be parting ways with Brandon "Dashy" Otell and Inderwir "iLLeY" Dhaliwal ahead of the 2023 season.[15][16] A day later however, the team announced that both players would still be part of the team for the 2023 season.[17]
After a disappointing Top 12 finish at Major I, the team decided to pick up Cuyler "Huke" Garland to replace Dashy.[18]
On January 17, 2023,Seth "Scump" Abner released a video announcing his retirement ahead of Major II. In the video, it was also announced that Dashy would be returning to the team for Major II.[19] Following a fourth-place finish at Major II, the team dropped ILLeY from the starting roster and added amateur player Daniel "Ghosty" Rothe.[20]
On June 26, 2023, OpTic Texas announced that it would part ways with Huke and Ghosty ahead of the 2024 season.[21] On July 31, OpTic finalized their MW3 season's roster by announcing the additions of Amer "Pred" Zulbeari from the Seattle Surge, and 2022 Champion Kenneth "Kenny" Williams from the Los Angeles Thieves.[22]
On May 19, 2024, OpTic Texas won their first major tournament in over 2 years by defeating the home team Toronto Ultra at third event of the year.[23] On July 21, OpTic Texas claim their first CDL era championship and their first title since the 2017 season at the Call of Duty League Championship Weekend in Allen, Texas's Credit Union of Texas Event Center.[24]
On December 11, 2024, it was reported that the team was exploring options to replace Pred as he was dealing with personal issues.[25] On December 12, the team picked up Huke, his 3rd stint with the Dallas Emprie/OpTic Texas franchise and left Pred's status with the team unknown.[26] On December 16, Pred confirmed that he was no longer on the team.[27] After a disappointing top 8 finish at the first major, Pred returned to the team and Huke was released.[28]
On March 17, 2025, Kenny was released ahead of the second major and 2023 Champion Cesar "Skyz" Bueno from theLos Angeles Guerrillas M8 was signed the following day.[29][30] On March 26, Pred was released for a second time and Huke was brought back for his 4th stint with the franchise.[31]
The original name "Dallas Empire" was derived from the lyrics, "O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest," of the Texas state songTexas, Our Texas. The team's original primary colors were black and gold, with a secondary color of blue, to represent their regal theme. Their logo displayed a crown, with the points being made up of a stylized N and V, as a nod toEnvy Gaming's history in competitiveCall of Duty.[32] As of 2024, OpTic Texas uses the traditional colors of OpTic Gaming, green and black. The OpTic Texas logo bears a resemblance to the standard OpTic logo, but with a star representing the Lone Star of Texas in place of the OpTic "G".
| OpTic Texas roster | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||
|
JohnPaul "JP Krez" Krez | |||||||||||||||
Legend:
| Latestroster transaction: March 26, 2025. | |||||||||||||||
| Season | Regular season | Finish | Playoffs | Note | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | MW | ML | MW% | GW | GL | GW% | ||||
| 2020 | 35 | 23 | 12 | .657 | 80 | 55 | .593 | 2nd | 1st, WonGrand Finals, 5–1 (FaZe) | As Dallas Empire |
| 2021 | 44 | 26 | 18 | .591 | 99 | 84 | .541 | 3rd | 3rd, LostLower Finals, 2–3 (Ultra) | |
| 2022 | 36 | 24 | 12 | .667 | 90 | 55 | .621 | 2nd | 4th, Lost inLosers Round 3, 1–3 (Surge) | As OpTic Texas |
| 2023 | 45 | 30 | 15 | .667 | 101 | 76 | .571 | 2nd | 5-6th, Lost inLosers Round 2, 2–3 (Surge) | |
| 2024 | 45 | 29 | 16 | .644 | 109 | 78 | .586 | 3rd | 1st, WonGrand Finals, 5–1 (Subliners) | |
| Date | Prize | Event | Roster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-03-08 | $ 50,000 | Call of Duty League 2020 Week 4 - Los Angeles | Clayster • Shotzzy • Huke • iLLeY • C6 |
| 2020-04-26 | $ 50,000 | Call of Duty League 2020 Week 6 - Chicago | Clayster • Shotzzy • Huke • iLLeY • C6 |
| 2020-07-19 | $ 50,000 | Call of Duty League 2020 Week 12 - London | Clayster • Shotzzy • Huke • iLLeY • C6 |
| 2020-08-30 | $ 1,500,000 | Call of Duty League Championship 2020 | Clayster • Shotzzy • Huke • iLLeY • C6 |
| Date | Prize | Event | Roster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-03-06 | $ 200,000 | Call of Duty League 2022 - Major 1 | Shotzzy • iLLeY • Scump • Dashy |
| 2024-05-19 | $ 150,000 | Call of Duty League 2024 - Major 3 | Shotzzy • Dashy • Pred • Kenny |
| 2024-07-21 | $ 800,000 | Call of Duty League Championship 2024 | Shotzzy • Dashy • Pred • Kenny |
Champs MVP
| 1st Team All-Star
| 2nd Team All-Star
|
