This comes after the team finished fourth place at the CDL Major Two, which wrapped up on February 5.

The CoD esports player announced via his Twitter page that he had been moved to restricted free agency after a year and a half with the organization. iLLeY also asked squads interested in winning to reach out to him.

“Restricted F/A, bang my line if you want to win,” iLLeY’s post read.

Following iLLeY’s announcement, several members of the CoD community, including Las Vegas Legion squad member James “Clayster” Eubanks, expressed their confusion and disbelief.

OpTic Texas is yet to say anything about a replacement for iLLeY; however, it is rumoured that an amateur gamer will take his place on the team’s starting roster.

OpTic Gaming’s current roster consists of Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro, Brandon “Dashy” Otell, Cuyler “Huke” Garland and iLLeY. The team placement was one of OpTic Texas’ best in the CDL Modern Warfare 2 season. The squad has notably faced some challenges in reclaiming previous glory enjoyed by OpTic Gaming fans in past iterations.

Following Scump’s retirement in January, iLLeY and Shotzzy were reunited with their former teammate, Huke. The famous 2019-Championship-winning XEO trio played for the Dallas Empire brand before reconvening at OpTic Texas.

During their time together, the players emerged winners of the CoD League Championship 2020 after taking down Atlanta FaZe in the final match to secure the title. The team also recently placed top four at the CDL Major Two with OpTic Gaming, after only a few practice games together.

The CDL Major Two saw OpTic Texas pull a hard-fought win over Los Angeles Thieves in the winner’s bracket first round but ultimately lost to the squad in the elimination round four. The Los Angeles Thieves finished in second place after losing to the tournament champions, Atlanta FaZe.

While in OpTic Texas, iLLeY has proved himself integral to the team and helped win their first-ever championship title, Major I, in the Vanguard era. Since then, the player has faced a number of issues stemming from a hand injury that made him unable to participate in several gaming competitions for most of last season.

iLLeY’s performance in Major II, which amounted to a 0.83 overall K/D, likely led to OpTic Gaming’s recent decision to pull the plug on the player. However, the world champion’s reputation will likely aid him in finding a team that can afford his buyout set by OpTic Texas.

This makes the second player OpTic Texas has lost in the span of a month. On January 17, legendary CoD gamer Scump announced that he had retired from competitive gaming and was stepping away from OpTic Texas’ active lineup.

It was expected that Scump would hang up his pad after the conclusion of the Modern Warfare 2 season; however, the player shocked fans when he announced an earlier retirement. He explained that the decision was because he “overestimated” his energy and did not think he could keep up with the amount of work expected from pro gamers.

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Late last year, the player declared in a YouTube video that he was going to make 2023 his final season. But now he has said he does not have the capacity to forge ahead. Scump says he is no longer fit and swift enough to be playing in the competitive scene, and that is why he is hanging up his boots.

“Coming into the year, I was already on the fence about giving it another go. And I thought that I could do it but I overestimated my energy, and that happens,” Scump said in a farewell video.

The OpTic Texas player has spent up to a decade in the Call of Duty scene. It is without a doubt that he is a terrific player, since he is one of the highest paid players and also the face of competitive Call of Duty.

Scump assured the OpTic Texas fan base that the team is in good hands, stating that with the current roster and the return of Brandon “Dashy” Otell, they will attain great heights.

“With the great team that I had, Ant (Shotzzy) being there, and the addition of Brandon (Dashy) back, I hope people are very happy with the new roster at the very least. I think you guys are going to be absolutely disgusting. After seeing Cuyler (Huke) and you as a sub duo with the pacing, it was kind of an easy decision. I’m not like that – I’m not fast anymore. These guys, they’re different, and it’s a hard decision,” Scump said.

The Call of Duty prodigy also outlined what follows after his retirement. Scump talked about wanting to always create content, but due to his busy schedule as a player, he was unable to. He said he was going to focus now on content creation.

“I’ve obviously never found myself in a situation like this. I’m a little nervous and apprehensive for the future but I’m also excited on top of that. Content has always been something that I wanted to do personally,” he said.

Scump thanked his fans for their support and promised he would make up for his absence from the competitive scene by creating time to meet some of his fans and attending events.

“For the supporters, they may be mad or upset with me, but I’m sorry. I promise I will make it up….Errrm I’ll be attending events still and meeting people, which I couldn’t do being a player. Because, obviously COVID,” Scump explained.

“Thank you guys for the memory. It’s not a sad night. It’s a happy night. It’s a new chapter in my life. So let’s have some fun.”

Many of his previous and current teammates took to their social media accounts to pay tribute to the world champion, acknowledging that he was one of the greatest of all time in the Call of Duty scene.

“A rare combination of talent, class, and charisma – we have been fortunate to have you for all these years. Competitive COD is forever grateful, and congrats on your new chapter, this is only the beginning!” the Call of Duty General Manager Daniel Tsay said.

Scump’s former Team Envy teammate James “Clayster” Eubanks said in a tweet: “Actually makes me really, really emotional. One of the best to ever do it, so many great battles, so many victories, so many defeats. Been through it all for 11+ years at this point, sad to see you go but excited to see what the future holds. @scump love yah brotha.”

Dashy, who was disclosed by Scump to be coming back to the OpTic Texas roster, also said: “Today is hitting a little different… One of my favourite people/teammates I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me over all these years, I just hope to make you proud from the outside my brother.”

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The Call of Duty legend made the announcement via a YouTube video post on his channel. In the post which he captioned “This is Goodbye,” he revealed that he will only be active in competitive Call of Duty for one more year.

“One last dance, ladies and gentlemen. This will be my final year competing as a professional Call of Duty player,” Scrump announced.

Scump joins the growing list of professional COD players who are exiting the competitive scene. A list that includes former New York Subliners player Ian “Crimsix” Porter, who ended his run as a pro gamer at the end of Vanguard.

Scump started his career in Call of Duty almost a decade ago with Team Envy and thereafter moved on to the Chicago Huntsmen before joining OpTic Gaming. He has built a name for himself in the esports scene and is considered as one of the most successful players in competitive Call of Duty.

The 27-year old also shared more context to his decision to retire from competitive COD, stating that he will not be leaving the scene in entirety. He stated that all he had the mental span for was one more year, but he would remain “heavily involved” in Call of Duty.

“I’m not going to be completely leaving the space obviously. I’m still going to be heavily involved in Call of Duty,” Scump said.

“It’s not like I’m just going to evaporate from thin air or anything. I just think that my time, my effort, and my energy, one last season is pretty much all that I got left in the tank in terms of my mental, all that stuff. I think that I have one more good year to give to not only myself, but my teammates, first and foremost, my coaching staff, my amazing partners and the people I work with at OpTic, and you guys, the Green Wall.”

OpTic, which is known as the biggest franchise in Call of Duty history, is being led by the American. The franchise boasts over 2 million followers on their YouTube channel, along with a good following on their Twitch channel.

During the offseason, Scump had been creating content, where he had hinted on several occasions of a possible retirement in the near future. In a recent conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of OpTic, Hector Rodriguez, Scump had been questioned about his retirement plans. While he stated he would be retiring soon, he did not divulge a specific date that would occur.

Despite having a great run in competitive Call of Duty, Scump has only clinched the world championship once in his career. In the last few years, he came close to clinching another title but fell short.

He has stated that while he will be retiring from competitive COD, he will be involved in some other capacity within the space. It is, however, unclear in what capacity he will be staying on the scene, as a content creator, analyst, coach or even a substitute. He is, however, expected to spend more time away after the 2023 CDL season, owing to his recent engagement.

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