#15 Cellium: Top 20 Players of Black Ops 7

The #15 player of the Black Ops 7 season is Riyadh Falcons AR, McArthur "Cellium" Jovel.

Cellium's move to Riyadh was one of the biggest storylines of the offseason, ending a seven-season run with FaZe and thrusting him into the role of cornerstone player for a brand-new superteam. The results didn't come as fast as either side hoped, with the Falcons spending most of the year searching for consistency, but a late-season roster shake-up and a run to the Champs podium gave Cellium and Riyadh something real to build on heading into next year.

Season Review

Cellium made the biggest move of the offseason, leaving FaZe after seven seasons together dating back to Black Ops 4 in 2019 to sign with the Riyadh Falcons. The Falcons made him the highest-paid player in the league, building the roster around him as their cornerstone. He was joined by ex-World Champions Pred at slaying SMG and KiSMET at support SMG, with Saudi homegrown talent Exnid rounding out the roster in a flex role. Expectations varied heading into the year, with most pegging Riyadh as a Top 6-caliber team.

The season opened poorly. At the preseason Monster Energy Kickoff Invitational, Riyadh lost to FaZe Vegas 0-3 and AM squad Team WaR 2-3, eliminated in the Top 16. The first qualifier went far better, with the Falcons going 5-2 to earn the 3rd seed, losing to top teams LA Thieves (1-3) and OpTic Texas (0-3) but picking up a quality win over Paris (3-1). That success didn't carry into the Major, though, as Cellium and company dropped their opener to OpTic Texas 0-3. They beat Cloud9 New York, but fell to FaZe Vegas 2-3, eliminated Top 8. After spending seven seasons fighting for championships with FaZe, it was a jarring change of pace for Cellium.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Stage II started bumpy, with Riyadh opening 0-2 before clawing back to a 5-4 record and the 5th seed. They beat both LA Thieves (3-0) and OpTic Texas (3-1) this time around, but slipped up against lower competition elsewhere. Riyadh finished Top 8 at Major II again, but the manner of the exit was worse, losing both matches 0-3 in blowouts to Minnesota and Toronto, the low point of the season for the Falcons.

Riyadh caught a friendlier schedule for the Major III Qualifiers. Despite losses to FaZe Vegas (1-3) and Toronto KOI (1-3), the Falcons finished 3-2 and secured the 5th seed. The season's first Minor took place mid-qualifier, and Riyadh failed to escape the Quarterfinals, falling to FaZe Vegas 1-3 after opening with a 3-1 win over Vancouver. Underwhelming, but the Major was always the real target. Cellium and the Falcons started that event hot, sweeping both Pool Play matches 3-0 over New York and FaZe Vegas, then continuing the run with a 3-0 win over Paris Gentle Mates to open the bracket. The magic dried up from there, with losses to OpTic (2-3) and LA Thieves (0-3) capping a Top 6 finish, the best result of the season to that point but still short of the goal.

The Major IV Qualifiers went well for Riyadh, finishing 4-1 for the 2nd seed, with the lone loss coming to FaZe Vegas 0-3 while going 12-6 in maps across their other four matches. The second Minor mirrored the first, with Riyadh again failing to escape the Quarterfinals, beating Carolina Royal Ravens 3-2 before being swept by OpTic Texas 0-3, results that didn't inspire much confidence heading into the Major. In what turned out to be the final tournament with the original roster, Riyadh flamed out quickly, losing to G2 Minnesota (2-3) and Toronto (0-3) for a Top 12 finish at Major IV, yet another disappointing result at a Major.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Something had to change. Riyadh benched Pred and brought in rookie Alluka from FaZe, who had spent the year as FaZe's substitute after a strong Challengers campaign and looked ready for the jump. The move paid off immediately, with Riyadh upsetting LA Thieves 3-1 in the opening round of Champs. They fell to FaZe Vegas 0-3, but bounced back with wins over Miami (3-0) and Paris (3-2) to reach the Lower Final. Riyadh ran out of steam there, losing to OpTic Texas and finishing 3rd at Champs, their best result of the season.

Competing as Team Falcons at the Esports World Cup, Riyadh opened in Pool B, with the new AR duo of Cellium and Alluka continuing to play well, beating Project Notorious (3-1) and Miami Heretics (3-1) to reach the playoffs. In front of the home crowd, Riyadh survived a 3-4 thriller over Paris Gentle Mates in the Quarterfinals, but the run ended there, with back-to-back losses to Miami Heretics (0-4) and 100 Thieves (3-4) capping a 4th-place finish. A solid ending to a frustrating year for Riyadh.

How Good Was Cellium in 2026?

Hardpoint

Cellium was his usual dominant self in respawns this season, leading the league with a 1.14 K/D in Hardpoint, adding 24.2 kills per 10 minutes, 3,150 damage per 10 minutes, and 73.0 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes. He set the 3rd-highest single-game hill time mark of the year, racking up 164 seconds against FaZe Vegas in Stage II. He stayed just as consistent on LAN, posting a 1.12 K/D and 23.8 kills per 10 minutes. Fittingly, he led the league in his namesake stat, the Cellium Index, in Hardpoint as well, finishing with a positive K/D in 74.2% of his Hardpoints, the best mark in the CDL.

Search & Destroy

SND was Cellium's worst mode of the season, finishing with just a 0.98 K/D, low by his standards, along with 0.68 kills per round, 114 ADR, a 50.4% opening duel win rate, and only 6 clutches. His numbers ticked up slightly on LAN to a 1.03 K/D, but he struggled badly against two of the league's top teams, posting just a 0.76 K/D and 0.56 kills per round against OpTic Texas and a 0.98 K/D with a 40% opening duel win rate against FaZe Vegas.

📸 Photo by @Riyadh_Falcons

Overload

Much like Hardpoint, Cellium was a dominant slaying force in Overload. He led the league with a 1.19 K/D in the mode, though he was below average in both kills per 10 minutes (22.3) and damage per 10 minutes (2,940). He scored 58 goals on the year with 5 hat tricks. He stayed in that same form on LAN, leading the league in K/D at 1.24 while slightly increasing his kills per 10 minutes to 23.0. As with Hardpoint, he topped the Cellium Index in Overload as well, finishing with a positive K/D in 80.4% of his Overloads played.

A Look Ahead to Modern Warfare IV

Cellium is on a multi-year deal with the Falcons, meaning he'll remain the cornerstone of the roster heading into Modern Warfare IV.

The rest of the roster is still fluid. Exnid looks like a piece the front office wants to keep around, and KiSMET proved to be a valuable contributor throughout the year as well. Riyadh is expected to be aggressive in free agency this offseason, but how the rest of the roster shakes out remains to be seen.