#14 Kips: Top 20 Players of Black Ops 7

The #14 player of the Black Ops 7 season is Toronto KOI AR, Nicholas "Kips" Lyons.

Kips entered Black Ops 7 as a Challengers standout and left it as the cornerstone of Toronto KOI's future. Back-to-back 3rd-place finishes at his first two professional LANs announced him as one of the league's most promising young ARs, even as a turbulent second half of the season, capped by the loss of a star teammate, tested just how much he could carry on his own.

Season Review

Kips began the season in Challengers, having played in previous titles but reaching a new level with OpTic's academy team, the Huntsmen. The roster was built around young talent, pairing him with fellow eventual CDL rookie Jeremiah "Nium" Harrison at AR, ex-Halo player Jonathan "Renegade" Willette at SMG, and SMG prospect Rspi.

The squad held its own in a stacked NA region, finishing Top 4 at their first Elite event together and 4th at the Dallas Open. That performance turned heads across the league. Nium drew interest from Carolina Royal Ravens and LA Thieves, Renegade fielded calls of his own, and Kips had multiple suitors before ultimately choosing Toronto KOI, joining Tobias Juul "CleanX" Jønsson at entry SMG, Jamie "Insight" Craven at main AR, and Joseph "JoeDeceives" Romero at slaying SMG.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

The new-look KOI roster opened uneasily, going 5-6 in the Major II Qualifiers to land the 8th seed, forcing them into the Play-In bracket at the Major. The results finally came at the event itself. Kips and company beat Vancouver Surge to reach the main bracket, and while they fell 0-3 to OpTic Texas in Upper Round 1, they caught fire in the Lower Bracket, knocking off Riyadh Falcons (3-0), Paris Gentle Mates (3-1), and LA (3-0) to reach the Lower Final. Toronto ultimately fell to FaZe Vegas 3-1, finishing 3rd at Kips's first professional LAN, a run that included a win over his former Huntsmen teammate Nium along the way.

That form carried into Stage III, with Toronto going 4-1 in the Major III Qualifiers, the lone loss coming against OpTic 2-3. The qualifying schedule was relatively easy, but the Minor proved to be a tougher test. Toronto beat Carolina 3-0 in Round 1 before falling 1-3 to OpTic in the Quarterfinals, a pattern that would define much of their season: dominant against the lower half of the league, but still a step behind the top teams. Major III in Atlanta brought back the Pro-Am format with GSL Pool Play, and Toronto came through Pool B clean, beating Kips's former team, the Huntsmen, 3-0 and Miami Heretics 3-1. The momentum continued into the bracket, with wins over G2 Minnesota (3-2) and FaZe (3-1) pushing them to the Upper Final. The run ended quickly from there, falling to rivals OpTic 2-3 and then to Thieves 0-3, eliminated in 3rd place. With two real chances to reach a Grand Final in as many events, this 3rd-place finish stung more than the one before it.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Toronto expected another manageable Major IV Qualifier slate, but the stage took an early turn. Just one week in, star player JoeDeceives was sold to Paris to bolster their roster. Toronto brought in substitute Ronald "Abe" Abraham, but the pressure of carrying the team shifted squarely onto Kips. They fell to rivals OpTic 2-3 once more, but the bigger blow came in upset losses to Boston Breach (1-3) and Carolina (1-3), finishing the qualifiers 2-3 and dropping to the 10th seed, forcing a Lower Bracket start at Major IV. The second Minor was no kinder, with Toronto falling in the Quarterfinals again, this time 0-3 to Paris.

Starting in the Lower Bracket at Major IV made for a difficult road. Toronto opened with wins over Riyadh (3-0) and Boston (3-0), but fell in Lower Round 3 to FaZe Vegas 0-3, settling for a Top 6 finish that still secured their spot at Champs. Heading into the biggest tournament of Kips's career, questions swirled about how far a depleted KOI roster could go riding a rookie. Ultimately, it was too much to overcome. Toronto dropped back-to-back matches to Paris (0-3) and Miami (2-3), eliminated Top 8. After back-to-back 3rd-place finishes at his first two LANs, it was a disappointing way to close out the CDL season.

📸 Photo by @TorontoKOI

The year wrapped up at the Esports World Cup, with Kips and company competing as Movistar KOI in Pool A. They scraped through, losing to FaZe Vegas 1-3 in Winners Round 2 but advancing with a 3-1 win over Cloud9 in the Lower Qualifier. Their playoff run ended quickly, falling 0-4 to 100 Thieves in the Quarterfinals, another Top 8 finish to close out the season.

How Good Was Kips in 2026?

Hardpoint

Kips played like a slayer in Hardpoint, but brought a well-rounded game to the mode. He finished well above league average in K/D (1.02), kills per 10 minutes (25.8), damage per 10 minutes (3,381), and hill time per 10 minutes (66.3). He was a genuine damage machine, setting the 3rd-highest single-match damage total of the season, dropping 5,818 damage against New York in Stage III. He stayed consistent on LAN, posting a 1.01 K/D and 3,332 damage per 10 minutes, though he struggled against two of the league's top teams, posting just a 0.86 K/D against LA Thieves and a 0.89 K/D against OpTic Texas.

Search & Destroy

Search & Destroy was Kips's best mode of the season. He finished with a 1.17 K/D, 0.81 kills per round, a league-best 128.2 ADR, and a 58.3% opening duel win rate. He was consistently involved round-by-round, notching at least one kill in 56.7% of rounds, the 3rd-best mark in the league. Just like in Hardpoint, he was a damage machine in SND as well, setting the 2nd-most damage in a single map with 1,933 against New York in Stage III, in the very same series where he set his Hardpoint damage mark.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Unlike Hardpoint, Kips thrived against the league's best teams in SND, dominating FaZe Vegas (1.58 K/D, 1.07 kills per round, 153.3 ADR) and LA Thieves (1.41 K/D, 0.80 kills per round, 111.6 ADR). He stayed steady on LAN with a 1.20 K/D on the year. Even having missed an entire stage, Kips led the league with 14 SND maps of 1,500-plus damage, doing so in 27% of his SND appearances.

Overload

Overload played out similarly to Kips's other respawn mode. The rookie finished the year with a 1.04 K/D, 50 goals scored, 24.2 kills per 10 minutes, and 3,082 damage per 10 minutes. He set the 2nd-highest single-map kill total in Overload this season, racking up 45 kills against Paris during Minor II. He actually improved on LAN, posting a 1.08 K/D and scoring 1.2 goals per 10 minutes played.

A Look Ahead to Modern Warfare IV

Kips is the cornerstone player Toronto KOI will build around heading into Modern Warfare IV. Insight and Abe have both announced they're free agents, while CleanX has re-signed with the organization. Toronto will look to add two players who fit alongside that pairing and complement them as much as possible.

Kips will look to take another step forward next season, aiming to join the ranks of the league's elite ARs. Plenty of rising rookies have stumbled in their sophomore campaigns before, so continued development will be key to avoiding that same fate.