#9 Huke: Top 20 Players of Black Ops 7

The #9 player of the Black Ops 7 season is OpTic Texas' star SMG & multi-time World Champion, Cuyler "Huke" Garland.

Huke and OpTic entered the year chasing history, aiming to become the first team ever to three-peat as Champs winners. They came up agonizingly short of that goal, dropping four different Grand Finals across the season, but a Major IV title and an Esports World Cup championship kept the year from slipping into disappointment entirely.

Season Review

OpTic ran it back with the same core that won both Champs and the Esports World Cup in Black Ops 6, becoming the first team in CDL history to win back-to-back Champs titles. Huke, Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro, Brandon "Dashy" Otell, and Mason "Mercules" Ramsey returned unchanged, entering the year as the widely regarded favorites, with LA Thieves, Paris Gentle Mates, and FaZe Vegas viewed as the closest competition.

The preseason unfolded exactly as expected. OpTic dominated the Monster Energy Launch Invitational, highlighted by wins over FaZe (3-0) and a pair of victories against Paris in the Winners Final (3-0) and Grand Final (4-3). Kaysan's Showdown VIII saw them settle for 2nd, but the team looked ready to carry that form straight into the regular season.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

The Major I Qualifiers weren't nearly as clean. OpTic finished 4-3 with a 14-13 map count, good for the 6th seed but far from the dominant showing fans expected. They shook that off fast once the Major began, winning three straight matches by 3-0 scorelines against Riyadh Falcons in Winners Round 1, G2 Minnesota in Winners Round 2, and Paris in the Winners Final. Many expected a rout in the Grand Final rematch with Paris, but the Gentle Mates flipped the script, beating OpTic 4-3 on Texas home turf to send Huke and company to a 2nd-place finish in the opening Major.

OpTic carried far more consistent form into the Major II Qualifiers, claiming the 1st seed with a 10-1 record and a 31-10 map count, with their only loss coming to Riyadh Falcons at 1-3. Their Major II run mirrored the one before it: three straight dominant wins, beating Toronto in Winners Round 1 (3-0), Minnesota in Winners Round 2 (3-0), and FaZe Vegas in the Winners Final (3-1). The Grand Final repeated the Major I storyline as well, with FaZe getting their revenge in an eClassico rematch, sweeping the series 4-1 to send OpTic to a second consecutive runner-up finish.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Stage III brought another spotless qualifying run, with OpTic going 5-0 in the Major III Qualifiers for the 1st seed and a 15-6 map count. Even with that dominant qualifying stretch, the Minor told a different story, with OpTic falling in the Semifinals to LA Thieves 2-3, still searching for their first tournament win of the regular season despite the Kickoff title. At Major III in Atlanta, Huke and company swept through Pool A, beating AM squad OMiT 3-0 and Minnesota 3-1. The bracket run continued at that same pace, taking down Miami Heretics in Winners Round 1 (3-0), Riyadh Falcons in Winners Round 2 (3-2), and Toronto KOI in the Winners Final (3-2), earning a tough but expected date with LA Thieves in the Grand Final. In a stunning twist, former OpTic academy product Jeremiah "Nium" Harrison got the better of his old organization, leading LA Thieves to a seven-map win over OpTic to eliminate them in 2nd once again. It made for an 11-0 record in best-of-5 matches on LAN, undercut by an 0-3 mark in Grand Finals.

After three straight runner-up finishes, OpTic entered Stage IV with something to prove. They claimed the 3rd seed in the Major IV Qualifiers at 3-2 with a 13-8 map count, and showed improvement in Minor II, reaching the Final before falling to LA Thieves 2-4, a result that suggested the Thieves still had their number heading into the final regular-season LAN. Major IV brought a change of scenery, held in Europe with Paris Gentle Mates hosting. For the first time all year, OpTic didn't reach the Grand Final through the Upper Bracket, losing to LA Thieves in the Winners Final 0-3. They regrouped quickly, eliminating the hometown Gentle Mates 3-0, before delivering a classic seven-map Grand Final. This time, OpTic finally broke through, beating LA Thieves 4-3 to claim their first Major title of the season, exactly the momentum they needed heading into the year's biggest event.

Huke and OpTic Texas arrived at Champs chasing a three-peat, a feat no team in CDL history had ever come close to achieving. They had a favorable path lined up, earning the 1st seed in the regular season for the first time in league history. Just as they had at Major IV, OpTic rolled through Miami (3-0) and Paris (3-1) to set up another eClassico showdown with FaZe in the Winners Final. This time, the story didn't go OpTic's way, falling 2-3 there and again in the Grand Final, dropping a 2-5 decision to FaZe. It capped a heartbreaking CDL season for Huke and company, who finished 1-4 in Grand Finals across the year's LAN events.

Champs may not have gone their way, but one more S-Tier tournament remained: the Esports World Cup. Competing as OpTic Gaming, Huke and company weren't perfect in Pool Play, dropping a 2-3 decision to 100 Thieves, but still advanced to the playoffs, beating AM squads Team WaR (3-1) and Project Notorious (3-0). In the best-of-7 playoff bracket, OpTic dismantled FaZe Esports 4-0 and survived a seven-map battle with 100 Thieves at 4-3 to reach the Grand Final. There, they turned back Team Heretics 5-3 to claim the Esports World Cup title and the $600,000 top prize. It wasn't the trophy they came into the year chasing, but it was a fitting consolation to close out the season.

How Good Was Huke in 2026?

Hardpoint

Huke closed the season with a 1.03 K/D in Hardpoint, adding 25.4 kills per 10 minutes, 3,175 damage per 10 minutes, and 48.5 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes. He proved to be a genuine difference-maker on LAN, setting the 4th-highest single-map kill total of the year with 47 against Minnesota at Major III, and posted a 1.02 K/D in the mode on LAN overall. His presence loomed large regardless of the numbers: OpTic went 49-8 (86%) in Hardpoint maps where Huke finished with a positive K/D.

Search & Destroy

SND was Huke's weakest mode of the season, closing the year with a 0.92 K/D, 0.65 kills per round, 93.6 ADR, and a 48.7% opening duel win rate. It wasn't his sharpest statistical year in the mode, but his value still showed up elsewhere: OpTic went 21-25 (46%) in SND maps where Huke posted a negative K/D, the best mark in the CDL for any player in that situation. He also led the league with 175 plants on the season, tied for 1st in nade kills at 23 alongside Shotzzy, and finished with 13 clutches.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Overload

If SND was his weakest mode, Overload was his best. Huke finished the year with a 1.09 K/D, 44 goals, 25.3 kills per 10 minutes, and 3,045 damage per 10 minutes, and carried that form onto LAN with a 1.07 K/D and 24.8 kills per 10 minutes. He ranked 3rd in the league's Cellium Index for Overload, finishing with a positive K/D in 68.6% of his maps played. Even in his off nights, OpTic went 11-11 (50%) in Overload maps where Huke finished negative, the best record in the CDL for any player under those circumstances.

A Look Ahead to Modern Warfare IV

Despite rumors that Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez had interest in joining OpTic this offseason, the organization has confirmed there will be no changes to the roster heading into Modern Warfare IV. As always, new challengers will emerge, and superteams will form around the league, but as it stands, every one of them will still have to get through OpTic to win it all.