#18 Ghosty: Top 20 Players of Black Ops 6

The #18 Player of the Black Ops 6 season is the objective king, Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe of the LA Thieves.

Helping the Thieves make a superteam coming into the season, expectations were massive for both Ghosty and the roster. Throughout the season, the squad would make three LAN Grand Finals, taking 2 championships and winning the second Minor. The rising star finished the year with a 1.03 overall K/D, but was positive in each of the three modes. Leading the team in objective statistics in both respawn modes, Dan was instrumental to the success of the team this season.

Season Review

Ghosty joined the Thieves franchise in 2023, helping build a new roster for the Modern Warfare 3 season that eventually featured Byron “Nastie” Plumridge, Joseph “JoeDeceives” Romero, and Kyle “Kremp” Haworth. The team overperformed down the stretch, finishing Top 6 at Major IV, placing 4th at Champs, and reaching the Grand Finals of the Esports World Cup, ultimately securing a 2nd-place finish. It was a showcase of the roster’s potential and gave the organization confidence that any of the four players could be retained heading into the next year.

That offseason was marked by a heated competition to acquire superstars Thomas “Scrap” Ernst and Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez, who were seeking to team up after falling short at the biggest events of MW3. The Thieves emerged as the ideal destination, as Nadeshot recruited the duo alongside Dylan “Envoy” Hannon to join Ghosty on the LA roster. The acquisitions made LA Thieves not only offseason champions but also top contenders to win multiple titles in Black Ops 6.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

The season started just as LA hoped, with a perfect 4-0 record across the first two weeks of qualifiers, including wins over Atlanta FaZe (3-2) and Cloud9 New York (3-1). Their respawn dominance was evident in both slaying and objective control. Although they fell to FaZe in their opening match of Minor I, confidence remained high entering the first Major in Madrid. After locking in the 5th seed with a 5-2 qualifier record, expectations were sky-high.

Ghosty & Co. handled business in the opening rounds of Major I, defeating Carolina 3-1 and Miami 3-0 to set up a Winner’s Final clash with FaZe. With the series split 1-1 online, this was the tiebreaker and a shot at the Grand Finals. FaZe edged them out in Map 5, taking the series 3-2. Still, LA bounced back by sweeping Miami 3-0 to set up an unforgettable Grand Final. In Map 7, Round 11, FaZe narrowly edged out LA, lifting the trophy in one of the greatest matches in CDL history. Despite the heartbreak, LA entered Stage II hungry for revenge.

Stage II saw the Thieves hit their peak. They went a flawless 7-0 in qualifiers with a dominant 21-2 map count. In the final Minor of the season, they rolled through New York and Carolina before taking down Vancouver 4-3 in the Finals. It was clear the Thieves had hit their stride, and expectations soared heading into Major II in Texas.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

That momentum didn’t carry into the Major. LA fell 3-1 to Boston in the opening match and tried to make a lower-bracket run, taking down Miami, Carolina, and New York before being swept by a red-hot Toronto Ultra squad, finishing 4th.

With two promising stages and no LAN trophy, the pressure mounted in Stage III. The Thieves responded well, going 4-1 in qualifiers with a 14-3 map count. Their SND also improved significantly, going 5-1, a crucial stat heading into tougher matchups.

At Major III in Boca Raton, the Thieves came in as favorites. They swept both Carolina and Miami, setting up a Winner’s Final against Vancouver. In a five-map thriller, LA’s clutch SND sealed the series win and a Grand Finals spot. Vancouver clawed their way back for a rematch, but LA dismantled them 4-0 to win their first trophy of the season in dominant fashion.

The final stage came quickly after Boca, with no time to rest. LA stumbled in qualifiers with losses to Atlanta (0-3) and Miami (2-3), ending at 3-2 and securing the 4th seed for DreamHack. In front of a massive Texas crowd, they aimed to go back-to-back.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

After a 3-0 sweep over Vancouver, the Thieves lost a close 2-3 series to the Miami Heretics in Round 2. But they rebounded in the lower bracket, defeating Toronto, Texas, and Miami to reach the Grand Finals. Once again facing FaZe, their SND dominance on Rewind and Red Card guided them to a 4-2 victory and another championship.

Despite two Major wins, all eyes were on Champs. The pressure was immense, and the Thieves fell flat. In Winner’s Round 1, they suffered a shocking Map 5 loss to Boston Breach and were eliminated in the next round by Vancouver with a 3-0 defeat, finishing a disappointing Top 8. The sting was real, as the title everyone wanted most slipped away.

The season concluded with the $1.8 million Esports World Cup in Riyadh, offering a chance to redeem the year. But LA barely made it out of groups after losing to Vancouver and were swiftly eliminated by OpTic in bracket play, finishing Top 8 once again. For a team that showed such promise during the regular season, the ending was bitterly disappointing.

How Good Was Ghosty in 2025?

Hardpoint

Playing alongside elite slayers HyDra and Scrap, Ghosty found ways to make an impact beyond raw stats. He finished with a 1.02 K/D in Hardpoint, while leading the League in hill time per 10 minutes (82.5 seconds). He recorded 24 maps with 100+ seconds of hill time (2nd in the League) and led all players with 55% of maps reaching at least 80 seconds. Despite going negative in 53% of maps, the Thieves still managed a 24-20 record in those games, 2nd best in the CDL. Ghosty's selfless style brought out the best in LA's stars.

The Thieves were statistically the best Hardpoint team all year, going 54-29 overall and 26-15 on LAN. They led the CDL in average margin (+39.6), points per minute (22.9), and hold percentage (77.5%), and were 2nd in rotation win rate (54.1%). Their hot starts were key, winning 70.3% of Map 1s (38-16), keeping them in control throughout most series. Their best maps were Red Card (10-1), Vault (9-4), and Rewind (8-4).

Search & Destroy

Arguably Ghosty’s weakest mode, he still posted a solid 1.04 K/D in Search & Destroy. His 0.66 kills per round and 94.7 ADR were below average, but he excelled in opening duels, winning 53 total at a 55.2% success rate. He also led all ARs with 66 bomb plants, 12 more than the next closest. Ghosty’s 16-kill performance vs. Miami at Major I set the LAN kills record for the season. However, his LAN stats in SND were less impressive, posting a 0.95 K/D and 0.61 kills per round.

📸 Photo by @Spribs_

The Thieves, as a team, were sneakily elite in SND. They finished 44-26 (62.9%), 2nd best in the CDL. During their Stage III and IV championship runs, they went 19-6 in SND, showcasing how crucial the mode was to their success. LA was particularly strong in opening duels (3rd in win rate at 50.8%) and converted those into round wins 77% of the time, best in the League. On attack, they also ranked 1st in win rate (53.5%) and post-plant win rate (66.8%).

Control

Every player on the roster put up great Control numbers, and Ghosty was no exception. He posted a 1.06 K/D with 20.5 kills and 2,696 damage per 10 minutes, along with a League-best 2.7 ticks per attack. He also led the League in maps with 8+ ticks captured (10). According to the Cellium Index, Ghosty went positive in 63% of Control maps (13th), but even when he went negative, LA still had a 62% win rate, the highest in the League. His strong fundamentals and objective focus made a massive impact.

Control was clearly LA's best mode, finishing 43-15 overall, best in the CDL. Though they stumbled at the end (2-4 in Champs and EWC), they still led the League in nearly every metric: Round Win % (65.9%), Attack Win % (58.3%), Defense Win % (73.7%), ticks per attack (4.5), and ticks per defense (3.1). They were excellent on LAN (18-9) but absolutely dominant online (25-4).

A look ahead to Black Ops 7

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Ghosty enters the Black Ops 7 offseason as one of the top names on the AR market, now a restricted free agent following LA Thieves’ decision to explore a replacement. With three years of experience competing at the highest level, he’s proven himself as a consistent and intelligent main AR, capable of anchoring a top-tier roster. His combination of leadership, communication, and objective excellence makes him a prime target for teams in need of stability and structure. While his next destination remains uncertain, Ghosty's pedigree ensures he’ll be at the center of several roster conversations this offseason.