Legal Online Sports Betting in the US – 2025 Guide

Winning the championship once is a hard thing to do. But when you’re OpTic Texas playing in the Call of Duty League Championships, the odds seem to dip a little in your favor in achieving history. That is what the 2024 and 2025 champions have done as they defeated the Vancouver Surge in a massive showdown to conclude the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 season.

No one would have had this on their cards considering how hard it has been for a team to repeat in the CDL. And yet, OpTic has proven that the odds doesn’t always have to be in their favor to begin with before they can try to repeat as champions and show that they are still the best team in the league.

Now that the victory on domestic stage is secured, OpTic now shifts its focus on the global stage – where they will battle in Riyadh for the Esports World Cup 2025 – which will also be the final tournament running for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 before another one will begin with the next installment of the game.

A Remarkable Feat

Fans at Kitchener, Ontario hoped for a fantastic finish in the tournament, and so they saw one to remember. The atmosphere was electric, the stakes were sky-high, and both teams came ready for war. OpTic struck first, opening the series with a dominant 250-151 win on Hacienda Hardpoint.

Vancouver Surge, unfazed, answered back by taking the second map in flawless fashion with a 6-0 sweep on Dealership Search & Destroy. The two teams traded blows through the next few rounds, but when the series reached its crucial final stretch, OpTic rose to the occasion.

After a tightly contested Control map that ended 3-2 in their favor and a convincing 6-2 win on Hacienda Search & Destroy, they closed out the championship with a 250-215 win on Rewind Hardpoint.

This win didn’t just earn OpTic another trophy—it reshaped the CDL landscape. In a league known for parity and surprise upsets, no team had ever successfully repeated as champions until now. With this historic back-to-back, OpTic has cemented itself as the defining franchise of the modern CDL era.

Dominance Continues

The individual performances throughout the tournament were equally impressive. Mercules, who entered the season as a promising talent, exploded onto the main stage with an MVP-worthy showing that captivated the fanbase.

Meanwhile, Shotzzy, already a household name, further solidified his legacy by becoming the youngest player to win three world championships across both Halo and Call of Duty. Behind the scenes, legendary former player and now coach Damon “Karma” Barlow added yet another accolade to his resume, securing his fifth world title—two as a coach and three from his playing days.

OpTic's Grand Final also broke viewership records. Over 353,000 fans tuned in live, making it the most-watched CDL event of all time. For a franchise with one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in esports, it was a moment of pride and affirmation.

For OpTic, it’s not just about defending their title. It’s about dominating every stage they step on, proving that excellence isn’t seasonal—it’s who they are. In an esports world filled with unpredictability, one thing is certain: OpTic Texas isn’t just winning games. They’re making history, and this is the best way they can do it – to beat the odds and win it all.

It cannot be denied that BetBoom is on the rise once more with the way it has evolved as one of the toughest teams to beat in Dota 2. So far, their success in the PGL Wallachia Season 5 championship was a huge feat, and being able to take down the Gaimin Gladiators is a sign of solid dominance that they are mounting up in the big stage.

This triumph marks the third tournament won by BetBoom – and the second overall this year. It can be remembered that the squad has seen some tough stretches with three years of inconsistent runs where they have lost and won from time to time. Now that they are back on the winning track, it seems that the European squad is getting to a bigger run now more than ever.

On top of that, BetBoom has largely improved well in their games. They did have some poor performances in the past few tournaments, but this win in the PGL stage was a great look for the team considering that they had a lot of tough stretches. After coming up as a runner-up in DreamLeague Season 26, BetBoom has triumphed and earned its place at the top once more.

A Big Win for BetBoom

BetBoom took a commanding 3-1 victory in the Grand Finals of the PGL Wallachia Season 5, making it look easy against the Gaimin Gladiators – despite the tough competition that was seen from both teams for most of the tournament. BB took home a whopping $300,000 as the lion’s share of the prize money for the tournament.

It was a strong outing for BetBoom in the whole tournament – they did have a struggle in the Group Stages when underdogs such as Edge and Natus Vincere nearly put them at the brink of elimination. They did bounce back later to tally just enough wins to push through, taking down Virtus.Pro, Xtreme Gaming, and Team Tidebound to blast their way into the playoffs.

No struggles followed after that for the team. They took down Team Spirit in the first round before falling to Team Liquid in the next round. Luckily, they only fell to the lower bracket, which is still a good look for the team as they sent NAVI and Team Spirit before finally avenging their loss against Liquid once more in the same bracket.

Grand Final Showdown

BetBoom did not slow down in the Grand Final clash with the Gaimin Gladiators. They cruised for a strong win in 30 minutes for the first game, and then snowballed a start in Game 2 before claiming a 2-0 lead in 31 minutes. Gladiators did try to respond and took Game 3 with a better control of the lane to stay alive. However, BetBoom did not let themselves lose two games in a row and wrapped up the showdown after an hour in Game 4.

As one of the rising powerhouses in Dota 2, BetBoom deserves a lot of praise for its impressive performances in PGL Wallachia Season 5. After all, they do have to make up for lost time as they seek to come up with strong campaigns that will see them emerge as a contender in the coming months.

With the 2025 Esports World Cup and The International also closing in, it does seem that BetBoom has a lot to grind for and find a way to win big once more.

Defense has always been the pride for the Denver Broncos in the past few years, and the 2024 season was no exception to that as well. After finally clinching double-digit wins for the first time last season since the 2015 campaign, it seems that linebacker Alex Singleton is expected to anchor the defense to bring Denver to the top of the league like they did before.

The Broncos are one of the teams slowly moving towards elite playoff contention. They are building on last year’s successes and proving that they still have what it takes to be a top team to look out for. For starters, it seems that the 2015 Broncos are a promising benchmark to begin with.

After all, that same squad was also the last version of Denver that managed to reach the Super Bowl and win it all. And that’s what the 2025 Broncos are eager to follow through with: the hopes of proving their worth now more than ever. This is the best they can aspire to be, and even Singleton knows that there are a lot of expectations heading into the campaign.

Mile High City on the Rise

Denver is one of the teams that have been known for its strong defensive performances in the league over the years, and the current iteration of the team is certainly built for that matter, and now they are chasing bigger goals with the hopes of winning titles at the end of the day.

The Orange Crush in the 1970s and ‘80s has all shown that they have what it takes to win. So did the 1997-98 squad that went back-to-back in the championships. If that isn’t a landmark of defensive success at the top, then that’s what the Broncos need to follow as well.

"It's one of those things where it's like, 'Let's be better than the 2015 defense.' Stuff where like that's what we need to chase," Singleton said in an interview with DNVR last week. "You have to chase it when we start practice. ... We have to be the best every single day to get where we want to go."

For starters, the 2015 Broncos were a notable squad as it ranked 1st overall in total yards, passing yards, average yards per rush, and sacks. It featured elite stars such as future Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware and that year's Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller.

A Chance at a Title?

The Broncos were a promising team in 2024. They had a stellar defense led by eventual AP Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Patrick Surtain II. They’ve also managed to keep their key pieces such as D.J. Jones and Justin Strnad and lost only linebacker Cody Barton – with the latter eventually replaced by Singleton himself.

"I think this year - a lot of guys, including in the building, didn't fully expect to add so much to the defensive side this offseason and when we got it it was like, 'Oh this is going to be fun,'" Singleton said. "We just went somewhere that a lot of teams don't ever go, we're really, really excited."

Fans are yet to see the full strength of this Broncos defense on the biggest stage and against the toughest teams out there. With the season coming in hot, expect a lot of odds to start swaying into Denver’s favor as they try to win big.