OpTic Gaming’s Gears of War Team Undergoes Another Major Roster Change But It’s Still One Player Short

Ross Deason

OpTic Gaming’s Gears of War roster has undergone yet another change as long-term member Nicholas ‘Red Icy’ Cope has been replaced by Brian ‘SoLuRs’ Valenzuela.

OpTic Gaming has dominated the Gears of War scene for the best part of two years, ever since picking up Gilbert ‘Xplosive’ Rojo and company back in August of 2016.

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However, their last event was their worst result to date as they finished in 4th place at the 2018 GPC Las vegas Open and it soon became apparent that all was not well behind the scenes.

Justin ‘Kenny Bounce’ Kenny was removed from the roster in April but soon found a new home with Echo Fox while OpTic started the process of finding a new fifth to put them back on top.

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It would seem that those plans hit a major hurdle, though, when Icy, who had been with the team since January of 2017, asked to be released from the roster as he no longer felt comfortable on the team.

Eventually an arrangement was made that worked for all parties as OpTic came to an agreement with Echo Fox to trade Red Icy for SoLuRs.

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The trade will reunite Red Icy and Kenny Bounce as well as provide OpTic with one of the hottest talents in the competitive Gears of War scene in the form of SoLuRs.

Meanwhile, the rumors about Arody ‘Praized’ Dipre also joining OpTic Gaming from Echo Fox have started to reach a fever pitch. Again, Praized is regarded as one of the best slayers in the game.

Red Icy leaving will certainly have thrown a spanner in the works for OpTic, who had already been working on replacing Kenny for a number of weeks, but if Praized does eventually join, OpTic Gaming could well go on another two year run of dominance.

For the time being OpTic Gaming consists of:

  • Gilbert ‘Xplosive’ Rojo
  • Billy ‘MentaL’ Putnam Jr.
  • Alex ‘SuMuNs’ Ascencion
  • Brian ‘SoLuRs’ Valenzuela

About The Author

Ross is a former Dexerto writer and editor. Ross joined Dexerto in 2017 as a CSGO and Call of Duty writer after completing his History degree. He later became the Acting Head of Editorial at Dexerto but failed in his mission to become a Counter-Strike pro. Maybe it's time to retire and give Valorant a try.