Cloud9 New York has unveiled its new Call of Duty League (CDL) roster, which will make its debut in the upcoming CDL Major 2 qualifiers.
The franchise, operated by North American esports organisation Cloud9, has signed four players from the Call of Duty Challengers circuit.
Revealed on February 11th, Jacob ‘Hide‘ Bustillos, Jordan ‘Encourage‘ Byrd, Jonathan ‘Nejra‘ Pabo’n, and Arnel ‘Okis‘ Avdagic join the franchise after stints representing several notable organisations competing in tier-two.
The pair of Hide and Encourage spent the majority of 2026 competing under the Stallions banner operated by former player and content creator Thomas ‘ZooMaa‘ Paparatto. Both players competed at the CDC Dallas Open, scoring a top-24 placement.
Nejra also earned a top-24 finish in Dallas, competing for High Treason. Since making his Call of Duty debut in 2020, he has represented the likes of Team Evictix and CABAL Esports during the early stages of the Black Ops 7 season.
For Okis, Call of Duty is the second title he has competed in as a professional player. From 2020 until 2025, he competed in Fortnite, achieving a wealth of success. In August 2024, Okis scored a second-place finish at the Esports World Cup, taking home $40,000 (~£29,314) in prize money.
Cloud9 New York In 2026
Cloud9 New York’s 2026 CDL campaign has started in disappointing fashion, with its previous roster recording one victory out of the eight best-of-fives played during qualifiers and the Major 1 LAN.
As a result, the franchise parted ways with its entire roster to fully rebuild its starting line-up in time for Major 2.
With a brand-new roster filled with some of the strongest Challengers talent, Cloud9 New York has a chance to turn around its poor start to Black Ops 7. This starts with having a solid showing during the six-week Major 2 online qualifiers. The new line-up makes its CDL debut against G2 Minnesota on February 15th.
