Envoy explains why SMGs “are not viable” in Black Ops Cold War
YouTube: OpTic Chicago / TreyarchBlack Ops Cold War may have some strong Submachine Guns, but OpTic Chicago’s Dylan ‘Envoy’ Hannon believes Assault Rifles are absolutely dominant when it comes to competitive play.
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Treyarch’s latest release has barely been out for a few weeks but a meta is already forming. As Call of Duty League teams get valuable practice time in, and dozens of early tournaments set the tone, a trend seems to have emerged.
2019’s Modern Warfare featured a solid mix of SMGs and ARs throughout the year. However, Black Ops Cold War is all but dominated by ARs, according to both Envoy and OpTic teammate Seth ‘Scump’ Abner.
While scrimming Atlanta FaZe and a few other CDL teams, they “were getting bodied,” due to the AR dominance. “The subs are not viable in this game at all,” Envoy followed up.
TreyarchAs the primary SMG user on the team, Envoy is the one that will be sticking to the class for essentially every single map. Previous years have featured various mixes of roles, though this year appears to be leaning towards a three-to-one split: Three players running with ARs, and just one with an SMG in-hand.
“On certain maps it’s like three (ARs) and one sub on each team,” Scump explained. However, certain teams are even going a step beyond that due to the sheer power of ARs in Black Ops Cold War.
“We ran into New York and they ran four AK74’s on Moscow,” Envoy said. “I was mind blown. I feel like subs are just harder in this game. We switched to the AK-74u and it’s a bit easier but the MP5 was just impossible.”
Obviously, it’s still early days. Things could change drastically before the start of the 2021 season. Balance updates are already coming through from Treyarch, so SMGs could get some love sooner than later. For the time being though, Black Ops Cold War has Envoy “wishing [he] had an AR.”
The relevant topic begins at the 1:41 mark below.
This isn’t entirely a result of weapon balancing either. There’s more that goes into shaping the meta than first meets the eye. “It’s part of the map design too,” Envoy explained. “How many [head glitches], how many open lanes, where the hills are at.” With four ARs, some objectives are “just unbreakable.”
There’s no date set in stone for the 2021 season just yet. Though we’ll be sure to keep you updated as the meta evolves in the lead-up to the next year of CDL action.