Scump explains why Vanguard will be the best competitive CoD in years

Seth ‘Scump’ Abner not only “loved” his time in the CoD Vanguard Beta for its “fast-paced” public matches, but the OpTic Gaming superstar is more than confident it’ll be a “good competitive game” as well.

While players only had a few days to sink their teeth into an early build of this year’s CoD title, we’ve already seen plenty of big takeaways from the Vanguard Beta. 

For some, frustrating issues on last-gen and “busted” time-to-kill concerns bogged down the experience. But for others, things were a little more positive.

Through all the bugs and SBMM woes, Scump came out of the Beta with nothing but praise for Vanguard. In fact, he’s confident the new Sledgehammer Games release will be the competitive game since the CDL kicked off in 2020.

“Let’s just get this out there… I loved it,” Scump said about Vanguard in a September 23 YouTube video. “I had such a good time with this Beta.”

Rattling off his thoughts on everything from map design and game modes down to the gunplay itself, the CoD veteran appeared happy with it all. “Usually with Beta’s, you get sick of it really quick,” he explained. For Vanguard, that wasn’t the case. “I played it for about 5-6 hours every day that I was home… That’s impressive for a Beta.”

On the public side of things, it was Vanguard’s new Combat Pacing feature that kept Scump coming back for more. With “high intensity and large amounts of people in the games” thanks to the Blitz setting, Scump was “hooked.”

“It was just so fast-paced, there was always something going on. It was just a lot of fun because of the sheer momentum of the game mode. Non-stop action.”

Outside of the new bells and whistles, Scump heaped praise on Vanguard’s fundamentals too. Not only did he like “pretty much [every map],” but the “gunplay was great” as well.

Movement was even a highlight for the King as Vanguard falls in line with that of 2019’s Modern Warfare. “The game felt really smooth,” as a result, Scump explained.

• Read More: FaZe Jev claims Vanguard is better than Modern Warfare

All of these factors coming together has the CoD star “hopeful” for a great competitive year. “Will it be good for competitive?” Scump asked himself. “Maybe this is just me being optimistic and hoping that it is, but I think it will be.

“As long as the spawns aren’t completely f***ed, I think this should be a good competitive game. The maps look promising, the gunplay was great. From what I saw, I think it’ll be better than Modern Warfare and Cold War competitively.”

Spawns, he admitted, were the “worst part” of the Beta experience. “Spawns weren’t great, it was very ‘squad-spawny,’ I hope it’s not like that for competitive.”

• Read More: Dr Disrespect sends Scump rare gift for Vanguard challenge

But if this one glaring issue in public games is ironed out on the competitive side, he reassured the pro scene could be in for a “good year.”

With Vanguard’s November 5 release still weeks out, there’s plenty of time for things to change. Therefore, Scump didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself. Ultimately, “you never know” how the competitive scene may pan out, he reminded viewers.

The King did add a kicker: “We have to wait for the full game to release.”

But if Scump’s initial impressions are anything to go by, 2021 could be shaping up as the best year for competitive CoD in recent history.