Call of Duty League 2021 - Stage 1 Meta Predictions
With the opening night of the Call of Duty League (CDL) just around the corner, the pros will have been getting their practice in and selecting their chosen weapons to take into the first stage of the competition.
Black Ops: Cold War arrived on PC and console in early November, and the pros have had plenty of time to weed out the weapons that they won’t be using, but what will be the meta weapons to take in the opening round of the 2021 CDL? We’re here to take a deep dive into what weapons are likely to be at the forefront of this year’s league.
Before we get into the weapons that will be featuring, it’s best to go over the ones that definitely won’t. The official weapons and perks banned list are as follows:
Light Machine Guns:
- Stoner 63
- RPD
- M60
Tactical Rifles:
- Type 63
- M16
- AUG
- DMR 14
Along with the primaries listed above, all shotguns and launchers are banned, including the M79 grenade launcher. The teams have also agreed that sniper rifles will not be available this year. Due to a bug with smoke grenades, snipers cannot be countered, and they will not be used in this year’s league.
To round off the primary and secondary restrictions dual wield stock, the SWAT 5mw laser, and the Ember sighting point are the banned attachments. To see the full restricted items list for CDL 2021, check out the Call of Duty website.
Now that we’ve gone over the things that won’t be featuring in this year’s league, let’s have a look at what can be used by this year’s competitors. Last time out, the M4A1 and the MP5 featured heavily in the opening rounds until the MP5 was nerfed and the M4A1 became the weapon of choice for most competitors.
The Krig 6 is likely to fill the void left by the M4A1 from last year’s competition due to the nature of its stats. Despite not having the fastest fire rate amongst the Cold War assault rifles, it is the most accurate without attachments, and it is only out damaged by the AK-47.
The Krig 6 featured heavily in public lobbies at the launch of Cold War, and it’s likely to be in the minds of the pros as they look to kit themselves out with the best possible loadout for Thursday night’s opener. Take a look at the clip below to see just how deadly the Krig 6 can be even in an average player's hands.
The AK-47 is also right up there with the Krig 6 in terms of useability, however, it was agreed by this year’s competitors that it would not be used by any teams during the competition. It emerged as a strong weapon not long after Black Ops: Cold War launched and is therefore off the pick list this time out, but its sibling weapon still remains on the table.
However, its little brother the AK-74u could make in appearance in the opening round. As we saw last time out in the early stages, teams opted to run with one assault rifle and four sub-machine guns for their team composition until the MP5 was nerfed. We could potentially see this meta take hold again this year with one team member running the Krig 6 and the remaining three running an SMG.
The AK-74u is one of the strongest close-quarter combat guns in Cold War, and its high damage output gives it the ability to get rid of opponents quickly at short range. Expect this weapon to pop up at some point during the competition.
If the AK-74u is not the SMG of choice for most competitors, then the MP5 will be. It dominated the early stages of the competition last year, and it could be no different this time around.
With slightly less damage per bullet than the AK-74u, the MP5 on paper looks like the weaker gun; however, its increased rate of fire can make up for the shortfall in damage. It’s also slightly more accurate, which could be the difference between missing and hitting the kill shot. It might not be the go-to weapon in this year’s CDL, but it certainly could make an appearance.
Another option that is less likely to take hold of the meta but could still pop up is the Bullfrog. A late arrival in Cold War’s public match meta there is no reason that the odd-looking SMG won’t make it into competitive play.
It has respectable damage and recoil coupled with a large stock magazine which can be further enhanced to carry a total of 85 rounds. It might not be the first choice, but the ability to eliminate more than one opponent without reloading is a handy bonus to have.
These are all the weapons that could potentially make an appearance and become the meta for the first stage of the CDL 2021. If you want to see what the pros use themselves then tune into the CDL YouTube stream at 8pm GMT on February 11 to watch the meta develop live throughout the competition and make sure to stay tuned to GGRecon to keep you posted on the 2021 CDL season as the competition progresses.
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