Will The RAM-7 Heavily Impact The Competitive Meta Before Champs?
As the Modern Warfare season nears its conclusion, the metagame for competitive Call of Duty could well undergo yet another change ahead of the season-ending Playoffs and Championship Weekend.
Since the brief appearance of the Uzi sub-machine gun halfway through the regular Call of Duty League (CDL) season, the competitive meta has remained static throughout the season, with one or two M4A1 assault rifles featuring alongside a minimum of three MP5 SMGs. But with just a few days until the beginning of Playoffs and the start of the final challengers tournament, the meta could well be set for another significant change ahead of the last events of the season.
First introduced as part of Season One for Modern Warfare, the RAM-7 assault rifle is the latest weapon in the Modern Warfare arsenal to be the topic of much debate from both professional and amateur communities. We take a look at both sides of the argument, discussing how the rifle could yield a positive impact on the current game and whether it could be another addition to the now infamous gentlemen’s agreement.
A Breath Of Fresh Air
Click to enlargeThroughout the season, any attempt of making any form of alterations to the competitive metagame has been quickly quashed by various members of the professional scene. The likes of the AUG and Uzi sub-machine guns both made an appearance in online practice before being deemed too overpowered for competition and swiftly banished to the depths of the gentlemen’s agreement.
In previous seasons, a change in the metagame has often shaken up the standings as teams quickly get to grips with a new weapon which has come into favour. It has also provided a breath of fresh air from the perspective of the spectator, where watching the same weapons being used can be somewhat tedious. More often than not, there are superior weapons not being used due to unofficial agreements preventing any form of changes to take place.
The mobile nature of the RAM-7 has the potential to slot perfectly into the metagame alongside the M4A1 and the MP5. The lack of close-range performance of the M4A1 alongside the high damage drop-off of the MP5 allows the RAM-7 to act as the perfect hybrid weapon to be a viable addition to the Modern Warfare metagame. With the biggest amateur and professional tournaments of the season just around the corner, a team that opts to use the RAM-7 could be the difference between making a deep run into the money-paying positions or crashing out of the competition.
The Perfect Composition
Click to enlargeThe addition of the RAM-7 has the potential to create a perfect team composition for the final tournaments of the season. Rather than a team opting to use three MP5s, swapping one of the sub-machine gunners in place for a more aggressive assault rifle player to bolster the first line of offence. The M4A1 players are often the passive players, locking down lanes and attempt to secure spawns but can easily get caught out by a fast-moving SMG slayer in close-quarters engagements.
Introducing the RAM-7 into the competitive metagame has the potential to be a stroke of genius. Teams using unorthodox weaponry to gain an advantage is certainly not a new occurrence in competitive Call of Duty. During the Ghosts season, light machine-guns were used to fire through thin metal walls and during the Advanced Warfare season, who can forget the time OpTic Gaming stalwart Matt “Nadeshot” Haag selected the HBR assault rifle in an attempt to break away from the BAL metagame?!
A change to the metagame could undoubtedly freshen up the weapon pool and add another dynamic to the team composition, but is a potential change too little too late?
Another Addition To The GA
While some think that the RAM-7 can be a welcome addition to an otherwise stale metagame, some amateur Call of Duty players believe that the addition of the assault rifle would be too much of a change to the metagame which has been used throughout the season, potentially making the RAM-7 the final addition to the gentlemen’s agreement which has been a hot topic of conversation throughout the Modern Warfare season.
The agreement has featured in previous instalments of the Call of Duty franchise but has never featured the restrictions of in-game settings which have been deemed an unfair advantage. It’s no secret that Modern Warfare is a game that hasn’t been optimised with competitive play in mind. Considering how stable the metagame has been throughout the season, any form of change days before the biggest tournament of the season definitely isn’t an ideal time for players to familiarise themselves with a new competitive meta with millions of dollars on the line.
Images courtesy of MLG and Activision
